God's Own Country will soon have an exclusive hospital for elephants at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in Mannuthy, Thrissur city.
"The hospital will have an in-patient treatment facility for 10 elephants at a time. Besides, the state-of-the-art laboratory facilities would be there," noted elephant veterinarian Jacob Cheeran told IANS on Sunday.
The decision to establish a veterinary hospital solely for elephants has been taken in the view of growing number of giant mammals above the age of 50, Cheeran explains. He said that majority of 500 captive elephants in Kerala will soon turn 50 years and would require augmented healthcare support.
The hospital is being built on an expanse of five-acre plot in the University at the cost of ₹10 crore. All those contributing to the development of the proposed hospital will be meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on 15 June.
"The contribution and the role of various agencies will be identified and then the Centre will be doing the needful," added Cheeran.
