On one side is a small elephant. On the other side is a large elephant. The small elephant is tied with a rope to prevent it from moving left and right. In this way, it is being taken to crowded places, to places where vehicles are moving. The two-and-a-half-year-old elephant named Shuklakali, who lives in the elephant enclosure in Pipraiya of Shuklaphanta National Park, is being trained in this way.

Shuklakali is a female elephant. She is the offspring of Narayani Kali here. After more than two and a half years, she is now being trained to be able to be handled by humans. She is being trained to patrol the park, rescue wildlife, and take tourists on safaris.

Shuklakali's training began on Magh 11. For the first three days, she was tied to a pole and lit a fire next to it, and was taught to speak and listen to humans day and night. At that time, elephants were not even allowed to sit or sleep at night. 'They are constantly trained to make them forget if they are allowed to sit and sleep,' said Anand Sunaha, the head of the elephant reserve. 'At that time, they are made to be able to move according to human signals from speech and language.'

After three days of training, the work of teaching them to walk began. Initially, they are being taught to move around in the forest of the park and then in the villages, and now they are being taught to move around in the market area. ‘They are taught to move around easily even in crowds and not to be afraid when they see vehicles,’ said Sunaha. ‘When wild animals enter the settlement, they have to be rescued in crowds, that is why we have started taking them to crowds from now on.’

Shuklakali is being guided by elephants named Lavaprasad, Shrutikali and Sheshchandra Gajraj from the park. Shrutikali and Lavaprasad are adult elephants, while Sheshchandra Gajraj was trained only two years ago. These elephants are always there. A large elephant is tied to a rope and controlled.

‘We are teaching them to walk in the forest as well as in the village and market,’ said Shuklakali’s mahout Taula Rana, ‘They have learned a lot by now, and now everything is gradually becoming easier.’ Shuklakali is now being taken to the Viral Road on the banks of the Mahakali, various areas of Dodhara Chandani Municipality, and Gaddachauki and Mahendranagar in Bhimdatta Municipality.

When the elephants reach the village and settlement, a crowd of locals gather to watch. Most of them also give the elephants fruits and money as dakshina.

Although the Shuklaphanta National Park has a capacity of 10 elephants, there are currently 9 elephants, including 4 females and 5 males, who are being trained. Elephants are needed for patrolling the park, conducting forest safaris, and rescuing wildlife when they enter the habitat.

Elephants from Shuklaphanta National Park being walked through a village during training. Photo: Bhawani Bhatta/Kantipur