Massage therapy for stressed out jumbos in Kerala

JUMBO THERAPY: Elke started her research on massage therapy on elephants when she was in India in 2004.

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Kochi: The elephant is an integral part of a lot of Indian festivities. And with such a hectic schedule, how does this animal cope with the stress?

Massage therapist, Elke Riesterer says, "Elephants in India live in circumstances which are very, very unnatural. We want to look a little bit deeper into this problem."

Riesterer is a US-based massage therapist and has volunteered to destress elephants in Kerala. According to her, elephants in captivity are far more stressed out than their counterparts who live in the wild.

Elke has worked with elephants in Africa and in the US and she's in Kochi now to provide these animals with some much needed jumbo care.

"You can see an animal is stressed when you look into their eyes. You can also see it in their body language, in the restlessness of their body," says she.

Elke started her research on massage therapy on elephants when she was in India in 2004. She now hopes to carry out an intensive study on the therapy and see how these animals respond to treatment.

Wildlife Trust of India Program Officer, Jose Louis says, "After 15 days in Kerala, Elke will go to Assam and Jaipur. We hope she can reduce the stress levels of the captive elephants."

Adds an elephant owner, Shenoy, "This is a good aim and it is getting good results. The elephants are responding well to the treatment I think."

And with all the pampering, elephants certainly don't seem to be complaining.