18 deaths in 6 months: How can Kerala save its elephants?

There have been so many stories, one almost every other day in the newspapers. It has stopped shocking the readers. Elephants die. They keep dying. A slow tilt of the head, a sympathetic ‘tch’, and they turn the page, they forget.

But on Twitter a few days ago, there were posts, retweets about an elephant’s death. Kolakkadan Jagannathan has ‘fallen’ as they say in Malayalam. And he is the 18th casualty in Kerala this year. Before even June has ended. 18 elephants in 6 months. Averaging three a month.

He and singer Chitra Iyer, the other founder of the group, are approaching the state Head of the Forest Force, PK Kesavan, with a solution plan they have drawn up. “It should be done at the state level. There are less than 400 elephants in the state (excluding the wild ones) and these are being paraded for all the festivals across Kerala through October to May. Most of these are owned by private concerns. The Devaswom Board comes only after that. The elephants go from one festival to the other, one day in Kannur, the next day in Thiruvananthapuram. They get no rest, they are not properly fed. It is after the festive season that elephants die,” he lists out the problem first.


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As 13 captive elephants die in Kerala in 5 months, a debate on animal cruelty – and tougher rules

The death of 13 captive elephants in Kerala in the past five months has sparked a debate on the cruelty shown to these animals – an intrinsic part of the state’s grand temple festival tradition – and prompted a revision of the rules protecting them. The deaths follow 20 captive elephants dying in 2017 and 26 the year before, according to media reports.

On May 2, the state forest department announced that it had revised the Kerala Captive Elephants Management and Maintenance Rules, 2012, and would take strict legal action against those who torture or mistreat the animals.

PK Kesavan, the state’s chief wildlife warden, blamed the deaths this year on careless handling and wilful negligence. “Elephant owners make maximum profits during the festival season but pay scant attention to the well-being of the elephants,” he told Scroll.in. “They do not give adequate food and time for enough rest to them.”

Kesavan explained that elephants are different from other captive animals and require special treatment. “Elephants need huge amount of food and adequate rest,” he said. “Denying them both will badly affect their health.”

According to K Venkitachalam of the Heritage Animal Task Force, a non-governmental organisation in Thrissur, an elephant needs 200 kg of tree leaves and 200 litres of water every day. “Unfortunately, a majority of the captive elephants get less than one-tenth the required quantity because of the festivals,” he said.

A parade of elephants bedecked with ornaments and carrying idols and colourful parasols is a major attraction in Kerala’s temple festivals. By unofficial estimates, more than 500 such temple festivals are held in the state between August and May. The number of elephants used in each festival ranges from five to 120. Thrissur Pooram, considered the biggest temple festival in Kerala, concluded on April 26 and boasted a line-up of 117 elephants.


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Wildlife chiefs crack down on abusers of captive elephants in India

Wildlife chiefs in the Indian state of Kerala have launched a crackdown on the way captive elephants are kept and treated after an outcry when The Independent exposed the intense cruelty inflicted upon them.

Heads of the state’s forest department are warning that anyone involved in cruelty to the animals will face “severe consequences” that may include having the elephant taken from them.

The alert is included in revised guidelines issued to elephant-owners and those involved in taking them to festivals, where they are shackled, beaten, ridden and prodded with sharp implements.

The animals – India’s icons – are painted and dressed in colourful decorations for parades and processions organised by religious temples, largely in the southern state of Kerala, where up to 500 are used this way.

Last month The Independent revealed how behind the glamour of the festivals, captive “temple” elephants are often tied to the spot by ropes or chains that eat into their skin; “trained” through being hit with metal rods or bullhooks; malnourished, overworked and deprived of medical care.

The new document admits “laxity” in implementing Kerala’s rules designed to protect the welfare of the animals.



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Rehabilitation saves not just elephants, but humans as well: WTI founder

The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) was started 20 years ago and has grown to become one of the largest conservation organisations in the country. We work with about 50 different projects across India, which involves rescue operations, conducting awareness campaigns, and securing migration corridors. Our association with the Elephant Parade falls under our land securement project for elephant corridors across the country.
Fifteen years ago, we mapped the land and identified 88 such corridors; last year we updated this list. At present there are 101 wildlife corridors in India. This is an indication of wildlife habitat getting more and more fragmented, because of which animals are having to move from one habitat to another through corridors.

