KOCHI: Tuesday saw an unusual sight of elephants lining up at the Government Timber Depot in Veettoor, near Muvattupuzha, and elephant lovers bumping into each other for some precious leg space. Domesticated elephants from all over Ernakulam and Idukki districts marched to the depot as part of the medical examination for the registration certificate book, introduced by the Forest Department. In all, 38 elephants lined up, whose ‘vital statistics’ were recorded for the Elephant Data Book. There were 25 elephants from Ernakulam and 13 from Idukki. The examination was conducted under Malayattoor DFO Nagaraj B M and Idukki Wildlife Warden Saby Varghese.Forest veterinary doctors, V Sunil and Sreejith Radhakrishnan, measured the tusk, trunk, tail, head, ears and toes. They noted down the animals’ age, sex, name, identification mark (a 10-digit number of the microchip implanted earlier), medical history, the names of owners, the mahouts and the vet and the time at which they usually develop musth,” a Forest official said. The new Elephant Data book will be helpful for the elephants. “The exercise of providing ED books is aimed at tackling illegal transfers, transportation and exploitation of elephants. We had given a registration form which was filled by the elephant owner. The ED book will contain all details of the elephant and its owner. We also took photographs of the elephant from four angles. This will prevent the elephant from being transported without the Forest Department’s permission,” B N Nagaraj said.There are a total of 37 domestic elephants in Ernakulam district and 14 in Idukki. The elephants whose medical examinations could not be conducted on Tuesday will be conducted next month.
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