Four elephants from Bannerghatta National Park head to Himeji Central Park in Japan

BENGALURU: The Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) on Thursday sent one male and three female elephants to the Himeji Central Park in Japan as part of an animal exchange programme facilitated by the Central Zoo Authority. In return, the BNP will receive four cheetahs, four jaguars, four pumas, three chimpanzees and eight capuchin monkeys from other countries.

The elephants Suresh (8), Gowri (9), Shruthi (7) and Tulasi (7) are headed to the Kansai International Airport in Osaka from the Kempegowda International Airport in a Qatar Airways B777-200 cargo flight on a 20-hour flight.

Two veterinarians from the BNP, four mahouts, one supervisor and a biologist are travelling with the elephants and will help the animals acclimatise with the new environment at the Himeji Central Park, officials stated.

Over the last six months, the elephants were trained to enter into a special cage. After the elephants entered the cage on Thursday, huge cranes put them on trucks to be transported to Kempegowda International Airport. Officials said it will take about 8 hours to reach the airport.

A touching scene played out when Suresh was reluctant to let go of his friend Basava. However, after some time, elephant Suresh got ready for the journey to the airport and onward to Japan.

“This is for the first time we are sending any animal abroad. We got approval from our governing council in 2023 for this and it is a landmark event. We are sending four Asiatic elephants to Himeji Central Park. For this, we have been seeking various approvals for the last two years. Two doctors from Japan and animal keepers have been here for the last 20 days and we were helping them with English commands”, said Park executive director A V Suryasen.