Captive Elephants In
Circuses
The report on CAPTIVE ELEPHANTS IN CIRCUSES is the outcome of an
all-India survey conducted by Compassion Unlimited Plus Action
(CUPA), Bangalore in technical collaboration with the Asian Nature
Conservation Foundation (ANCF), sponsored by the World Society for
Protection of Animals (WSPA).
click on the page to download the complete PDF
version of the report
* . * .
*
The 3rd part published on April 26 explained how elephants loose
vision. -
90% of kerala's elephants are blind. Mahouts make them
blind. Dr.
Sasindradev and Dr. Sabu.C.Issac of kottayam district elephant
squad disclosed this.
Please read through
to the end, and ESPECIALLY THE LAST ENTRY.
****************************
On 1 May 2008, Salini
S wrote:
A series by Mathew .P. Jacob about elephant torture was published
in Kerala Kaumudi from April 24 to 28. The 3rd part published on
April 26 explained how elephants loose vision. -
90% of kerala's elephants are blind. Mahouts make them
blind. Dr.
Sasindradev and Dr. Sabu.C.Issac of kottayam district elephant
squad disclosed this.
Elephant's musth period coincides with festival season of
Kerala.
To prevent the natural musth, drugs are administered to el.
Now the el need only slight provocation to turn violent.
Mahouts will be their first targets.
To prevent el from seeing them when they turn violent, mahouts
destroy el eyesight by various techniques. They destroy at least
one eye of el and make other eye partially blind.
One is to drop the eyes with the juice of 'appathin seed'.
Rarely they use the knife-edge thotti to pierce and destroy
eyes.
They do this away from everyone when they take el to distant
festivals and workplaces.
If
the retina is destroyed vision will be lost.
If anyone asks about the wound they will say it was due accidental
touching of stick. Beating of el head with thotti and iron rod
leads to loss of vision.
Each beating is taken on the soft head of el which is the vital
part of el.
El will wriggle with pain when beaten with iron rod.
It will affect internal organs of els. The nerves to eyes are
affected badly.
Repeated beating leads to blood clotting of veins and it gets
destroyed.
Darkness will fall on eyes.
It is the right eye, which is damaged most. Because mahouts beat
mainly the right side of head.
The
el Muralikrishnan that died recently in Arookutti did not have
vision in both eyes.
This elephant that had swollen leg with a large wound was being
taken to festival site from work site in a lorry when it fell from
lorry.
With a rope tied to its neck it was lifted with a crane and made to
hang.
The sight of the el partially hanging on the rope was a
heartbreaking sight.
Afterwards it fell down dead and departed to the world of no
cruelties.
One of the biggest els in Asia thechikattukavu ramachandran has his
one eye swollen and protruded out.
Festival season starts from the middle of November.
During March, April festival reaches its peak.
If musth happens, cause financial loss to owners and
agencies.
So
the el is made into partial conscious state by giving ammonia and
narcotics.
Food and water are not given to el during festivals so that el if
turn musth does not have strength to cause destruction.
Els take a long time to eat. During busy festival season eating is
only namesake.
Changing the hormones by giving naksomikka, navasara paste, kaduka
kashay, beladona homeo drug 4ven mixed with jaggery.
To postpone musth to month antinitrogen, for a year trogelin
compound drugs given.
Easy way is to give alcohol. All these are given in whatever doses
they like.
The owners, those who take els loan from owners do this.
Now these chemicals have become part of el diet.
Musth is a natural process after 18 years. It happens regularly in
healthy els.it ranges from 1 month to even 6 months in
some els.
This time no work should be done and els should be given
rest.
In guruvayur Devaswom rest is given, so their els rarely turn
violent.
Devaswoms are in no need to make money out of els like others do-
kk article by Mathew Jacob, 2nd part, apr 25.
Same day by V. Jayakumar, kottayam: The High Court on elephant care
on March 14, 08 contain 31 clauses.
From 11am-3pm els should not be paraded.
Wet sack should be laid where els stand, water should be poured in
between, forest officers under range officer should monitor people,
a separate committee for els, Permission of Chief Wildlife Warden
must for taking els from one district to another.
