As the whole world celebrated the mega herbivore on 12 August 2022, i.e. World Elephant Day, the Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers marked the occasion by showering love, respect, and a whole lot of pampering on our elephants. India is home to 60 percent of the world popualtion of the Asian elephant. While celebrating the day with this long ranging animal, the forest officers also made it a point to create awareness on the urgent need for its conservation and protection.
While some officers took beautiful pictures with the ‘lord of the jungle’, some others educated people about the issues this majestic animal face in India and how we can provide a safe environment to them.
We, at Indian Masterminds, collected a series of pictures and tweets posted by the officers, where they are seen celebrating the day along with the elephants to spread awareness.
IFS officer Srikant Verma shared a picture with an elephant, who, the forest department had rescued from a well in Gumla, Jharkhand. They had used the Archimedes principle to take out the elephant from the well it fell into.
Chief Conservator of Forest, Southern Assam Circle, Silchar, Assam, Sivakumar Periyasamy, IFS, shared a touching picture of an elephant mother and her calf.
IFS officer Sudha Ramen shared a picture with Lantana weed-made elephants which are on display at the Marina Beach in Chennai till 15 August. She also mentioned how these Lantana elephants give out a strong message of protection of forests from any kind of threat.
IFS officer Vaibhav Singh also took to Twitter to share a strong message on World Elephant Day: “The long term survival of #Elephants in India depends upon securing their corridors which are being increasingly obstructed by linear infrastructures !It is the collective responsibility of the Govt agencies, civil society and the public! #WorldElephantDay2022“
The officials of the Kaziranga National Park in Assam celebrated World Elephant Day by conducting health check-up and feeding the ‘Trusted Companion of a Forester’. They also felicitated the dedicated caretakers of the elephants and conducted a Covid-19 booster dose vaccination camp for the frontline staff. An Elephant Tiranga Yatra was also taken out on the ocassion.
Director Rajaji National Park, Saket Badola, IFS, also shared a picture where Team Rajaji is seen busy in providing the elephants of the park a special feast.
