(IN) Sonepur elephant treatment camp

[Guest guest]

**

*http://www.wti.org.in/html/news/2001/011202_sonepur.htm*

*Captive elephants besieged with health problems*

 

Sonepur is a small non-descript town in Saran district of Bihar. Despite its

unremarkable environs, two of its features are astonishingly large. The

first is its railway platform, probably the second largest in the world with

a length of 2,415 ft, second only to the Storvik railway station in Sweden

that has a platform length of 2,470 ft. Its' other large feature being the

cattle fair, second in volume to the Pushkar Mela, but with the distinction

of hosting the world's largest elephant fair.

 

Elephants have a legendary connection with Sonepur. The story goes that the

sage Agastya cursed Indradyumna and turned him into an elephant. He lived on

the banks of the Ganges at Sonepur.

 

Another sage cursed a Gandharva chief named Huhu when he disturbed his

meditations and turned him into a crocodile and lived in this river. One

day, when the elephant came to bathe in the river, the crocodile caught him

by his leg. The elephant could not shake off the crocodile and after a long

tussle, prayed to Lord Vishnu. His prayer was answered and Vishnu cut the

crocodile's head with his chakra (disc). The touch of the chakra released

Huhu from the curse and he went to heaven. Vishnu also released Indradyumna

from his curse by touching his forehead and took him to his abode,

Vaikuntha.

 

Legend apart, the elephant fair at Sonepur is the pride of the mela. The

elephant fair begins in a mango orchard on the banks of the Ganges a few

days before the official opening of the mela on Kartik Purnima, which fell

on November 30 this year. The Sonepur Mela also attracts cattle of every

kind, goat and sheep, horses, and even dogs and birds. A regular exhibition

ground springs up in the town, which is open for a whole month. The cattle,

elephants and other animals leave after four or five days of hectic trading.

But every visitor makes sure that the mango orchards are part of their

itinerary so that they can gawk at the pachyderms lined up there.

 

Captive elephants have a lot of health problems. Malnutrition diseases like

edema and blindness, wounds caused by mahouts, rope wounds, fissures on the

footpads and bedsores are the most common. And most of the owners do not

have access to proper medical care. For the first time in the history of the

mela, the Wildlife Trust of India in association with the International Fund

for Animal welfare (IFAW) held a health check-up camp for these elephants.

Dr NVK Ashraf, WTI veterinarian says the state of health of the elephants is

indicative of the owner's interest in the animal. " Those who buy these

animals purely for commercial purposes, singularly lack interest in their

well-being. But those who own them as an indication of their status, look

after them much better, " he says. Incidentally, on examination by Dr Asharf,

it was found that almost 80 per cent of the elephants at Sonepur had one or

more of these ailments; only 20 per cent did not have any health problems.

 

" Most of these health problems are simple, curable problems and a little bit

of care can easily prevent them, " he adds. But the elephant-keepers

(mahouts) are mostly illiterate and go by traditional cures instead of using

the services of a vet. Elephant -owner Ram Lakhan Verma, also a former Uttar

Pradesh minister, was more than happy to get his three elephants checked up

by the vet. " I live in a small village, (Tahapur, in Ambedkar Nagar

district) and we do not have any vets there. And the vets in the bigger

towns have no experience in handling elephants and are afraid to do so, " he

says. Except for a few bedsores, Sher Bahadur, his30-year-old, 10 ft tall

tusker, was healthy. " I have kept these elephants as my pets. Just as in the

cities people keep dogs as symbol of their status, I keep elephants, " he

says, proudly.

 

WTI's team at Sonepur not only examined all the elephants for health

problems, but also gave away deworming medication to all elephants.

Initially, the team faced a lot of resistance from the owners. " The owners

are mostly here to sell their elephants and do not want to openly admit that

their elephant is ill, " explains Mr Santosh Kumar Singh, owner of the mango

orchard, where the elephant mela is held. But after the initial resistance,

many owners openly sought WTI's help to treat their elephants. Like Yakub

Ali, a resident of ITO, Delhi, whose elephant had previously been treated by

WTI in Delhi. One of his elephants, Lakshmi, had got hurt in the foot while

being loaded on the truck to Sonepur. It also had other problems like edema

and a few sores. And WTI's doctor proved to be a blessing in disguise for

him. Ali got the elephant treated and in the next two days managed to sell

the elephant, which had by then begun to heal.