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In India, there is a lot of tolerance, says Ruth Ganesh

The Elephant Parade, with a 24-city run around the world, stopped in Mumbai in March to raise funds for conservation of wild elephant corridors and habitat in the country. Organised by Elephant Family, a UK-based non-government organisation that raises funds for the conservation of the Asian elephant, the Elephant Parade India has engaged leading Indian artists, fashion designers, design institutes, tribal painters and celebrities to create 101 unique sculptures. These were auctioned to raise money for conserving 101 elephant corridors in the country. As of March 22, more than half of the sculptures had been sold, earning the project ₹4.2 crore (including donations).
Ruth Ganesh, trustee of Elephant Family, spoke to Forbes India about the organisation’s work, and how India has the capability of coming up with unique solutions.

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Probe on into parading of injured elephant at Kakkanad

The Kerala Forest Department has launched a probe into the alleged parading of an injured elephant at a  at Kakkanad. Tusker Kuttisankaratemple festivaln, owned by a Thrissur native, had a deep wound on one of its hindlimbs while the animal was paraded at the Pattupurakkavu temple here on Friday.

The mahout, however, allegedly covered the wounds using charcoal. According to officials, the animal was weak and it even struggled to walk during the procession. On an alert by the volunteers of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a Forest Department team rushed to the spot and issued a warning against parading the sick elephant.

The official warning, however, was defied when the animal was paraded during the festival later on the same day. Preliminary investigations revealed that the elephant had been given a fitness certificate by a Kochi-based veterinary doctor.

“We have now directed the District Assistant Veterinary Officer to examine it again to ascertain how the animal was given a fitness certificate. Based on the finding, cases will be registered against those responsible for parading it in the temple festival,” said Anaz N A, Assistant Conservator, Social Forestry wing, Ernakulam. ‘No examination’ Meanwhile, the department has also approached the Kerala State Veterinary Council against the veterinary doctor who issued the fitness certificate to Kuttisankaran. In his letter, Mr.

Anaz noted that there was a trend of issuing fitness certificate to elephants without examining the animal at all. The letter highlights an incident in which the same doctor issued a fitness certificate to an elephant in Changanassery in January this year, allegedly without physically examining it. “The veterinarian concerned here was present at the Ernakulam Siva temple in the morning and at the Nadakkavu temple later in the evening on that particular date.

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Vet council asks forest officials to submit proof against doctor

KOCHI: The Kerala state veterinary council disciplinary committee has asked the forest department officials to submit evidence against veterinarian Dr Abraham Tharakan, who had allegedly issued fitness certificates to seriously-injured elephants without properly examining them before they are paraded in temple festivals, on April 6 at district veterinary office, Ernakulam.
The council was considering a complaint filed by forest officials that the veterinarian was repeatedly issuing fitness certificates to elephants without examining them. The latest trigger is the parading of an elephant, Kuttisankaran, with very open and clear wounds on his legs. “We went to the spot when we were informed by members of Society for Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (SPCA) that an elephant with open wound was being paraded at the Pattupurakkal Bhagavathy temple, Kakkanad. Though they promised to move the tusker out, they brought him back again,” said Anaz, assistant conservator of forests, social forestry, Ernakulam.

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20 persons injured as jumbo runs amok

hattamangalam (Ker), May 3 (PTI) At least 20 persons were injured when an elephant ran amok as 34 elephants were lined up for a parade at a temple in Thattamangalam in Palakkad district recently, police said today.

Police said cases under IPC sections 289 (Negligent conduct with respect to animals) and 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others) have been registered against the authorities of the Vettai Karuppaswamy Shiva temple here and those who had brought the elephants for the parade on Saturday last.

Five elephants panicked and ran for at least three km before they were brought under control.
Local people, who had gathered to watch the festivities were injured in the melee, police said.
The incident occurred at around 10 pm during the festival, which is held every two years in the area.

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