Koonki is a specially trained elephant used in Mela shikar

Mela shikar

Mela shikar is a traditional method of capturing wild elephants for captive use. The process involves lassoing a wild elephant from the back of a trained one, called a koonki. This practice is prevalent in the north eastern part of India, especially in Assam and is one of the methods seen in...

 to capture wild elephants. They are used to chase the wild elephants, help in lassoing

Lasso

A lasso , also referred to as a lariat, riata, or reata , is a loop of rope that is designed to be thrown around a target and tighten when pulled. It is a well-known tool of the American cowboy. The word is also a verb; to lasso is to successfully throw the loop of rope around something...

 and dragging them to the depot. They are particularly trained to follow the "foot commands" from their mahout

Mahout

A mahout is a person who drives an elephant. The word mahout comes from the Hindi words mahaut and mahavat. Usually, a mahout starts as a boy in the 'family business' when he is assigned an elephant early in its life and they would be attached to each other throughout the elephant's life.The most...

s and to move silently during the entire capturing operation.

Phandi commands

Following are the commands that phandis use to drive an elephant.

• Agad : Go forward
• Pisoo/Pichoo : Go backward.
• Dhutt/Datt : Stop
• Beit : Lie (on belly)
• Tere : Lie (on one side)
• Meile/Mut : Get up