Dudhwas Favourite Baby Bhawani To Be Shifted To Gkp

Bhawani, an orphan female calf, brought to Dudhwa from Bijnore forest division on October 13, 2023 when she was about 21 days, on the eve of Navratri, is to be shifted to a rescue centre soon.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath during his visit to Dudhwa on April 26, 2025, enjoyed the playfulness of the calf and had christened her ‘Bhawani.’

The Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) authorities have now requested to send her to a rescue centre for intensive care and monitoring, and UP chief wildlife warden (CWLW) Anuradha Vemuri, has given her consent to shift the two-year-and-eight-month-old Bhawani to the Large Mammal Rescue Center (LMRC) at Gorakhpur zoo (Shaheed Ashfaq Ulla Khan Zoological Park.)

However, the urgency with which DTR officials shot off a letter to the UP chief wildlife warden on June 29 for shifting Bhawani to a rescue centre, and the approval by UP CWLW on June 30, has startled all.

An expert wildlife veterinarian, who also wished not to be quoted by name, told HT that the Wildlife Protection Act allows translocation of a schedule 1 animal only if the animal is a conflict animal, physically disabled or sick beyond recovery. However, Bhawani falls in none of these categories and so her shifting to a zoo is not only surprising but also very disappointing.

He said that the age of two years and eight months is a tender age for an elephant, when she is in permanent need of maternal care and protection and which Bhawani has secured from her foster mother, Durga at Dudhwa.

“Separating Bhawani from her foster mother will give her a deep emotional shock, leading to psychological stress and severe behavioural changes,” he warned.

When contacted, field director, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) Dr H Rajamohan described shortage of attending staff i.e. mahaouts and chaara-cutters to be the basic reason behind this.

He said, “The number of mahouts and chaara-cutters in Dudhwa are less than required as of date, owing to which due care to young Bhawani was being affected. Also Bhawani had developed some health issues, which required intensive care at a rescue centre,” he added.

He said, “Dudhwa has 25 government elephants with 21 adults while there are only seven mahouts and four ‘chaara-cutters’ to attend them, less than even their sanctioned posts of 10 and eight, respectively.”

He further said “ideally, an adult male elephant should have one mahout and two chhara-cutters to look after him while an adult female should have one mahaout and one chaara-cutter.”

When pointed out that the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) does not allow an elephant to be kept in a zoo, he said, “Bhawani is not being shifted to a zoo but to the Large Mammal Rescue Center at Gorakhpur, which has been approved mainly for this purpose.”

Assistant director of Shaheed Ashfaq Ullah Khan Zoological Park, Gorakhpur and senior veterinary doctor Yogesh Partap Singh said that Gorakhpur zoo has a dedicated elephant rescue and care centre with infrastructure and sufficient staff to provide medical attention.

Deprived of motherly care and affection, Bhawani was emotionally shaken and stressed.

However, in the serene and calm environment of Dudhwa, nine-year-old Durga adopted the calf and provided her care, protection and motherly love and affection.

Experts point out that breaking this bond may cast an everlasting emotional shock to both Bhawani and Durga as elephants are stated to be psychologically very vulnerable and intensely dependent on mutual bonds.