Mahout should keep 5 registers that of movement, food, work,
medicine and vaccine, daily fitness certificate.
When els taken in lorry roof covered so that to prevent fall of
sunlight, musth els should not be taken out, distance between els
during ezhunnallippu not less than 4m, 250 kg of palm leaves should
be given per day, enough water leaves should be given, under
district collector a committee for elephant care should be
constituted, such 31 suggestions were ordered by high court
division bench when el lovers association filed a case.
El owners association approached high court against this and got a
stay.
El turned violent in koodalmanikyam temple.
If the 31 rules were enforced, the death of 3 persons should have
been prevented.
Aatingal: whatever mahout venu asks, the elephant Ravi, 45
replies.
Venu does not scold or beat Ravi.
The el is owned by venkulam ramachandran pillai.
Are the elephant's unnikrishnan of thiruvalla poabson group that
turned violent in koodalmanikyam temple in Iringalakuda,
Thrissur and the elephant bastin vinayasankar that turned violent
kumbhakuda procession in kottayam kuttikattu Devi temple festival
fine now?
Owners and mahouts behave cruelly to elephants that
rebellious.
salini
****************************************************
Torture season begins for elephants
K. Santhosh
|
StateTrends Festival season is celebration time for humans, but for elephants it is a season of torture. Unscientific training methods, mindless torture and poor upkeep are telling on the elephant population in the State and their behaviour. |
THRISSUR: Torture season begins for elephants in Kerala in
January.
As the curtain goes up on festivals and percussion ensembles drum
up excitement, the State makes yet another painful and dangerous
tryst with exploitation of elephants.
The pachyderms are made to walk long distances on tarred roads and
stand unendingly on concrete surfaces.
As a result, most of them have pockets of infection under their
feet or toenails, veterinarians say.
Section 12 of a Government Order (No 12/2003/F&WLD) dated
February 26, 2003, prohibits `marching an elephant over tarred
roads for long, during the hottest period of the day, for religious
or any other purpose'.
The order also prohibits `making the elephant stand in the
scorching sun for unreasonably long duration, and bursting crackers
when the elephant is around'.
"Elephant owners and mahouts care two hoots for the law," says K.C.
Panicker, veterinarian and secretary of the Kerala Elephant Welfare
Association.
Elephants are sorely uncomfortable on tar and concrete. "Blisters
are unbearable for the animals. If one foot gets infected, the
elephant would repeatedly shift all the weight to the other feet.
These legs too would then feel tired," says P.C. Alex, veterinarian
with the Kerala Agricultural University.
Feet are the gauge of an elephant's overall health. Use of
custom-made boots for the animals is recommended.
"If the feet get infected, rest is essential. But the owners, who
are eager to send the elephants to the maximum number of festivals
and earn more, give the animals no rest," says Dr. Panicker.
The elephants are also mostly ill-fed and not given enough water.
An elephant normally drinks between 200 to 250 litres of water
every day.
Training is
torture
Training elephants mostly involves physical abuse and complete
domination of the animals. "Training the pachyderm requires a great
deal of patience. Mahouts are impatient with slow learners. Torture
accompanies lessons. Groups of people sometimes beat up a chained
elephant in a practice called `Nunachattam' when a new mahout takes
charge. The practice rests on the belief that a bond develops
between the elephant and the mahout when it is nursed to normality.
The method is unscientific and resembles a scene from an absurd
play," says V.K. Venkitachalam, secretary, Kerala Elephant Lovers'
Association (Ana Premi Sanghom).
Belief also goes that when a male elephant is in musth, it can be
controlled only if it is made weak through torture and poor
feeding. `Musth' is a Hindi word meaning `intoxicated'. When a male
elephant is in musth, its level of testosterone will rise
dramatically by a factor of 20 or more.
`Musth' might last up to 60 days as the male elephant wait for
mating. The animal displays aggressive behaviour during this
period. The elephant will dramatically reduce his food intake and
burn up much of his fat reserves.
The temporal gland between the eyes and ears swell and discharge a
viscous secretion. There is continual dribbling of urine too.
