Chennai activist urges forest department to return jumbo to original habitat
Chennai: Chennai-based animal activist Antony Clement Rubin has appealed to the state department of environment and forests to return Masini, the elephant who trampled her mahout to death, back to her original habitat in Theppakadu Mudumalai camp in the Nilgiris.
Masini, the 11-year-old Samayapuram temple elephant, made news after she had trampled her mahout to death on the temple premises in Tiruchy on May 25.
In his petition, Antony, a former Animal Welfare Board member said that Masini underwent some distinct behavioural changes after she was gifted to Samayapuram temple in Tiruchy by the then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. “When she was living in the camp, she was surrounded by a herd of wild animals and was nurtured with absolute freedom of movement in a natural and free environment with plenty of care and support. After having shifted to the temple, she exhibited great difficulty in getting accustomed to chained captivity, without any free movement,” the petition said.
In 2007, the Tamil Nadu forest department found Masini, who was abandoned by her mother and herd in the Kargudi range of Mudumalai forest. The then three-year-old elephant was moved to the Theppakadu elephant camp in Mudumalai tiger reserve where she developed a bond with other elephants in the camp where she lived for over nine years. when she was chained at the temple, the elephant was denied the freedom she had enjoyed at the camp, Antony said.
Following the incident at the temple, Masini was shifted to the Veterinary College and Research Institute at Thanjavur where she is undergoing treatment for issues she developed in her abdomen after the incident. The Animal Welfare Board of India, which inspected Masini in 2016, took note of her health condition and wrote to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to shift her back to the camp so that she could live a natural life. AWBI, in its letter, stated that the elephant may be a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The petition also slams the chief conservator of forests, Tamil Nadu, for not having acted earlier despite several letters written, over the years, to shift Masini back to the camp. It also seeks that Masini and other elephants be granted the status of legal persons.