 

Motigaj, a 40-year-old tusker, was also hurt while being transported to

Sonepur. In fact, his left tusk broke as a result of getting caught on the

sides of the truck. The pulp cavity was infected and the animal was in

considerable pain. WTI handed over medicines for its treatment to the mahout

as the elephant was in musth.

 

Another elephant, 20-year-old female called Gulabi, had wounds all over her

body, and was possibly pregnant. Owner Ranjit Jaiswal says he bought the

elephant is this condition from an Assamese trader. A resident of Sitamarhi

district, Bihar, he has no access to vet services, except at Patna. " Vets

here have not been able to tell me whether she is pregnant, " he says.

Jaiswal and his mahout were advised by Dr Ashraf on the symptoms to look out

for to diagnose the pregnancy at home and helped them treat some of the

sores.

 

Some simple problems like edema in the neck region and fissures in the

footpad were notice in a majority of the elephants. Most owners and mahout s

were not aware that a healthy, high protein diet could get rid of the edema

and a foot wash with potassium per manganate could soothe the fissures in

the footpad.

 

WTI now plans to hold an annual health camp for elephants at the Sonepur

Mela so that owners and mahouts can access better care for their animals.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

This is nice that WTI has started helping Gentle Gaints and are microchipping

is being Done.

This reminds me of an incident that in Oct. or Nov. 2002 Jumbo Circus applied

to Divisional Forest Officer at Patiala in Punjab ,That one of their Female

elephant is suffering form unknown disease and want to take it to sonepur for

treatment.I felt something fishy and wrote to DFO that Sonepur is not a

specialised Hospital for elephants but it is a Market for Sale and purchase of

Elephants.If the Elephant is so sick a opinion from Vety.College at Punjab

Agri.University ,Ludhiana or from Vety.Surgeon of Chatt Bir Zoo near Patiala.

 

Being Member of Animal Welfare Board of India then I stopped all the animals'

performance in Punjab as the circus was not having registration for same with

AWBI.A case for Keeping Four Indian Parakeets without ownership Certificate on

my complaint at Patiala.Smt.Maneka Gandhi and Patiala M.P.Perneet Kaur ,who was

CMs wife also intervened in the matter,and movement of she Elephant was

stopped.

 

After about two months the same elephant delivered a male Calf at Ludhiana.

 

It shows that the elephants are taken on filmsy grounds to far away places for

Sale and purchases,despite a ban.

 

I may also quote an example of Moh.Yakoob of Delhi,whose two elephants were

intercepted by us at National Institute of Animal Welfare near Faridabad(Near

Delhi) in April this year.We were under training there.The elephants were

returning back after attending a wedding Function in Haryana .They were thirsty

and one of the Elephant had four Capped nails embedded into its feet.These were

removed and Wildlife inspector was called and a complaint was given to him by

Naresh kadyan of PFA Haryana ,who was also there.

The elephants which were kept with all royalties are being kept in Slums and

used for Begging.

 

Let us do something for them.

 

Dr.Sandeep K Jain

Hon.Wildlife Warden,Punjab

Ludhiana

 

 

 

 

On Tue, 30 Oct 2007 wrote :

>**

>*http://www.wti.org.in/html/news/2001/011202_sonepur.htm*

>*Captive elephants besieged with health problems*

>

>Sonepur is a small non-descript town in Saran district of Bihar. Despite its

>unremarkable environs, two of its features are astonishingly large. The

>first is its railway platform, probably the second largest in the world with

>a length of 2,415 ft, second only to the Storvik railway station in Sweden

>that has a platform length of 2,470 ft. Its' other large feature being the

>cattle fair, second in volume to the Pushkar Mela, but with the distinction

>of hosting the world's largest elephant fair.

>

>Elephants have a legendary connection with Sonepur. The story goes that the

>sage Agastya cursed Indradyumna and turned him into an elephant. He lived on

>the banks of the Ganges at Sonepur.

>

>Another sage cursed a Gandharva chief named Huhu when he disturbed his

>meditations and turned him into a crocodile and lived in this river. One

>day, when the elephant came to bathe in the river, the crocodile caught him

>by his leg. The elephant could not shake off the crocodile and after a long

>tussle, prayed to Lord Vishnu. His prayer was answered and Vishnu cut the

>crocodile's head with his chakra (disc). The touch of the chakra released

>Huhu from the curse and he went to heaven. Vishnu also released Indradyumna

> from his curse by touching his forehead and took him to his abode,

>Vaikuntha.

