The Bengal forest department will introduce three more pet elephants for the elephant safari for tourists in the Jaldapara National Park in Alipurduar district for the coming tourist season.

With the addition of the three, the number of kunkis (pet elephants) will reach eight in Jaldapara, the largest habitat of rhinos in Bengal. With tourists mounted on the back, the kunkis go deep inside the core areas of the park.

“The new elephants will join the park on September 16 when it will reopen after three months. The three kunkis will be used for safaris from the park's second gate in Salkumarhat,” said Parveen Kaswan, the divisional forest officer of the Jaldapara wildlife division.

According to him, elephant safaris from the second gate can be booked offline or in physical mode.

“We will see the response of tourists and hope the safaris will continue through the second gate,” Kaswan said.

As of now, tourists enter the park through the first gate in Madarihat and mount a pet elephant for the safari. Only SUVs, which take tourists to the park for the car safari used to enter the park through Salkumarhat.

“For the elephant safari in Madarihat, online booking is available. For the new safari through the second gate, we are initially opting for the offline mode so that tourists can reach there and book the elephant rides," said a forester.

The safaris, he said, will be conducted in three phases, starting from 6.30am. “It is an hour-long safari and the last safari is at 8.30am. Four persons will be allowed to mount one elephant at a time,” he added.

Tourism stakeholders in north Bengal welcomed the decision to launch the new elephant safaris. During the upcoming festive season, hundreds of tourists will flock to the Dooars and many of them are eager to take an elephant safari.

“It is good that additional elephants will be engaged for the safari. There is a huge demand for the safari and we believe more tourists can enjoy it now. We are confident that there will be a huge response to the new safari from the Salkumarhat gate,” said Biswajit Saha, who runs a resort in Madarihat.