Watch: This is how breakfast is made for elephants at Tamil Nadu reserve

Sahu shared a video of this meal prep and elephant feeding on Tuesday. Her 49-second video has gathered over 49,000 views and thousands of likes. However, despite the likes on her tweet, many people raised questions about keeping wild animals like elephants in captivity.

Echoing this view, a Twitter user wrote, “What are these elephants used for, Madam? This is no different from elephants in circuses and begging elephants. Why are they held captive, if they are not injured or rescue elephants, and able to fend for themselves in the jungle?”

However, it is interesting to note the elephants at the 100-year-old Theppakadu camp are not fully captive. They are allowed to roam in the forest area near the camp but are still fed special meals twice a day, often by tourists who visit the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. The elephant feeding programme for visitors is open every day between 8.45 am to 9.15 am and 5.45 pm to 6.15 pm.

As per the Theppakadu camp’s website, the 24 elephants that they house are either rescued or captured after conflict with humans. These elephants are trained by experienced mahouts and used for forest patrolling and educational or eco-tourism purposes.