Growing Up: Orphaned Yogi wins human friends

Chilla, June 17, 2002: He is a rather unusual baby for a 22-year-old to have, but five-month-old Yogi couldn't have asked for a more devoted mother than Kadambari Mainker, a volunteer with Wildlife Trust of India, assigned for a month to play mom to a three-month-old elephant calf. Yogi - as he is called affectionately - weighs 150 kgs, is half as tall as his foster mom, and drinks at least 30 litres of formula milk daily. Raees, Yogi's mahout, says he has never mixed so much milk for anybody. He is naughty, always upto some mischief, forever hungry…and very intelligent, informs Kadambari who, along with Raees, has been looking after "the little brat" for over a month.

For those who have not been following his story, Yogi, was rescued by officials of Rajaji National Park in Uttranchal and is housed at the Chilla range. His history is rather tragic, though not unusual given the intensity of man-elephant conflicts that plague the pachyderm population in India. Yogi's herd ventured into sugarcane fields adjoining the park (Kansrao range) and incensed farmers in order to protect their crop from marauding elephants, reportedly used firecrackers and firearms to chase them away. Terrified, the herd trumpeted into the forest, leaving a lost and bewildered calf behind. When the forest department rescued him on April 24, Yogi was severely dehydrated.

Growing up with "human parents" was a rather rough ride, he was initially fed buffalo milk, which is unsuitable for elephant calves. Buffalo milk has less saturated fatty acids than an elephant's milk.

Yogi has now settled into a diet of Lactogen formula, fed every two hours, mixed with powdered soyabean to makeup for inadequate protein content. "He was initially reluctant to drink soya laced milk, but has slowly gotten used to it," Kadambari says.

Yogi begins his day early. His mornings start at 4 a.m with loud demands for food. His loud trumpeting has a sleepy Kadambari and Raees tumble out of bed to prepare the formula milk. His daily routine includes two-hourly feeds; and in between chow-time is a walk and mud bath. Yogi's personal bath tub proved to be too fragile and the forest department has plans of building a small pond for him. As an occasional treat he is taken to the nearby river for a bath. More...