HOW ELEPHANTS ARE TRAINED

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6815, 19 January 1929, Page 13

HOW ELEPHANTS ARE TRAINED

CROONING SONGS THAT TAME

The - post, of elephant trainer or mahout is not an easy one to fill. It is not every one’s job, and even in the Bast, like many other callings, it is more or less hereditary and a highly; skilled occupation. ; - The training of very young animals or those born in captivity is a comparatiyely easy affair, but the capture of mature elephants in the keddah and their subsequent training and taming call for great patience, skill and dprThe Asiatic trainer relies, to a great extent, on personal contact with his wild pupil, writes "An Experienced Trainer” in the London “Daily Express”). At first he will pitch his tent or shelter a few feet from where the elephant is and is constantly in attendance on him both day and night, hand-feeding him and talking or; singing crooning songs to him to Inspire confidence. The Instructor will rub the animal’s body and trunk with wisps of straw, and will make him adcustomed to lighted torches and unusual noises of all kinds.. After a few days of this treatment he will clamber on to the pupil’s back and make him generally acquainted with the ways and touch of human beings. When the elephant begins to settle

, down he is taken each morning for 3 his bath and exercise, roped between two old, steady animals, and then he is 3 taught to obey orders conveyed by the . voice, the pressure of the mahout’s j legs or by a stroke from an implement , called an ancus. After a few weeks the newly trained [ beast will be taken about by the rider 3 without the aid of trained elephants, , and from now onward his higher edu- . nation begins. When he is thoroughly , docile and has learned his lessons in l obedience he is no longer simply an 3 elephant, but becomes a personage , known by his own particular name. I In the large establishments of the Indian princes each State elephant has his particular name in the maha- [ rajah’s retinue. He has liis right to . precedence, and seems thoroughly to know and understand it. I Elephants display extraordinary J wisdom, and with a skilful instructor . can be trained to do wonderful and i useful acts, such as the common duty , of stacking timber, frequently seen in , Burma, where the elephants will ar- | range the logs with almost mathematical accuracy.