CAPTURE and domestication have increasingly become the solution to elephants that turn menacing. But how many elephants can forest departments maintain? There are 6,000 elephants in captivity in India, says V Krishnamurthy, a veterinary doctor who has worked with captive elephants all his life.

Krishnamurthy points out that ever since logging operations slowed to a virtual standstill, keeping elephants has become an expensive proposition. The elephant camp in Theppakadu in Mudumalai, for instance, has 25 elephants and each costs the Tamil Nadu forest department Rs 250 a day.

Only 4 or 5 elephants are used to give rides to tourists. So how do the rest of them earn their keep? Theppakadu's elephants will hereafter probably have to sing for their dinner.

The Mudumalai forest department recently thought up a more or less permanent elephant festival, where mahouts and elephants in regal finery will perform tricks for tourists. The little ones will perform tricks like playing football, balancing on a beam and playing the harmonica, while the older ones will indulge human egos by letting them win tug-of-war games.

The festival will initially be held every evening and tourists will be allowed to watch for free. But if the crowds begin to pour in, the elephants will have to perform all day. The only respite for them in a full day of hard work could be when foreign tourists pay a fat sum for the honour of bathing them in the nearby Moyar river.