"Despite several programmes to create awareness among mahouts,
elephants are tortured when they show signs of `musth'. Mahouts
have a wrong notion that they can control the elephants only if the
animals are weak," says Dr. Panicker.
The elephant retaliates when the torture is unbearable. According
to the Elephant Lovers' Association, the number of mahouts killed
by elephants rose from 18 in 1997-`99 to 46 in 2003-`05.
The number of elephant deaths rose from 137 in 1997-`99 to 384 in
2003-`05.
No
records
The Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules
2003 state that elephant owners and mahouts should maintain records
of elephant disease and treatment. Fitness certificates and
vaccination records should be available for verification whenever
the elephant is taken out.
"Most of the mahouts do not carry the records. The rules also state
that the fitness of the elephant should be checked every day while
it is taken out, by the panchayat or town veterinary officer, but
this rule is never observed," says Mr. Venkitachalam.
Some animal lovers are against transporting the elephants on
trucks.
"Being isolated can make the elephant aggressive," says Mr.
Venkitachalam.
Awareness programmes alone will not alleviate the plight of
elephants, animal rights activists say.
Only comprehensive and effective legislation
will.
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www.hindu.com/2004/07/23/stories/2004072302310300.htm
Elephant
collapses on road, torture alleged
By Our Staff Reporter
PATHANAMTHITTA, JULY 22. A 68-year-old captive elephant, Renju,
attached to the Elephant Camp of the Forest Department at Konni,
collapsed on the Konni-Adoor Road this afternoon, allegedly owing
to lack of proper care by the authorities and physical torture by
mahouts.
The elephant was reportedly taken out for a bath in the nearby
Achencoil River by a new mahout in the morning. The animal
collapsed while returning to the camp in the afternoon.
The doctors from the Government Veterinary Hospital at Konni rushed
to the spot and administered glucose fluid to the animal. It was
brought back to the camp by 6 p.m.
Vehicular traffic on the Konni-Adoor Road was disrupted for about
two-and-a-half hours following the incident.
There were allegations of torture of elephants at the camp by the
mahouts with the connivance of certain Forest personnel.
The Elephant Protection Council general secretary, Salim P. Chacko,
and the Konni Development Society leaders, Jagish Babu and Vinod
Elakolloor, condemned the incident and demanded a detailed
inquiry.
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http://www.thehindujobs.com/thehindu/mp/2006/08/02/stories/2006080200960300.htm
Kerala Tips »
Elephants,
torture, religious festivals and
death
Elephants
suffer as well
|
Elephants in Kerala suffer unforgivable torture |
WHAT
TORTURE! Elephants being physically tortured with
spears
Last month a full-grown tusker was captured under the orders of the
Kerala Forest Minister and underwent `training' required to make
him obedient. During the training, the elephant was tortured to
death. The news did not bring national outcry and so
Animal Talk
wishes to highlight his story and others like him. Though assumed
rogue and captured by the Kerala Forest Department (KFD) with the
proposal to `train' him, the real reason was that tribals
complained about him destroying crops, allegedly killing people.
Being a lone elephant who loves
koda
the illicit liquor brew, commonly manufactured in the Kottur
region, he was an animal who fit the profile of a rogue. There was
no data available with the Forest Department of an official study
or enquiry into the allegation of loss of crops and human life this
elephant may have caused. Even the practice of
khedda
(wild elephant capture operations), had been banned by the Indian
Government decades ago because it left several elephants severely
maimed and injured.
Government Orders have banned elephant capture following the brutal
training and eventual death of an elephant as these examples
illustrate:
In
Kerala, an elephant captured inWynad in 1995 died in the process of
training soon afterwards. In Karnataka, training a calf led to its
death in 2001. In Chattisgarh, a captured elephant died in 2004,
such was the outcry that the practice was discontinued by the
Indian Government. There are videos and reports of wild elephant
training - both of calves and adults - if seen will send one into
bouts of horror and tears.
