News
March 2017 | RADHIKA SUBRAMANIAM at Aane Mane's camp
"I'm just back in NYC and feel very buoyed by the intense immersion of the last fortnight. The space you have created at the camp through your commitment to the well being and future not only of elephants but of elephant people is downright remarkable. It's not often one meets people who live their lives in such an integrated way.
Thank you too for the amazing hospitality—morning chai in the mists, evening beers under the stars, mid-day dosais in the sunshine—and a healthy dose of reality with a swarm of bees!
Warm regards and trumpets to all."
RADHIKA SUBRAMANIAM
Director/Chief Curator, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center
Asst. Professor, School Of Art and Design History and Theory
Parsons School Of Design/The New School
February 2017 | Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite
Film-maker and elephant researcher Prajna Chowta has been appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite (Knight in the National Order of Merit), one of the highest civilian recognitions of the French government.
The Hindu - article: "France confers knighthood on elephant researcher"
Consulat Général de France à Bangalore - article: "Remise de l’Ordre National du Mérite à Prajna Chowta et Jean Riotte"
November 2016 | A Brief History of the Andaman Elephants, by Prajna Chowta
Abstract: Although Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) have been brought to the Andaman Islands since the second half of 19th century for the purpose of timber extraction in which they played a crucial role, no historical study was ever conducted on the origin of these animals, the number of specimens involved, the trade and industry they were involved in, their adaptation to a different habitat, the origin of the mahouts, their working methods and the conditions under which both mahouts and elephants worked and lived.
The present essay explores this iconic chapter in the history of the species based on a field investigation in the major elephant camps and timber extraction sites in the islands as well as a study of the archives kept by the Forest Department, the Government Secretariat and the Cellular Jail library in Port Blair. It also questions the absence of wild elephants in the archipelago in early history, unlike Sumatra and Borneo, and discusses the Government policies regarding the management of captive elephants in India and the feral elephants of Interview Island and Diglipur. (Word count : 20,233)
For more information, write to : contact@aanemane.org
April 2016 | The Elephant Conference by SOAS. April 4-6, 2016, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
The conference programme addressed all aspects of elephant culture, past, present and future and in all continents. It dealt with both material and cultural concerns, and covered both the Indian and the African elephant.
Prajna Chowta participated in the event with a talk titled : Cultural aberrations in the management of captive elephants.
Regis Debruyne was invited to expose the Contribution of comparative genetics to the understanding of the evolution and distribution of elephants.
January 2016 | The 6 elephants of the Foundation
From left to right: Dharma (8 years), Kamali (3 months), Gaja (2 years), Kalpana (40 years), Kuja (3 years), Kunti (32 years).
November 2015 | Fourth birth at Aane Mane
Kunti gave birth to her 3rd calf: a female born on November the 2nd, 2015. She was 91 cm in height and was named Kamali.
February 2015 | ElephanTTrackinG, a complete wildlife tracking system
Introduced by Aane Mane Foundation in exclusive collaboration with Geotraceur (France), ElephanTTrackinG is a complete wildlife tracking system that includes the latest technology available today.
ElephanTTrackinG was born from Aane Mane's determination to develop and share a tracking system for elephants in India on a non-profit basis. For us, GPS collars represent an indispensable tool to study the movements of wild elephants, but also the modern alternative to the historical practice of chaining tamed elephants, so that they may free-range in their natural habitat.
Log in to www.elephanttracking.org
October 2014 | Release of the book ENFANT D'ELEPHANTS (Elephants’ Child)
Text by Prajna Chowta
illustrations by Stéphanie Ledoux (stephanie-ledoux.blogspot.fr)
Published by Elytis Edition (www.elytis-edition.com)
ENFANT D'ELEPHANTS is the true story of Ojas, a little girl who lives in a forest in South India amongst elephants. She owes this childhood to her mother, Prajna, who left behind everything in search of the roots of her culture and lives with elephants, much like a hermit known in Indian mythology, Palakapya.
To fulfil this choice in life, Prajna had to walk away from society, from material comfort and even the idea of having a child. The arrival of Ojas turns her resolutions upside down. An infant of the forest, Ojas grows up in an environment that marks her imagination and forges her identity. Although, Prajna’s duty as a mother reminds her that she has to prepare her child to confront the human society, she tries to delay the moment when they both will have to set out to the very world that she chose to leave behind...
August 2014 | Elephant Blues selected at The World Film Festival, Montréal - Canada
The World Film Festival website: www.ffm-montreal.org
October 2013 | Third birth at Aane Mane
Kalpana has finally given birth to a male calf on the 22nd of October, at dawn. She is deeply involved in the care of her first calf, 93 cm at the shoulder and in perfect health. The calf was named Gaja (pronounced Gadja), which means 'elephant' in Sanskrit.
Meanwhile, Dharma has reached the height of 175cm and Kuja 132cm.
The 5 elephants live in a close and very protective herd and keep roaming over the forest.
March 2012 | Second birth at Aane Mane
Kuja, a female of 90 cm at the shoulder, in perfect health and free in the forest.
Jan 2012 | First elephant GPS collar made in India
Aane Mane is proud to participate in the testing of the first prototypes of elephant
tracking collars designed and made in India. The project was undertaken by two young
electronic engineers, Radhika Gandhi and Bharath Patil, under the direction of Dr. André
Pittet, Chief Advisor at the Center for Electronics Design and Technology (CEDT), Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore.
Aane Mane has equipped two tamed elephants (Kalpana and Kunti) to test the system that transmits every 2 hours an accurate position of the elephants in the forest. Elephant GPS collars are essential in the management of captive elephants in their natural habitat. In the future, some of the 3500 captive elephants in India may be released in the forest and monitored 24h/24, thus offering them optimal conditions of living comparable to that of wild elephants. Moreover, GPS collars may prove useful in the mitigation of human elephant conflict in areas where the elephant habitat is fragmented and occupied by human settlements.
For more information, go to animaltracking.net.in
October 2010 | They talk about the Elephant Code Book
Published by The Deccan Herald (www.deccanherald.com), an article about the Elephant Code Book.
May we have the trumpets please?
Savitha Karthik, October 28
City lights hold no charm for Prajna Chowta, who has her hands full running ‘Aanemane’, an elephant camp in the jungles near Mysore, documenting the moves of the majestic creatures and enjoying the sight of her four-year-old growing up in the lap of nature, says Savitha Karthik
Read moreMay 2010 | ELEPHANT CODE BOOK by Prajna CHOWTA 2010.
Published by the Asian Nature Conservation Foundation (www.asiannature.org) & Aane Mane Foundation, Bangalore, India.
As many as 16,000 Asian elephants–one third of the entire population–are captive. In India alone, about 3500 elephants live in various and often critical conditions of captivity, contradicting the contemporary notions of wildlife conservation and animal welfare.
The Elephant Code Book examines the current methods of elephant keeping and recalls the historical background that is necessary to understand the present situation. It reviews the classical texts on the subject as well as the relevant scientific literature in order to define the principles, methods and minimum standards to be adopted as a code of conduct in the management of elephants in captivity.
Find out moreMay 2010 | Weaning and Training by Prajna Chowta
After 22 months of care during the gestation of the mother and another 2 years caring for the calf, comes the time for a delicate process which is the weaning and training of the calf: a sensitive subject in terms of animal welfare due to a lack of information.
Find out moreJuly 2008 | Dharma is now 1 year old and 1,18 m at the shoulder!
Dharma was born on July 7th, 2007.
He was a small male of 82 cm at the shoulder and approximately 90 kilos.
He is the first elephant born at Aane Mane's camp.