Thiruvananthapuram, December 6, 2013: In a boost to the welfare of the captive elephants in the state, a seven-day elephant training workshop is currently underway in the Koottoor Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Agasthyavanam Biological Park, Thiruvanathapuram. The training, jointly organised by the Kerala Forest Department and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), supported by Working for Animals Inc., concentrates on infusing non-intrusive scientific methods into the traditional means and is being held by the globally renowned scientist in the field, Dr Andrew McLean, the Vice-President of HELP.

Vivek Menon, the Executive Director of WTI was present at the inauguration of the training on December 1 and addressed those present saying, “Being home for a large number of captive elephants, Kerala is in need of implementing welfare activities for its captive elephants and these shall focus on scientific methods that merge with traditional methods for better care of the animals. I hope the training by Dr. Andrew McLean benefits the participants and their captive elephants.” The CCF, Kerala Forest Department, Dr Shylendranath, Forest Veterinary Officer, Kerala Forest Department, Sivaprasad, the Deputy Wildlife Warden and the WTI team- Sabu Jahas, Jose Louies and A M A Nixon were also present during the inaugural function.

Sixteen mahouts from the Kerala Forest Department are taking part in this two-way training which started with bathing the elephants in the lake followed by the theory and practical sessions. “Dr McLean emphasised the need of appropriating non-violent training methods which go a long way ensuring better cooperation from the animal in the future,” said Jose Louies, WTI’s Regional Head of South India who is also in attendance.

“The aim of the training is not to completely change the way of the mahouts but to fine tune the existing methods to make the methods better and less taxing on the elephants,” said the Chief Veterinary Officer of WTI, Dr NVK Ashraf. “The main motif employed is to provide incentives to the elephant through positive and negative reinforcements with associate commands the elephants would remember. An intelligent animal like the elephant with high cognitive abilities shouldn’t be in captivity in the first place. However, given the reality and their mammoth size, the need for proper training is imminent to safeguard not just the ‘owners’ of these mastodons but the animal itself,” he added.

Dr Andrew McLean, who is the winner of the highest Australian Science Award, the Eureka Prize for Science, remarked on the workshop saying, “The scientific methods being taught are quite different from the traditional ways. Most elephant training systems in the world concentrate on submission. In methods taught by me positive reinforcements and negative reinforcements are emphasised with attention on habituating the elephant to its mahout and surroundings in the least intrusive way. The end goal is to establish a clear chain of understanding between the mahout and the elephant and we do not condone punishments as a way to do the same. ”

Dr McLean also screened a video from his previous training in Nepal. Two elephant calves have been chosen as the main subjects of the training and the mahouts have been encouraged to take part in the daily activities like bathing and feeding them to develop a better rapport with the pachyderms which will assist them with their own calves post-training. “With at least 30-35 wild calves getting displaced every year in India and perhaps double this number of calves born to captive female elephants the need for a humane method of training has been axiomatic,” vehemently remarked Dr Ashraf.