The Hindu : Front Page : Overuse, cruelty driving elephants to madness

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 31, 2007
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Overuse, cruelty driving elephants to madness

K.S. Sudhi

KOCHI: Kerala, the home to most number of captive elephants, is fast becoming their torture ground as well.

Parading the animals in musth, stretching their working hours beyond reasonable limits, provocation by public and cruelty by mahouts are driving the elephants to madness.

This year, there were nearly 10 instances of animals running wild and killing two mahouts and causing widespread damage to property. In a recent instance in Thrissur, the elephant killed its first mahout when another mahout who was moving behind it stabbed the elephant with a knife.

In another incident at Cherthala, a young elephant that was paraded in a temple, ran wild when someone burst a balloon near it.

While musth was the main reason for the elephants running wild, there were other factors like ill-treatment, provocation from outside elements and excitement that could upset the mental balance of the animal, said K.M. Abraham Tharakan, a veterinarian who had tranquillised nearly 135 elephants during the last 10 years.

For Dr. Tharakan, every working hour is a close encounter with death. There is every possibility that the animal hit by the dart charging towards the direction from where it is fired. There were instances in the past when the veterinarian had to run for cover after darting the animal. One less fortunate veterinarian was killed by the animal he had darted.

In the face of increasing instances of captive elephants running wild and causing death and destruction, the Forest Department issued directives to its officers to ensure that all the regulations regarding the parading of elephants were observed.

It would be an uphill task for the Forest Department to take care of the elephants in distress as it required heavy investment and huge manpower, said V.S. Varghese, Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife).

Temples and other religious and social organisations should desist from the practice of parading maximum number of elephants to add colour and life to festivals. People should also be aware of the stress such incidents were causing to the animals and discourage such practices, he said.

K.C. Panicker, secretary of the Elephant Welfare Association, said the incidents of elephants running wild could be controlled if the elephants in musth were not paraded.

As the musth season of the elephants coincided with the temple festival season, a section of the elephant owners make best use of this occasion to make money by letting the animals, including the ones in musth, to be paraded.

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