- Animal rights activists raise concerns as environment ministry notifies new rules pertaining to the ownership and transfer of captive elephants.
- The new rules stipulate that the Chief Wildlife Warden can order the relocation of the elephant to ensure “improved maintenance”, among others.
- There is a growing fear that the ambiguously worded transfer clauses would facilitate easy sale and unauthorised transfer of elephants in the country.
The infected wounds on the body of tusker Managalamkunnu Ayyappan were oozing pus during his interment in Kerala’s Palakkad district, a day following his death on March 26. The Heritage Animal Task Force, a Kerala-based voluntary organisation that advocates for the rights of animals, allege that the captive elephant had been receiving treatment for several months for the various injuries inflicted upon him by his mahouts.
Ayyappan arrived in Kerala in 1992 after his owner M.A. Haridasan purchased him from Bihar, something that was legal at that time. Standing tall at 305 centimetres, he garnered a substantial following over the years and became renowned as the emblematic elephant of the state, gracing important occasions with his majestic presence.
However, Ayyappan’s passing comes at a time of concern for Kerala. The state, where captive elephants are a common sight at temple festivals and other events, has seen a significant decline in their numbers. According to V. K. Venkitachalam, the secretary of the Heritage Animal Task Force that periodically conducts studies on captive elephants, a sizeable proportion of the elderly elephants in Kerala display signs of frailty and are unresponsive to mahout commands when they participate in festivals during hot summer months. In a circular released in 2019, the Kerala Forest Department cites improper upkeep, poor management, lack of timely treatment as some of the reasons contributing to the mortality rate of captive elephants. The authorities of the Kottur Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Thiruvananthapuram inform that 16 elephants injured from poor treatment in captivity in the last 10 years were taken from their private owners and sent to the centre for permanent rehabilitation.
As per the records from the Kerala Forest Department, there were 900 captive elephants in 2008 and are now down to 407. Pramod G. Krishnan, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Administration), informs Mongabay-India that the state is witnessing an average annual decrease of 25 captive elephants. This is a social and cultural concern given that many of such elephants hold significant cultural importance in the state and are embedded in various aspects of the state’s traditions, festivals and religious practices.
Additionally, many existing elephants are aging, further compounding the issue.
Lack of captive elephants and lacklustre festivals
This poses a significant concern for the state, especially regarding events like Thrissur Pooram, a traditional temple festival where caparisoned elephants carrying resplendent parasols are the main attraction. It is feared that the dwindling number of elephants available for such processions would risk diminishing the grandeur and cultural essence of these revered traditions in the years to come.
The Kerala Elephant Owners Federation, comprising people who own and rent elephants for festivals and other occasions in the state, approached the Union Minister for Environment and Forest Bhupendra Yadav on January 18, 2024 with a request to relax regulations concerning the ownership and inter-state transfer of elephants.
As per media reports on March 16, 2024, the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change notified the Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules, 2024 with the purpose of easing the transfer and movement of captive elephants. The modified rules stipulate that the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW) can transfer elephants between states if the existing owner cannot provide adequate care for the animal or if the animal will be better maintained under the changed circumstances. Furthermore, the CWW can order the relocation of the elephant to ensure better maintenance.
New rules worry animal lovers
While the new set of rules has significantly benefited elephant owners, animal rights activists are concerned that the new provisions could be misused to facilitate easy sale and transfer of elephants, despite the legal prohibition against it under the Wildlife Protection Act (1972).
As per the Act, elephants are classified as a Schedule 1 species and thus afforded the highest protection in the country. Capturing or trading elephants is not permissible, regardless of whether they are in the wild or in captivity, informs elephant expert and former director of Kerala Forest Research Institute, P.S. Easa.
Section 12 of the Act stipulates that relocation can be permitted only for particular reasons, such as teaching and scientific research. Easa highlights that the transportation of captive elephants, albeit under strict regulations, has been allowed due to their historical significance in forest management, timber transportation, their status as assets of former royal families and their traditional roles in temple precincts for religious ceremonies.
Jose Louies, the chief of enforcement for the Wildlife Trust of India, calls for improved clarity in the new regulations, particularly concerning the contentious issue of purchasing and transporting elephants across state lines. He expresses concern that the ambiguous language and lack of precision in the rules regarding elephant transfers could potentially enable unauthorised sales or transfers of ownership of these animals. Louies points out a clause in the revised rules stating that transfer applications must now be submitted to the deputy conservator of forests instead of the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW) as previously required. He believes that this change has further undermined the efficacy of existing protection laws.
A coalition of animal protection organisations comprising People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, the Centre for Research on Animal Rights (CRAR), the Heritage Animal Task Force, the Kaziranga Wildlife Society, and the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), has voiced its vehement opposition to the new rules at the national level, noting the inherent weaknesses in the regulations that pose a considerable risk to elephants kept in captivity.
According to Bharati Ramachandran, the spokesperson for the coalition, any exception to the movement of elephants from one state to another can only be granted if a comprehensive and publicly accessible national database of elephants kept in captivity, that includes certificates of ownership, genetic mapping, information of the owner, and geographic information, is established.
Reforms to the rules suggested
The coalition proposes several reforms to the current provisions, including the establishment of a comprehensive nationwide set of rules, the involvement of various government agencies such as the Economic Offences Wing and the Crime Branch in inter-state elephant transfers to ensure non-commercial transactions, and the implementation of annual welfare evaluations post-transfer to prevent any compromise on the elephant’s well-being. Ramachandran calls upon the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to halt all transfer applications (except those for rehabilitation purposes) under the flawed new rules until these crucial reforms are implemented.
Sreedevi S. Kartha, an animal rights activist based in Thiruvananthapuram says that experts have already pointed out that the new regulations oppose the suggestion presented by the Elephant Task Force of MoEFCC 14 years ago. “As part of its study from 2010, the Elephant Task Force suggested that legal loopholes be closed to gradually decrease the number of individuals who possess elephants,” she says.
The fear is that the new rules can be abused, notably for exchanging elephants under the premise of transfer, as expressed by wildlife specialist Debadityo Sinha on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). He questioned the government’s intentions for enforcing this relaxation further, noting that those activities directly contradicted the aim of the Wildlife Protection Act and the ideas provided by the Elephant Task Force of the MoEFCC.
As the summer sets in, the festival season peaks in Kerala with the consequent demand for elephants to be paraded. Every healthy captive elephant in the state faces the prospect of taking part in at least 50 ceremonies during this season. Since the time Irinjadapilly Raman, a robotic elephant made its entry into a temple festival in Kerala, animal activists and elephant lovers have been hopeful for a permanent solution to the plight of the gentle giants in chains.
Banner image: Elephants line up at the legendary temple festival, Thrissur Pooram in Kerala. The declining number and health of elephants in the state is feared to diminish the grandeur and cultural essence of such revered traditions in the future. Photo by K.K. Najeeb.