Most wildlife buff vouch that elephant safaris are the best and most exciting ways to explore nature and jungle.While a wildlife safari in the grassy meadows of Vairat and Gullarghat-Bori-Dhargad is an enriching experience, the elephant safari in Kolkas — located 115km from Amravati — is nothing less than a lifetime dream.
Divya Bharathi M, deputy conservator of forests (DyCF), Sipna, informed that the elephant safari started on February 22, 2018. On average, the annual revenue from the safari is Rs7 lakh. Over 3,500 tourists visit the place every year.
There are eight elephants in Kamlapur, located in Gadchiroli’s Sironcha forest division. Despite repeated demands by tourists, elephant safaris are yet to start there. Visitors can only feed the jumbos and enjoy seeing them up close.
At Kolkas there are four female elephants — Jayashree (80), Champakali (50), Lakshmi (55), and Sundarmala (50). Jayashree is the oldest female and has retired but still acts as a ‘matriarch’. She doesn’t leave the group and accompanies other females during a safari. Safari & accommodation can be booked at www.magicalmelghat.com.
Four tourists can ride one elephant which costs Rs200 per person. “The 1.5km-long ride looks small but is full of bamboo thickets and dense forests. It’s simply a thrilling experience on a trail where one can be lucky to even sight a tiger, as it happened last year,” recalls mahout SP Mawaskar.
“It was our maiden elephant safari. On some stretches, we had to continuously shift the overhead bamboo leaves while moving through the forest. We enjoyed the thrill of the deep woods. Feeding them bananas was another wonderful experience. As we fed one elephant, the other would lift its trunk for the banana. It was fun. Tourists are also allowed to bathe the elephants in the adjoining Sipna river,” said Sanjay Jain, who visited Melghat for the first time.
Bharathi informed that a proper diet chart is followed while feeding the elephants. “In the morning, the jumbos are fed 1 kg ‘roti’ and 250 grams of jaggery. In the evening, we give 10kg ‘roti’, 1 kg jaggery, 250 grams of salt, and 250 grams of edible oil. They also forage on seeds, grasses, fruits in the forest,” Bharathi said.
Retired mahout Raghunath Pandule said Melghat has only four jumbos.