>

>Legend apart, the elephant fair at Sonepur is the pride of the mela. The

>elephant fair begins in a mango orchard on the banks of the Ganges a few

>days before the official opening of the mela on Kartik Purnima, which fell

>on November 30 this year. The Sonepur Mela also attracts cattle of every

>kind, goat and sheep, horses, and even dogs and birds. A regular exhibition

>ground springs up in the town, which is open for a whole month. The cattle,

>elephants and other animals leave after four or five days of hectic trading.

>But every visitor makes sure that the mango orchards are part of their

>itinerary so that they can gawk at the pachyderms lined up there.

>

>Captive elephants have a lot of health problems. Malnutrition diseases like

>edema and blindness, wounds caused by mahouts, rope wounds, fissures on the

>footpads and bedsores are the most common. And most of the owners do not

>have access to proper medical care. For the first time in the history of the

>mela, the Wildlife Trust of India in association with the International Fund

>for Animal welfare (IFAW) held a health check-up camp for these elephants.

>Dr NVK Ashraf, WTI veterinarian says the state of health of the elephants is

>indicative of the owner's interest in the animal. " Those who buy these

>animals purely for commercial purposes, singularly lack interest in their

>well-being. But those who own them as an indication of their status, look

>after them much better, " he says. Incidentally, on examination by Dr Asharf,

>it was found that almost 80 per cent of the elephants at Sonepur had one or

>more of these ailments; only 20 per cent did not have any health problems.

>

> " Most of these health problems are simple, curable problems and a little bit

>of care can easily prevent them, " he adds. But the elephant-keepers

>(mahouts) are mostly illiterate and go by traditional cures instead of using

>the services of a vet. Elephant -owner Ram Lakhan Verma, also a former Uttar

>Pradesh minister, was more than happy to get his three elephants checked up

>by the vet. " I live in a small village, (Tahapur, in Ambedkar Nagar

>district) and we do not have any vets there. And the vets in the bigger

>towns have no experience in handling elephants and are afraid to do so, " he

>says. Except for a few bedsores, Sher Bahadur, his30-year-old, 10 ft tall

>tusker, was healthy. " I have kept these elephants as my pets. Just as in the

>cities people keep dogs as symbol of their status, I keep elephants, " he

>says, proudly.

>

>WTI's team at Sonepur not only examined all the elephants for health

>problems, but also gave away deworming medication to all elephants.

>Initially, the team faced a lot of resistance from the owners. " The owners

>are mostly here to sell their elephants and do not want to openly admit that

>their elephant is ill, " explains Mr Santosh Kumar Singh, owner of the mango

>orchard, where the elephant mela is held. But after the initial resistance,

>many owners openly sought WTI's help to treat their elephants. Like Yakub

>Ali, a resident of ITO, Delhi, whose elephant had previously been treated by

>WTI in Delhi. One of his elephants, Lakshmi, had got hurt in the foot while

>being loaded on the truck to Sonepur. It also had other problems like edema

>and a few sores. And WTI's doctor proved to be a blessing in disguise for

>him. Ali got the elephant treated and in the next two days managed to sell

>the elephant, which had by then begun to heal.

>

>Motigaj, a 40-year-old tusker, was also hurt while being transported to

>Sonepur. In fact, his left tusk broke as a result of getting caught on the

>sides of the truck. The pulp cavity was infected and the animal was in

>considerable pain. WTI handed over medicines for its treatment to the mahout

>as the elephant was in musth.

>

>Another elephant, 20-year-old female called Gulabi, had wounds all over her

>body, and was possibly pregnant. Owner Ranjit Jaiswal says he bought the

>elephant is this condition from an Assamese trader. A resident of Sitamarhi

>district, Bihar, he has no access to vet services, except at Patna. " Vets

>here have not been able to tell me whether she is pregnant, " he says.

>Jaiswal and his mahout were advised by Dr Ashraf on the symptoms to look out

>for to diagnose the pregnancy at home and helped them treat some of the

>sores.

>

>Some simple problems like edema in the neck region and fissures in the

>footpad were notice in a majority of the elephants. Most owners and mahout s

>were not aware that a healthy, high protein diet could get rid of the edema

>and a foot wash with potassium per manganate could soothe the fissures in

>the footpad.

>

>WTI now plans to hold an annual health camp for elephants at the Sonepur

>Mela so that owners and mahouts can access better care for their animals.