Mysuru : Forest dept to take a call on shifting Palace elephants to Gujarat after checking facilities there

Mysuru: The State forest department will check whether facilities in Gujarat elephant camp are good before shifting four jumbos from Mysuru Palace. The department officials are firm on satisfying themselves with the fact that the facilities in Gujarat are up to the mark for the pachyderms of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family.

Speaking to reporters wildlife wing Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Vijay Kumar Gogi said that the erstwhile royal's requesting to facilitate shifting of four of the six Palace elephants to Gujarat.

Gogi said, "Some organisations in Gujarat are taking care of 100 elephants. Hence the 'royal' family wrote a letter expressing their wish to gift the Palace elephants to such organisations. Prior to that, we have to first check, whether there is conducive atmosphere for these elephants to stay in Gujarat." We will seek required information from PCCF and Chief Wildlife warden of Gujarat about the available facilities and ability to manage them. It is only after that we can allow to shift the elephants.

"Elephants owned by private individuals can be either shifted or gifted. We will change the ownership certificate. In this particular case, we can issue the transportation certificate only after making inspection at Gujarat center," said Gogi.