Pachyderm Partnerships

All captive elephants that you see around are so because they have been beaten and dominated into submission. Each additional command relies on negative-reinforcement, ie, ‘punishing’ the elephant into the desired behaviour by beating them further. This is not only inhumane to the sentient beings, but also puts the elephant caregivers at considerable risk of injury and death. 

Through Pachyderm Partnerships we create and test a training model that uses positive-reinforcement by ‘rewarding’ elephants for good behaviours. This project, in collaboration with the Pakke Tiger Reserve Forest Department draws on cutting-edge animal behaviour and cognition science to build a working example of how this can be achieved in practice with captive elephants actively used for patrolling. This aims to build a stronger more-than-human relationship on trust, cooperation,and well-being of elephants and their caregivers.

Why Now

In recent years,  two patrolling elephants and two mahouts have lost their lives in Pakke Tiger Reserve. Patrolling elephants are the only reliable means of navigating the unforgiving terrain, especially during the monsoons when large parts of the park are inundated. Getting supplies like food and equipment to forest guards deep inside the forests requires elephant support. The deep, fast rivers with slick mud mean that no machine can replace this role yet. This makes the existing captive elephants indispensable to the security of Pakke.

This training helped six elephants voluntarily participate in key medical procedures which were traditionally carried out through fear-based control. Simultaneously, seven mahouts were introduced to the principles of this approach to build safer and more respectful human-elephant relationships.

The Journey So Far

Health Assessment Protocols

A collaborative protocol with veterinarians, mahouts and the forest department for a regular medical check up of each camp elephant to ensure early detection of under-lying health issues and timely intervention for the same.

Understanding the lives of mahouts : We have conducted two workshops – collaborating with mahouts clinical psychologists, musicians, sound healers and others.

Thinking and Working with Elephants – A One Health Journey in Pakke

 March 9th–11th, 2025

What stories lie behind their watchful eyes and skillful hands? Stories of how they became mahouts, of the elephants they work with, and of the care exchanged between them. What care do they need as they care for others?

सफ़र: A Workshop on the Journeys of Mahouts and Jugalis

April 5th–6th, 2025

Using the metaphor of a forest journey, this workshop sparked conversations about challenges, learnings, hopes, and sources of strength. A sound healing session invited quiet reflection and moments of slumber under the moonlit sky.  

Haathi Bondhu Song Release

February 24, 2025

Deben Das Deka, a 93-year-old retired and highly experienced caregiver from Goalpara who shared a lifetime of wisdom on elephant bathing techniques, traditional dietary practices, and wound care participated in singing  “Haathi Bondhu” with the musicians and mahouts of Pakke. A song that describes the beautiful bond between mahouts and the elephants, Haathi Bondhu is a soulful rendition that symbolises care, friendship and environmental stewardship. It was performed at the Pakke Paga Hornbill festival in January 2025. 

A learning exchange at Kaziranga 

This tour was an opportunity for mahouts to exchange traditional knowledge and skills and fostered cross-site learning with peers in different settings. These learnings fostered mutual respect, reflection and learning in practice. 

The way forward 

Each animal and their mahout have learnt at their own pace. Challenging elephants such as Vijaaya and Joimala offered insights into the power of consistency, patience and the importance of relationship-building. Individuals responded differently, with the need for repeated reinforcement, trust-building and adaptation to individual personalities. Longer-term engagement would need a training-programme as this, making sure every elephant and mahout gets enough time as required.

Knowledge on plants used to feed elephants and treat common ailments is often passed down orally, lacking written documentation. In order to preserve this knowledge, we plan to develop an ethnographic manual that could be used for by the future generations of the mahouts.

Amidst rain, shifting terrains and challenging roads, this training programme has had its own set of challenges. Armed with a multidisciplinary team of forest staff, psychologists, mahouts, veterinarians, and behaviourists has rewarding as well as required constant efforts toward effective communication, boundary setting, and shared decision-making.