Muthumalai Elephant Camp

Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary & National Park is situated at the tri-junction of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka on the North Eastern Slopes of the Nilgiris part of Western Ghats descending to the Mysore Plateau.

The use of local tribal people as elephant handlers clearly predated the establishment of elephant camps. This system was followed mainly because of the tribals’ expertise in the jungles, their long traditional association with capture and training elephants.

Even today, the local tribals are the backbone of capturing, training and handling of elephant in the forest department.

The Kurubas in Mudumalai, the Malasars, the Pullayars and Kadars of Anamallais are some of the tribals who have traditional knowledge in the art of capturing, training and handling elephants.

The captive elephants in the sanctuaries and national parks are no longer used for timber extraction work, since these areas are managed exclusively as protected areas.

Hence the elephants are engaged mainly for the following purposes.