Indian states act--finally--on behalf of captive elephants

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2008:

(Actual publication date 11-5-08.)

 

 

Indian states act--finally--on behalf of captive elephants

 

MYSORE, THRISSUR-- Acting on complaints filed by the

Bangalore-based Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilition Centre and by

Compassion Unlimited Plus Action, also of Bangalore, Mysore

Division deputy conservator of forests Shashwati Mishra on October

28, 2008 seized three elephants from a Great Bombay Circus

encampment in Mysore, due to alleged neglect of foot ailments.

" Forestry department officials said they had decided to shift

the elephants on the basis of a report submitted by veterinarians of

the Mysore zoo, who had inquired into the matter, " The Hindu said.

The elephants were transported to Bannerghatta National Park for

treatment.

The elephants were taken into custody 12 days after Kerala

principal chief conservator of forests T.M. Manoharan seized a

three-year-old elephant named Kannan from the Mavelikara Evoor Sri

Krishna temple in Mavelikkara.

" The plight of Kannan came to light last week when two

youngsters captured on their mobile phone cameras scenes of mahouts

brutally torturing the elephant, " reported The Hindu. " The visuals

were passed on to TV channels and forests minister Binoy Viswom

issued instructions for an enquiry. "

Elephant Lovers' Association secretary V.K. Venkitachalam

told The Hindu that this was the first time the Kerala government had

seized a temple elephant. The Kerala Forest & Wildlife Department in

May 2008 announced that it would begin strictly enforcing regulations

governing the use of elephants in parades and public ceremonies,

after a series of incidents in which temple elephants ran amok,

injuring bystanders. However, the department failed to intervene on

behalf of a six-year-old elephant who died at the Thiruvambadi temple

on June 17, 2008. The Elephant Lovers Association alleged that

this elephant was tortured by mahouts in the name of training much as

Kannan was.

The elephant seizures followed a September 2008 report by

another Bangalore charity, the Asian Nature & Conservation

Foundation, that more than 15% of the captive elephants in India are

suffering from mostly untreated tuberculosis. Veterinarian Jacob

Cheeran examined phlegm samples swabbed from the trunks of 387

captive elephants in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands, finding that 59 samples tested positive.

" In these states, there are approximately 1,000 captive

elephants in all, " Cheeran told the Times of India. " The largest

percentage of TB-affected elephants were in temples, " Cheernan

continued. " Of the 63 temple elephants we studied, 16 were

suffering from TB. Of the 160 privately owned elephants, 24 had TB.

Of the 164 owned by the forest departments of the various states, 19

had TB. "

Arnon Shimshony, zoonotic diseases moderator for

International Society for Infectious Diseases' ProMED online bulletin

board, pointed out that elephants may harbor and transmit either

bovine TB or the human form of the disease. A previous researcher,

Susan Mikota, reported to ProMED in July 2007 that while captive

elephants in the U.S. typically contract the human form, those in

Asia appear to be most often infected by sharing pastures with

diseased cattle.

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

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