48-day elephant camp concludes

A total of 28 elephants were put in trucks for their respective destinations after spending 48 days at a state government-conducted rejuvenation camp for pachyderms which concluded at Thekkampatti, about 50 km from here, on Friday.

The jumbos from various temples and mutts were sent to the annual camp which commenced on the banks of river Bhavani on December 15.

There were 26 elephants from Tamil Nadu and two from Puducherry at the camp.

Tamil Nadu ministers Dindigul C Sreenivasan, S P Velumani and Sevvoor S Ramachandran flagged-off the onward journey of the elephants after the camp concluded.

The camp was the brain child of former chief minister late J Jayalalithaa and became an annual feature from 2003 and from 2011, it is being held at Thekkampatti, Sreenivasan said.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami had allocated over Rs 1.45 crore for the camp this year, he said.

During the camp, the elephants were given nutritious food, shower bath and a special treatment of oil massage to the feet, Velumani said.