Alappuzha: Despite several interventions by Supreme Court for better living conditions for captive elephants, their deaths are on the rise, claims an NGO.
Thrissur-based Heritage Animal Task Force says 26 pachyderms died in captivity in 2016 as against 24 the previous year. They attribute it to poor sheltering and ill-treatment by owners.
On Monday, Umadevi, a 53-year-old female, died at Mararikulam Sree Mahadeva Temple, the first death this year.
The apex court gave a slew of directions to the state government to prevent cruelty to jumbos on August 18, 2015. But the rising deaths indicates little improvement in their living standards.
They are still forced to work and live in conditions alien to their habitat, with extreme mental and physical stress. For last six years, they say, 381 elephants had died in captivity.
An RTI reply in June 2015 puts their number at 684, out of which 26 belonged to the forest department, 157 to Devaswom and temples, five to circus firms and the rest to individuals. But only 300 have got ownership certificates.
V.K.Venkitachalam, who heads the NGO, says forceful stay in chains leads to their death. The elephant preservation rules, make it the legal responsibility of the custodian to keep the elephant in sheds to save from scorching sun and snowfall.
When they are in chains in the open, their legs get infected with its urine and dung. Constant chaining under the sun damages their health they suffer from pulmonary and arthritic diseases, he says. During the last three years, 76 captive elephants have died.
Dr P. Aloysius, a veterinarian at Daya Elephant Task Force, Kollam, says ill-treatment by mahouts also leads to their death.
"They apply iron ankush to their sensitive parts, especially in nails. It will eventually turn into pus leading to imminent death," he said.
