THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala had traditionally sourced most of its captive elephants from the very same place along the banks of the Ganga from where the legendary warrior king Chandragupta Maurya picked his battle elephants, from Sonepur in Bihar. The Centre has now banned the transfer of elephants from Sonepur.
On October 14, union environment minister Prakash Javadekar banned the trade of elephants during the legendary Sonepur Cattle Mela.
“It is the place where illegal sale of elephants took place on a mass scale. The sale of elephants takes place away from the premises of the Sonepur mela. It takes place near the Patna railway station, making transport of elephants easier. Buyers need only to come to the place and pick their elephants. The necessary documents will be faked and handed over along with the animals,” said K. Venkitachalam of Heritage Animal Task Force.
The Centre’s ban order comes in the wake of a complaint registered by union women and child minister Maneka Gandhi.
Based on her complaint, Javadekar held a meeting with the Bihar government. Following this, on June 19 this year, the Bihar government decided to ban the entry of elephants into Bihar and their movement outside its borders. It also banned the sale purchase and transfer of elephants. The Centre passed this order to all states on October 14.
The Sonepur fair traditionally takes place between the first week of November and the first week of December. “If Sonepur is closed, illegal inter-state transfer of elephants will virtually cease,” said M. N. Jayachandran, state Animal Welfare Board member.
Elephant owners, not surprisingly, are agitated. “The number of captive elephants is on the decline; what was 700 in 2008 has dwindled to less than 600 now. But this has in no way reduced the number of festivals where elephants are employed. If the state is not allowed to bring in new elephants, the work load on the existing ones will only increase,” said Sasi, state general secretary of the Elephant Owners’ Federation.
