A jumbo experience...at Dubare elephant camp, Coorg

Our recent visit to Coorg was to see the legendary beauty of the place and experience a home stay, but chiefly to visit the Dubare elephant camp, on the banks of the River Kaveri. A 4-5 hour drive from Bangalore, it is reached via the Mysore bypass road which leads to Hunsur and Kushalnagar, from where Dubare is a mere 14 km. One has to cross the River Kaveri in a motorboat to reach the camp. We also some people walking across a shallow stretch dotted with rocks.

This is one place to not just enjoy a break, but learn about Asian elephants at close quarters, thanks to the programs run by the Jungle lodges and resorts. We stayed at a Sidapur home stay (see earlier post) and went to Dubare for the ‘elephant activities’ between 9-12 noon. It is a wonderful sight to see the majestic elephants in the river, patiently allowing visitors to bathe them. One can then watch/take part in their feeding. This is followed by a short ride, which to me is inhumane, with the poor elephant hobbling (with short chains on their feet)round and round the small feeding enclosure with (sometimes overweight and insensitive) visitors on its back. One just wishes this could be discontinued, instead of exploiting an innocent animal to rake in revenue. It is advisable to wear shorts/capris and rubber sandals, as one has to wade into the river to bathe the elephants. The charges for taking part in the activities are reasonable. However, since the brochure and website are not updated, some of the activities mentioned in them do not actually take place.

There are training areas in the camp where they practice pulling down and arranging logs. We were lucky to witness one such session on our second visit, as it does not happen every day, though it was upsetting to see one of the mahouts hitting the elephant.

The nondescript reception center is manned by two knowledgeable naturalists, Basuraj and Shiva, who provided interesting information when we asked them about the camp.
Some interesting snippets from them:

Elephants have been trained at the camp, and used to capture other elephants, as well as help in their training. The twenty elephants in the camp include Gopi, Prashant, Kapila, Vikram, Shivsagar, Harsha, and 50 year old Ekadanta (with one tusk) being the oldest. Some of them take part in the Dussehra procession at Mysore. The two people who look after each elephant and scrub, bathe and feed him are the mahout/driver and kawadi/cleaner.

Elephants need 2 hours of rest and 4 hours of sleep, 150 liters of water and a large amount of food! They spend most of the 18 hours in the forest just eating! They are also fed at the camp twice daily after a bath—around 10 am and 5 pm, with snacks of ragi balls of 2 kg each. 20 kgs of these are cooked daily. Three of the staff of 40 take turns every week to cook.

Of the staff of forty, three take turns every week to cook. The workers take a lot of care, and the kitchen within the feeding area is airy and clean.

Elephants which had earlier helped to train wild elephants caught in the jungle—Abhimanyu, Sriram, Bharata, Mary and Balaram have been shifted to Murkal camp, near Nagarhole.

Jungle Lodges resorts provides excellent cottages, with logwood furniture, amidst trees and vegetation and overlooking the river. The half day program we took part in was comprehensive, but there is also a full day program which includes lunch and a trek into the jungle. Apart from taking part in the elephant activities, one can enjoy rafting, fishing, bird watching or a coracle ride. The latter was a pleasant experience, drifting under the trees, between rocks and islets, while a group of noisy rafters passed by!

Unfortunately, there were a few jarring notes. Presumably, the elephant have to have chains on their front feet, but one wishes they were slightly longer, so the poor animals can walk comfortably. It is particularly painful to see the ones giving the rides to visitors hobbling around the small feeding enclosure in the blistering mid day sun. Moreover, the whole place could be spruced up and made more tourist (specially children) friendly—with a brighter reception area, readily available information (in print or through guides) and clean toilets. It would greatly add to the experience of non-resident visitors. It is a pity too that many (even the so called educated ones) lack environmental awareness and sensitivity and respect towards the animals.

Nevertheless, a visit to Dubare is not just enjoyable, but provides valuable insights.

Update in September 2011: You can see an article on this at http://www.thecircumference.org/dubare-elephant-camp