Elephants do need exercise. Do they need to play polo?

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Elephants do need exercise. Do they need to play polo?

 

11/21/2006 10:16:50 PM

 

- By Neelalohith Chitrapu

 

 

An elephant polo match organised by a diamond chain in Jaipur has

pitted

animal rights activists who contend that the royal animals should

not be

treated thus against experts who see bigger problems facing the

elephants

than a polo match.

 

Says Virginia McKenna of the Born Free Foundation, " Who will be

monitoring

these matches, the training and living conditions? The elephants are

helpless victims in a game they should have never learned. "

 

Says Dame Daphne Sheldrick, Global 500 laureate and wife of founder

warden

of Tsavo National Park in Kenya, " With 50 years of working with

elephants, I

can categorically say that forcing them to entertain the public in

an polo

match is not only insensitive but also cruel. "

 

Robert Laidlaw, co-founder of Zoocheck Canada, the nation's largest

animal

protection charity, said, " Certainly the plight of elephants in

India and

other parts of Asia deserve attention, but that should not include

nonsensical spectacles like elephant polo. If that is what elephants

need to

depend on, then they are in even more trouble than we imagine. "

 

A larger picture is presented by retired forest officer and

currently a

farmer in coastal Andhra Pradesh, V.R.Chitrapu. " The concern of

animal

activists and NGOs is highly misplaced. The Asian elephant in India

is more

endangered by the massive destruction of its habitat and exploding

human

populations. "

 

" Elephants in temples, especially female elephants housed in temples

across

Tamil Nadu, are treated with no due consideration to the animal's

need for

space and belonging to a large herd, " Chitrapu said.

 

" Across India innumerable elephants are used for begging and are

marched on

tar roads in the peak of summer. It these issues that they (NGOs and

animal

activists) should target and find a solution for. "

 

Professor and chairman of the Centre of Ecological Sciences at the

Indian

Institute of Science, Bengalooru, Dr Sukumar has a different

take: " The

elephant is a dignified and an intelligent animal. It is in the

elite league

of primates (of which humans are a part) with a sense of self-

awareness.

Using such an animal for a mere spectator sport is, in my personal

opinion,

inhuman and cruel. "

 

" An animal whose intelligence and emotional makeup is so similar to

humans

should not be used for mere fun and games, " Dr Sukumar said.

 

" Though they can be exhibited in cultural shows, they should not at

the same

time left to be mere showpieces as is done in zoos in the West. They

need to

be put to some physical exercise and in one of my research papers I

had

shown that captive elephants in the Tamil Nadu forest department had

the

highest rates of longevity. They were in the best situation

possible " .