The captive elephants

Nuggehalli Jayasimha
Published : 19 August 2016, 06:09 AM
Updated : 19 August 2016, 06:09 AM

On 12 August 2016, people from all walks of life came together to celebrate their favourite jumbos on the occasion of World Elephant Day. Exactly four days later, the young Indian elephant, stranded in flood-hit Bangladesh, gave up its fight for survival.

The elephant was separated from its herd in Assam and traversed Bangladesh in search of food and family, reportedly coming into conflict with villagers living in the vicinity. Many long-drawn attempts were made by officials from both countries to retrieve this hungry and distressed animal, but in vain. It was finally rescued from the inundated chars of Bangladesh, when it supposedly collapsed after being administered multiple doses of tranquilizers. The elephant is believed to have finally succumbed, in chains, to the effects of prolonged periods of starvation and stress.

The story of this elephant's adversity won the hearts of netizens around the world and had the global media on tenterhooks. But, more poignantly, it offered a window into the grim story of existence of India's elephants languishing in captivity.

Since time immemorial, the charismatic Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) has been a part of the geographical and cultural landscape of India. These majestic animals have come to symbolize everything Indian. Ironically though, these very associations have become the driving force behind the cruelty and torture that captive elephants are so blatantly subjected to in the guise of worship, celebration and entertainment.

Elephants are trapped and forcibly taken from the wilds, often at a very young age. For animals that live in close-knit herds, separation from the family unit is only the tip of the cruelty iceberg. In place of a life intended to be spent migrating across the wild expanses of India under the able guidance of matriarchal leaders, these animals are then plunged into an existence of solitude, abuse and neglect by unscrupulous owners and keepers.

Elephants are listed for the highest level of protection under Schedule I of India's Wildlife Protection Act. The Act prohibits trade in live elephants and allows only the transfer of captive elephants from one owner to another. While there are clear provisions in the Act to ensure that those coming into possession of captive elephants have the wherewithal to take care of them, the reality is far removed from the spirit and letter of the law. Captive elephants are largely acquired through illegal means, from traders operating in states as far flung as Assam and Kerala; and chiefly through the use of falsified ownership, transfer and transport documents. A 2010 report by Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA) and ANCF (Asian Nature Conservation Fund) identified Sonepur Mela in Bihar as the hub for such illegal trade of elephants.

Once acquired by an interested buyer, captive elephants are transported, maintained and used in conditions that are stark violations of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the Performing Animals (Registration) Rules, 2001, Regulation of Zoos Rules, 2009. Most of India's 3500-odd captive elephants are subjugated to a life of drudgery either in temples, in circuses, in safari parks, in elephant camps, in zoos or in private ownership of some kind or the other. Some spend their life giving rides to thankless tourists while some spend their life being dolled up and paraded in religious processions that involve innumerable people and unbearable pandemonium. When perceived as a threat to farmers, some are forcibly (and again, ironically) removed from forest lands and made to slave in arduous conditions in government-run logging operations. Some are committed to a lifetime of begging for alms or to being rented out for weddings and parades at a high price by manipulative owners. Whatever the fate of the elephant, its lifetime in captivity is marred by countless events of horror and inhumanity. An early death is often the only respite.

Elephants are intelligent beings with complex social structures and serve the thankless job of being nature's engineers. Uprooting trees in their migratory paths, they offer important eco-system services such as landscape development and nutrient cycling that few other species can achieve at that scale. Yet, when brought into captivity, the heritage animals of India are treated worse than cattle.

Elephants are beaten, poked, chained and starved in order to 'break' them and 'train' them for a life in captivity. During a typical training phase, these highly social beings are kept in isolation in dank conditions, chained to a tether all day. Once trained, the life of captive elephants is just as bleak. They are forced to work for long hours by unforgiving mahouts, many of whom use painful methods of instruction that include kicking, jabbing and (now illegal) bull hooks. Often made to carry heavy loads of materials or humans or both, these animals develop festering sores all over their bodies, especially on their backs and feet. After a tiring day at work, they are once again chained and made to stand on hard surfaces that cause painful conditions such as foot rot. The erstwhile Ministry of Environment and Forests issued the Guidelines for Care and Management of Captive Elephants back in 2008. These have, however, fallen short of the intended aim to sternly monitor ownership of the gentle giants and to ensure that they are given the quality of life they truly deserve.

Temple elephants have it no better. While it may seem to a casual onlooker that elephants in temples across south India are being honored as part of religious 'traditions', the truth is that they are victims of misplaced reverence. Kept in conditions no less appalling than those of other captive elephants, temple elephants are made to parade for long hours under the harsh sun and in an ambience of loud drums, harsh lights and scary firecrackers, all of which are extremely distressing to these highly sensitive animals. A 2005-2010 survey conducted by CUPA and ANCF in association with WSPA found that the state of Kerala alone has 72% of all privately-owned elephants in India and most of them are used in festivals, processions and religious functions. The Animal Welfare Board of India, in its report titled Care and Management of Elephants in Temples, noted that 80% of all temple elephants were provided poor quality of water for drinking and bathing; 72% were given poor quality diet and routine medical treatment and care was not made available. The 'land of gods' may have yet failed its own elephant gods.
Today, India's circuses, temples, zoos and tourist destinations have become home to an exodus of captive elephants, each suffering from a plethora of debilitating mental and physical disorders. It is then little wonder that unwitting observers who see an elephant repetitively sway from side to side, mistake this display of extreme psychological trauma to be a mark of happiness. Ignorance and apathy are silent killers, indeed.

While the young Indian elephant may have strayed into foreign land as a free animal, he died as a captive one. This tragic ending may very well have been averted and he may have just lived to become a symbol of international cooperation for wildlife welfare and conservation. However, it remains to be remembered that while we lost a young elephant to untimely death in times of natural disaster, captive elephants are being forced to persist in conditions far more disastrous for reasons quite frivolous.

In October 2015, the Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India as well as the State Forest Department, Government of Bihar declared a ban on elephant trade at the Sonepur Mela. In May 2016, the Supreme Court of India passed orders prohibiting the transfer or transport of elephants into or out of the state of Kerala. These legal actions may seem meagre in comparison to the large cloak of cruelty shrouding India's captive elephants. But, they allow us humans a chance to begin changing the fable of captive elephants for the sake of our future generations and for the sake of the planet that they will inherit. Most critically, humans everywhere have the power, through the exercise of simple, humane changes in lifestyle and entertainment choices to affect meaningful and lasting differences to the biopic of captive elephants everywhere. They say, elephants never forget. Neither should we.

The writer is Managing Director, Humane Society International India