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Stomach that! Appetisers for the gentle giants being grown at Makulakocha, on the foothills of Dalma |
Bamboo is fine, but oh for some juicy cucumbers and fresh pumpkins. If elephants at Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary on Jamshedpur outskirts had ever trumpeted these gourmet thoughts aloud, the state forest department had decoded them just right.
The forest department has started planting cucumber and pumpkin for elephants in Makulakocha, on Dalma’s foothills, on a one-hectare plot at the Deer Park to be exact.
According to Ranchi wildlife divisional forest officer (DFO) Kamlesh Pandey, under whose jurisdiction this elephant sanctuary falls, the initiative is directed at tickling the taste buds of these lumbering large land mammals and giving them buffer food stock.
“Bamboo remains a staple favourite. But there must be some variety in taste. Elephants take pleasure in munching cucumber and pumpkin. We undertake bamboo plantation in Dalma across elephant routes and corridors, but this time we have decided to introduce new natural food inside the elephant sanctuary,” said Pandey.
These delicacies will also keep the elephants from straying into farmland, hope officials.
“With initiatives like these, we are also trying to ensure that herds don’t leave the sanctuary during their stay here,” Pandey said, adding that slowly they would try and enlarge the scope of cultivation across pockets in the sanctuary.
“Produce will be ready in a month or so,” said an official at the sanctuary. “Flowering has already begun. We expect a good produce as the soil here is fertile due to the balanced eco-system in this region,” he added.
Dalma currently has 80 elephants, but numbers will swell.
“Around 20-30 more will turn up with the rise in mercury. Last year, there were around 100. As a ballpark figure, we are hoping numbers touch 140 this time. Water bodies are full due to last year’s monsoon bounty. And now, there is variation in the menu,” Pandey smiled.
In short, eat, drink and be merry. Summer at Dalma promises to be a jumbo party.