Kathmandu, December 2:

A group of international conservationists are working to develop training methods for safe handling of elephants.

“Nepali and foreign trainers will work together from December 11 to 17 at the Elephant Breeding Centre at Khorsor of Chitwan to develop new methods to treat the elephants in humane and safe ways to develop a Nepali version of a training method that optimises the elephant’s learning rate and the cooperative attitude towards people,” Anil Manandhar, the WWF country representative for Nepal, told this daily today.

A workshop will also be organised to share experts’ knowledge on issues like improving elephant health, nutrition, equipment and handling, he informed.

“The experts at the workshops will include veterinarian Dr Kamal Gairhe from Nepal and Dr Andrew McLean from Australia, Tuikku Kaimio from Finland, Marc Pierard from Belgium,” Manandhar said.

“Positive reinforcement is a method in which the elephant gets rewarded for the right actions during the training. Pressure release, the other method used, means that during training, the elephant is guided with as light pressure as possible, and each time the elephant performs the desired action, the pressure is immediately released,” he said, adding that the best efficiency in training is achieved when using both methods in combination.

The workshops are being organised within the framework of the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) programme.