In Kerala, temple fests take a toll on elephants: 269 deaths in last three years
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Temple elephants,
it seems, are dying young in god's own country. A week ago
four-year-old Chettuva Kannan, a popular elephant in
Mokavoor-Ramanattukara area in Kozhikode, died due to acute stomach
infection. Kannan was separated from his mother in Munnar when he was
just five months old.
For the last four years he was ceaselessly paraded at annual mosque and temple festivals and even made to garland and salute local politicians at several valedictory functions in Kozhikode. The forest department received 47 complaints against this gross violation of Wildlife Act yet no action was taken. Kannan's death is not an isolated case.
In the last three years, 269 elephants lost their lives and, shockingly, a majority of them were below the age of 40. This year the death figure is already 13. Veterinary doctors with forest department who conduct post-mortems said that a majority of elephants died due to impaction, a medical term for blockage of digestive tracts of animals.
"Dietary change, long working hours and dehydration are some of the main reasons for impaction. We have found many elephants in a dehydrated state and left untreated for many weeks when they were supposed to get adequate rest after every festival,'' a senior veterinary doctor with the forest department said.
He said elephants should not be given sweets and dairy products, as they are hard to digest and leads to gastro problems. Activists point out that individual elephants owners who own around 60% of the 702 captive elephants have been violating many rules. "Elephants are not supposed to be paraded for festivals for more than six hours daily. But in a majority of cases they work for over 10-12 hours even during extreme summer, which causes dehydration,'' Elephant Lovers Association secretary V K Venkatachalam said.
The rules also say that not more than three elephants should be kept in a compound and they should not be made to walk more than 20 km every day, but these are often violated. Forest officials point out that there is urgent need to have doctors from the forest department conduct post-mortems of elephant that die at a relatively young age. As of now, most post-mortems are done by local doctors who favour elephant owners.
"This issue need to be probed thoroughly and only a detailed enquiry can reveal the exact reasons for the increase in the number of deaths,'' chief forest conservator of forest Raja Raja Verma said.
Venkatachalam also drew attention to the recent disturbing trend of taking elephants to neighbouring states. "Elephants from Kerala are used to push chariots and this puts huge stress on the forehead of the elephant. There was a recent instance when an elephant was forced to push a 12-tonne chariot at a Mariamman temple in Udumalai in Tamil Nadu,'' he said.
For the last four years he was ceaselessly paraded at annual mosque and temple festivals and even made to garland and salute local politicians at several valedictory functions in Kozhikode. The forest department received 47 complaints against this gross violation of Wildlife Act yet no action was taken. Kannan's death is not an isolated case.
In the last three years, 269 elephants lost their lives and, shockingly, a majority of them were below the age of 40. This year the death figure is already 13. Veterinary doctors with forest department who conduct post-mortems said that a majority of elephants died due to impaction, a medical term for blockage of digestive tracts of animals.
"Dietary change, long working hours and dehydration are some of the main reasons for impaction. We have found many elephants in a dehydrated state and left untreated for many weeks when they were supposed to get adequate rest after every festival,'' a senior veterinary doctor with the forest department said.
He said elephants should not be given sweets and dairy products, as they are hard to digest and leads to gastro problems. Activists point out that individual elephants owners who own around 60% of the 702 captive elephants have been violating many rules. "Elephants are not supposed to be paraded for festivals for more than six hours daily. But in a majority of cases they work for over 10-12 hours even during extreme summer, which causes dehydration,'' Elephant Lovers Association secretary V K Venkatachalam said.
The rules also say that not more than three elephants should be kept in a compound and they should not be made to walk more than 20 km every day, but these are often violated. Forest officials point out that there is urgent need to have doctors from the forest department conduct post-mortems of elephant that die at a relatively young age. As of now, most post-mortems are done by local doctors who favour elephant owners.
"This issue need to be probed thoroughly and only a detailed enquiry can reveal the exact reasons for the increase in the number of deaths,'' chief forest conservator of forest Raja Raja Verma said.
Venkatachalam also drew attention to the recent disturbing trend of taking elephants to neighbouring states. "Elephants from Kerala are used to push chariots and this puts huge stress on the forehead of the elephant. There was a recent instance when an elephant was forced to push a 12-tonne chariot at a Mariamman temple in Udumalai in Tamil Nadu,'' he said.
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