Kerala - Kochi   

Calf elephant up for sale

KOCHI: The temple authorities of Thalavur Thrikonnamarkode Devi Temple, Kottarakara, have put on sale a 15-year-old tusker.

The temple authorities have also placed advertisements in newspapers on Sunday regarding the sale of elephant.

“The elephant has started growing tusks and is a properly tamed one used for Para Ezhunalathu with the holy deity atop the animal,” said C. Manojkumar, president of the Temple management committee.

The temple authorities are demanding Rs. 30 lakh for the elephant.

The elephant with a height of 7.5 feet was originally brought from Bihar by an individual. The individual later sold it to the Temple authorities three years ago, according to the temple authorities.

“We have been using the animal exclusively for temple rituals and has not used it for any other work,” Mr. Manojkumar said.

The animal was also micro chipped recently and all documents relating to its ownership were with the individual, he said.

The temple authorities said that they used to keep such elephants for three years and dispose of them later as fully-grown up animals as they could not move easily through the narrow roads and alleys in the area. A few prospective buyers had also visited the elephant on Sunday, according to the temple authorities.

Though the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 has banned the sale of elephants, which are included in the Schedule 1 of the Act, the Kerala High court had recently permitted the intra-state sale of the animal.

According to V.S. Varghese, the Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), the State Government has permitted the intra-State sale of elephants that were brought here before August 18, 2007. This was following an order from the Kerala High Court. However, even for such sale, the permission of the Chief Conservator of Forest is required. In this case, the office of the Chief Conservator has not received any application.

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