THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Forest Department, which had all along refused to take charge of the two ailing temple elephants on the pretext that it did not have the expertise, has been given a surprise by the Animal Welfare Board of India. The board has offered them the services of three skilled elephant rescue experts.
The department will now have no choice but to take custody of the elephants and shift them to the Kottoor Elephant Rehabilitation Centre.
The department had earlier ignored the directive of the AWBI to immediately shift the elephants to a sanctuary for permanent rehabilitation.
The AWBI issued such a directive in the wake of the High Court order on April 10 asking the Forest Department to provide immediate medical assistance to the suffering elephants.
Sivasankaran belongs to the Parassala Sreemahadevar Temple and Kannan to Neyyatinkara Sreekrishna Temple.
The AWBI, after it probed the condition of the elephants, had found that both the elephants displayed stereotypic behaviour such as repeated head wobbling and swaying, tics that indicated mental distress as well as boredom.
Neyyatinkara Kannan has never shown signs of ‘musth’ ever since he was brought to the temple though it was an adult bull, which the AWBI report terms as “unnatural”.
It was also a clear sign that the elephant was overworked without rest. Parassala Sivasankaran’s hind legs had festering wounds where the rusted chains had cut deep into the flesh, suggesting it had been in chains for an unaccountable number of days.
It was a public interest litigation filed by People for Animals (PFA) that led to the court order. Though Forest Department officials said adequate medical attention was given, the condition of the elephants worsened.
Neyyatinkara Kannan was even taken for a procession. Sivasankaran continues to stand at the same pace with its forelegs sunk in slush filled with its own excreta.