The
animals are brutalised to the point of physical and mental collapse
and the violent beatings by sticks, spears (as shown in picture)
and the ankush causes such damage that many do not survive the
process. The few who do, always carry a great scar and can be
dangerous to man and mahout. The human-elephant conflict is
growing, and there are many other measures, which can be put into
place. In this incident, a strategy to discourage the number of
brews in the Podiyakkala Kani tribal settlement range that are
attracting wild elephants would greatly benefit. The elephants can
be released in the larger landscape of the Periyar- Agasthyamalai.
Land-use patterns and immediate compensations procedures are some
quick-relief measures.
So
why then do we allow the death of elephants through torturein the
name of tradition? In the name of the Ministry of Wildlife &
Forests? In the name of the Circus? Cirque du Soleil, a French -
Canadian Circus that is the ultimate form of Circus entertainment -
does not use a single animal and is the most sought after and
successful one in the world. It is time these practices of elephant
torture - both obsolete and illegal- are dealt with in the manner
they deserve.
What
you can do? Send a protest letters to
authorities:
1.
Shri Binoy Viswam , Hon'ble Minister for Environment and
Forests,
State
Secretariat, Trivandrum, Kerala
Fax
No: +91- 0471- 2326677/ 2322217
2.
The PCCF & Chief Wildlife Warden
Kerala
Email: pccf@ keralaforest.org
3.
Hon'ble Union Minister for Environment &
Forests
Ministry
of Wildlife & Forests , New Delhi.2.
Email:
mef@mens.nic.in
4.
Director, Project Elephant
Delhi
Email:gajendra@nic.in
(Photo
and information credit: The Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation
Center (WRRC), Bangalore)
AMALA
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Elephant `tortured' to death
By Our Staff
Reporter
PATHANAMTHITTA, FEB. 24. In yet another case of alleged cruelty to
elephants by ill-trained mahouts, a domesticated 45-year-old
elephant died at Mannarakottappady, near Kulanada, on the
Kaippuzha-Panangad Road on Monday evening.
The elephant, Manikantan, belonged to a timber merchant who runs a
sawmill at Panangad. The pachyderm was reportedly taken for a bath
to the nearby river. According to eyewitnesses, the elephant was
beaten up badly by the mahouts when it showed signs of hesitation
to enter the river.
The pachyderm reportedly turned a little violent when it was
tortured to get into the river waters. They said all the three
mahouts attending on the tusker were in an inebriated state and had
tortured the elephant in their efforts to get it out of the river
too. A large number of local people had gathered on the riverbank
to witness the incident when the elephant turned violent.
They said the mahouts had hit the elephant with rock pieces and
sharp iron implements.
The pachyderm with contusion all over the body and cut injuries on
the leg was `tamed', later, and was taken to the road around 3 p.m.
The tusker was reportedly found weary and it collapsed when it
reached Mannarakkottupady near Kaippuzha Elanjickalkavu, the local
people said.
Meanwhile, the three mahouts escaped from the scene after sensing
the death of the elephant. The tusker's carcass was lying on the
road till it was reportedly removed to an `unknown' destination by
some unidentified people late in the night, the local people
said.
Ironically, the police at Pandalam are feigning innocence saying
that no complaint had been registered in this connection so
far.
Meanwhile, the reporter of a local daily was allegedly manhandled
by the owner of the elephant when the former sought details of the
mahouts. The owner was not willing to disclose the identity of the
mahouts.
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Ayyappan
Apr
9, 2007
...
Torture of
elephants Nowadays almost on a
daily basis, you can see newspaper reports of
elephants going mad and killing
its mahout.
...
www.keralatips.org/2007/04/09/elephants-torture-religious-festivals-
********************************************
From
a citizen of Kerala
We
need to work as an international community on this horrific issue.
Every species of animal is brutalized in this state ruled by
communists. The multifaripus government authorities are in
connivance, local animal rights groups do not exist, activists in
other parts of India are dysfunctional and
impotent.
The
soft underbelly of Kerala is tourism. They promote it as God's
Own Country' whilst it is "Devil's Own Country'....can you help
with an international petition which hits them where it hurts
?
We
can publicise it through several means....will appreciate any help
or guidance you may be able to provide.
