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Manas, Assam: Six hand-raised elephant calves being readied for release in a wildlife sanctuary are raring to taste freedom as monsoon-induced fresh vegetation offers them a rare food extravaganza.
Continuous rain over the last fortnight in Assam has increased the vegetation cover manifold, offering the animals a huge supply of natural food.
As part of a unique plan to set them free, the calves were brought to Doimari in the Manas national park from their home in Kaziranga, about 350 kilometres away, in February.
All the elephants were between one and two years old when they were rescued from different parts of Assam. They were raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Kaziranga.
"Since food is plentiful these days, the elephants are very excited to venture out for long hours for forage. But sometimes we are worried when they move to faraway places and remain out of sight," said Tarun Gogoi, one of the animal keepers who looks after the elephants.
The temperature is down in rain-drenched Manas, offering perfect conditions for the calves to laze around.
The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) had built a night shelter for the elephant calves deep inside the Doimari forests of the Manas park to protect them from predators.
CWRC is India's first multi-species rescue and rehabilitation centre, set up jointly by WTI and IFAW in 2002, with support from the Assam forest department.
The calves were radio-collared and two animal keepers have been assigned so they can be monitored round the clock.
Now the grass has grown so tall the monitors are having trouble spotting the calves.
"Their desire for freedom is a natural progression, since we habituated them to behave that way," said Bhaskar Choudhury, the WTI veterinarian in Doimari.
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