World Elephant Day 2023
The 11th of August witnessed the inaugural function of World Elephant Day and the release of the Malayalam translation of the book “Elephants – the Super Creatures” by Nitin Sekar, illustration by Mohit Suneja and translated to Malayalam by Arun Ravi with the title “Aanakal enna Super Jeevikal” and other related activities being held at the Thiruvananthapuram Museum and Zoo Auditorium. The event saw a participation of 57 including students from SN College, Kollam, MG College, Thiruvananthapuram, Government Teacher’s Training College, Kollam, general public, Museum and Zoo staff, WWF Staff and Volunteers. The event started with Renjan Mathew Varghese, the State Director (Kerala), WWF-India, introducing the 2-day event and conducting the caption contest while waiting for the invitees to arrive. The formal program then started with A K Sivakumar, Senior Education Officer welcoming the dignitaries and the participants.
The State Director introduced the book – “Elephants – the Super Creatures” to the audience and gave the presidential address. Ms. Anushreedha S.S., Project Officer, WWF-India and MC for the eventthen invited Sanjayan Kumar IFS, CCF (Social Forestry and IT) Kerala Forests and Wildlife Department to address the gathering and release the Malayalam version of the book. Mr. Sanjayan kept the audience spellbound with his informal speech where he spoke about his experiences with Elephants in the field and how much he respects the giants. Next, felicitation was given by Ms. Vijayalekshmi P.V., Superintendent and Education Officer, Museum and Zoo, Thiruvananthapuram, and Ms. Veena Manmathan, Executive - Social Initiatives, Mathrubhumi. The vote of thanks was delivered by Ms. Anushreedha.