Elephant festival lures thousands to Indian park
( 2003-01-12 14:41 ) (7 )

Thousands of tourists swarmed into a northeastern Indian park to watch elephants at work and play in a two-day festival that closed Sunday aimed at ending human conflict with the animals.

About 275 elephants amused the crowds by playing football, dancing and taking visitors for rides through 430 square-kilometer (170 square-mile) Kaziranga, a national park in Assam state famous for the one-horned rhinoceres.

The highpoint of the festival was a colourful two-kilometre (one-and-a-half mile) procession with the animals marching to the beat of drums and the clash of cymbals.

Other tourists caught a glimpse into the lives of elephants, watching a herd take a bath together in a stream.

"I just cannot describe in words the sight of the majestic elephants playing in the water, totally oblivious of the outside world," said Parag Jyoti Das, a local tourist.

"It is a lifetime experience to see some 275 elephants in one place."

Wild elephants are becoming increasingly threatened in India, with only about 10,000 left in the country, 5,500 of them in Assam.

In the past two years, at least 150 people were trampled to death by elephants in Assam, while angry villagers have killed up to 200 tuskers using poisoned tipped arrows or feeding them jackfruits laced with poison.

"A depleting forest cover and encroachment of elephant corridors have been forcing the pachyderms to stray out their habitats and enter human settlements," said elephant expert Parbati Baruah.

"Holding this kind of festival will definitely help in creating awareness."

People also kill elephants for their meat and hack out their ivory tusks, which can fetch up to 25,000 rupees (520 dollars) a kilogram on the international market.

A full-grown elephant has tusks weighing up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds), which could earn poor villagers an amount equal to more than three years of daily wages, forest rangers said.

Assam's Forest Minister Pradyut Bordoloi said: "We wanted to achieve the twin objective of promoting tourism and creating a level of awareness among the locals about the need to protect and conserve elephants in the state."