THREE elephants from the Patanil Elephant Camp in Aheri taluka of the district were translocated to Gujarat early Friday morning. The animals were taken to Radhakrishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust in Jamnagar in Gujarat, according to Kishor Mankar, Conservator of Forest.

Three elephants include two males and a female. Two of them are above 70 years of age, while one is 25 years old. A special team of veterinary doctors and other staff along with the animal ambulances had come to Patanil to carry the animals. The entire operation of the shifting was done by the staff of the Gujarat Trust itself in presence of the local forest officials. The two elephants have already retired and were not engaged in any work for the last several years. The young elephant which was brought from Sawantwadi some ten years ago has not been much trained, informed Mankar.

After completing all necessary formalities, the elephants were shifted. The Trust of Jamnagar will now be looking after these animals as it has well trained staff and all the necessary facilities required for the elephants, it was told.

The work of dragging logs of wood and other such transportation was being done by the elephants earlier but that work has been stopped for the last over 25 years after the other means of transport were available, according to Mankar.

The issue of shifting of elephants was going on from the time of previous Maha Vikas Aghadi Government. The move was however strongly opposed by almost all political parties of the district besides elected public representatives and the common people of the area. The then District Incharge Minister and now Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had promised that the elephants would not be shifted elsewhere. The decision was finally withdrawn by the then government. However, as soon as the new Government came to power, the elephants were finally moved to Gujarat in a special truck on Thursday night. The shifting was done in the night time to avoid any clash with the local people. The news, however, spread like wild fire today. A video of the vehicle carrying the elephants passing through the road also has gone viral on various social media platforms. The entire operation was conducted very secretly considering the strong opposition of the local people to this shifting.