torture of captive elephants

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Torture, heat pushing jumbos into state of madness

 

Pioneer News Service | Kochi

 

Long hours of work in unbearable heat, torture and ill-treatment by

mahouts and lack of sufficient food are reasons that are taking toll

on elephants being used for temple festivals, say experts. If

guidelines are not followed strictly, the incidents of elephants

running amok at festivals will increase in the coming days as the

temperature level is rising in the State, they warn.

 

 

 

 

Experts say that a close examination of cases of elephants turning

truant and violent reveal mistreatment by mahouts, long work hours due

to the greed of the owners for lease money and long stay under the

blazing sun are the prime reasons for the same.

 

 

 

" Nature does not permit subjecting the thick-skinned pachyderms to the

torture of bearing the summer heat. It is the time when elephants like

to - and must - have cool-off time in rivers and lakes. While the wild

elephants do this, their counterparts in the country do not have such

luxury, " an elephant-lover from Thrissur said.

 

 

 

He said that the very tactic used by people to bring a wild elephant

under control on Tuesday at Thaikkattussery near Thrissur was a

blatant violation of the rules as well as basic regard for animal

life. When the truant elephant, which had already killed its mahout

ran onto an embankment, people resorted to control it by setting fire

to the vegetation on the sides of the embankment.

 

 

 

" The day's temperature was harsh enough to make an elephant mad. It

was in addition to this that the people made the situation worse for

the elephant by trapping him in a box of fire, " he said.

 

 

 

Five elephants had run amok on a single day, Tuesday, at three places

in Thrissur district. Experts said that such cases are a clear

indication of violation of guidelines.

 

 

 

It was reported that the elephants had turned violent after the mahout

thrusted a sharp weapon into the flesh of the elephant's leg. The

mahout had allegedly done this as the elephant failed to obey his

orders during the festival in the Bhagavathi Temple at

Thaikkattussery.

 

 

 

The elephant, Thechikkottukavu Devidasan, killed mahout Kumaran (29)

of Parassery Kanjirapparampil, Palakkad. As Devidasan turned violent,

two other elephants being brought for Ezhunnallippu also ran amok,

creating panic in the entire area.

 

 

 

Experts point that the mahouts fail to feed the elephants properly or

give them sufficient water to drink, which leads to such situations.

 

 

 

They cite the example of Chullipparampil Suryan, the elephant that ran

amok on Tuesday at Chilanka Beach in Vatanappilly of Thrissur

district.

 

 

 

The violent elephant, after destroying three autorikshaws, had run

straight to a water tap. It later entered a house plot to drink the

water stored there. " This clearly indicates why the elephant turned

violent. It was not being given enough water to drink, " Sasidharan, an

elephant-watcher in Thrissur, said.

 

 

 

Sasi says that an elephant should drink a minimum of 300 litres of

water a day if its body system has to work perfectly. " But our

elephant owners and mahouts seem to think that even 100 litres is more

than enough. When such quantity is insufficient even during rainy

season, think of what happens in summer, " he said.

 

 

 

" It is on top of this mistreatment that mahouts torture the elephants.

It is more than enough to push an elephant into madness, " Sasi added.