Departure of two elephant calves to Qatar from Nepal delayed: Report

Published: 13 August 2024

NT Bureau
Kathmandu

Two elephant calves which have been given to Qatar as a gift during the two-day state visit of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to Nepal in April have their journey to Qatar delayed due to some technical procedures, Nepal’s leading English daily The Kathmandu Post reported on Monday.

The elephant calves, named Rudrakali and Khagendraprasad, are bred at Elephant Breeding Centre in Khorsor, Sauraha, and they are still in Chitwan, with no set date for their departure to Qatar.

“We selected two elephants for a gift as requested. The national park is all prepared to send the elephants to Qatar once the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation instructs,” Ganesh Prasad Tiwari, information officer at the Chitwan National Park, told The Post.

According to senior ecologist Shyam Kumar Sah, who is the information officer at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, some procedures are yet to be completed before Rudrakali and Khagendraprasad can be sent to Qatar.

Since elephants are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora [CITES], they cannot be sent to another country without prior approval from CITES headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the report said.

“Some procedures are underway to receive approval from CITES. The Nepal government will make the decision and arrange for the elephants to be sent to Qatar,” said Sah.

“According to the Chitwan National Park, Rudrakali is a female elephant aged six years and nine months while Khagendraprasad is a five years and 10 months old male. According to park officials, male elephants are traditionally given ‘Gaja’ [meaning elephant in Sanskrit] or ‘Prasad’ [divine offering or blessing] as their second names while ‘Kali’ or ‘Mala’ are added to the names of female elephants,” said the report.

“One should be careful about the age of wildlife while picking them to send abroad. Too young elephants should not be sent while it is difficult for old ones to adapt in the new environment. Rudrakali and Khagendraprasad meet the required criteria so they have been chosen,” said Tiwari.

According to the employees at the elephant breeding centre in Khorsor, a month-long training is provided to the elephants. Then their activities are monitored under the supervision of a mahout, a keeper and driver of an elephant. Captive elephants only follow their mahout’s instructions. So, the preparations are on to send the mahouts of both the elephants to Qatar.

“Earlier Nepal used to send only rhinos, crocodiles and other animals as gifts to other countries. Nepal has already gifted 26 rhinos as presents to various countries,” the report says.