Guwahati, Nov 11: For the first time, two mahouts from Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) attended a ‘Gentle Training Workshop’ for elephant handlers, owners, and carers at the National Elephant Institute in Lampang, Thailand.

KNPTR Director Sonali Ghosh informed the media that mahouts Kasim Ali (from Kaziranga Range) and Sanjeev Pegu (from Agoratoli Range) participated in the three-day workshop held from November 6 to 8. Organized by the Human-Elephant Learning Programs Foundation (H-ELP), the workshop introduced attendees to scientific approaches to improving captive elephant welfare, focusing on positive reinforcement techniques.

Dr Andrew McLean, Dr Portland Jones of the H-ELP Foundation, and Dr Bhaskar Choudhury of the Wildlife Trust of India were the key trainers and facilitators. Ghosh explained that positive reinforcement involves adding a stimulus to the environment to encourage desired behaviours in elephants, enhancing both their well-being and their bond with handlers.

Positive reinforcement means adding a stimulus to the environment to increase the frequency of behaviour. As the aim is to increase specific responses or behaviour, positive reinforcement applies gentler and softer methods of training using reward systems. Traditional elephant training tends to focus on correcting unwanted, or undesired behaviours. Positive reinforcement has a more constructive and rehabilitative psychological impact on the elephants and their relationship with their caregivers by significantly reducing stress, pain, and fear.

Learning begins for elephants the moment they start to interact with people and surroundings after birth. Positive reinforcement has been used for generations of training animals. If it is introduced appropriately, the learning experience for an elephant is improved drastically. During the training, a practical demonstration of the sequence of verbal and signal training was exhibited. Desensitization was demonstrated in elephants as well to painful or fearful experiences which is useful for working with dangerous animals and conditions in later life.

The training was also attended by Mahouts from Nepal, Laos PDR, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

Also Read: NEHU situation spirals out of control, CM Conrad reaches out to Union Education Minister

Also Watch

Find latest news from every corner of Northeast India at hubnetwork.in, your online source for breaking news, video coverage.

Also, Follow us on-

Twitter-twitter.com/nemediahub

Youtube channel- www.youtube.com/@NortheastMediaHub2020

Instagram- www.instagram.com/ne_media_hub

Download our app from playstore – Northeast Media Hub