The short one is slightly fat at one end and normally used to beat the elephant without injuring it. Timber logging over steep and rocky areas is prohibited and so is the use of the elephant’s tusks or jaws constantly for dragging logs. We see what we want to see. The sharp end can pierce the skin and cause serious injury. They are found in zoos and temples and are used to carry tourists at forts and in forest reserves. It is what, supposedly, puts us higher on the evolution chain. Elephants have very few sweat glands and they are located on the... Fire, explosives and loud noise. And then died," he said. The directive starts off with instructions to not create more annual festivals than the ones traditionally being celebrated and to also not increase the number of elephants used in these festivals. The Asian elephants -Ecology, Biology, Conservation and Management. Anupama has said. On the other hand, others say elephants can be ridden in an ethical way and that riding does not harm them if the payload and the number of hours is regulated. He is the one who heralds the opening of the most famous of Kerala temple festival, Thrissur Pooram. Police later arrested a person who is accused of having placed a country cracker inside a coconut, apparently targeted at wild boar that destroy crops. Even the state government’s emblem sports a pair of elephants. There is no clear understanding about how the practice of using elephants in temples started. - The rules state that the elephant should be fed and watered before loading on to the vehicle. Other than this, logging rules include good-quality harnesses that not expose the animal’s back and chest. Elephants with height lower than 1.5m cannot be used for carrying loads while elephants shorter than 2.10m should not be used for logging operations. All of this has happened within the past few weeks. Kerala's chief wildlife warden, Surendra Kumar, said the case is being investigated. As per the latest order, hooks with metal parts are banned, but even this has been violated many times, often during prestigious festivals such as Thrissur Pooram, observers say. "(The explosion) fractured the bones and caused a lot of damage to the mouth. The crush cages allow for only minimum movement. Other methods include chasing and lassoing them from atop trained elephants, employing nooses concealed in the ground, and pit traps. The other eye is now affected by cataract. Elephants don’t have hoofs and instead they are covered in a soft padding. - If an elephant that has acted out and been uncontrollable at an event, it should not be used for any other such events. Mahouts should not drink when caring for the elephant. As for logging, no elephant of height below 2.10 metres can used for logging. There were others like the Humane Society of India, an NGO that works against cruelty to animals, which offered Rs 50,000 to anyone helping to bring the culprits to book. Two other elephants were brought to lead the injured animal out of the water, but she refused to move and remained there until she died, Ali added. Why are farmers protesting, and what can Modi do? One of the most popular elephant in Kerala festival circuit, Thechikkattukavu Ramachandran, is a prime example of what happens to an elephant in captivity. Circuses have been a mode of entertainment for many years around the world, and India has been no exception. The elephant is not a big dog awaiting. Also, during the celebrations, the flaming torch must be held away from them. I remember, as a pre-teen seeing an old elephant being marched through the streets of Mumbai, begging for its mahout, with open sores near its ears from the constant brutality and legs covered in oozing lesions. While this can be done by a human being or another animal, such as a horse, it is likely that elephants were preferred because its height increased the visibility of the deity. The animal could not eat and became weak. Even the marketing people too have tapped into the appeal, employing them for promotional activities and tourism. Captive elephants are usually fed with leaves of palm and coconut tree which are full of indigestible fires. Here is what happens to them when we forcibly make them our pets. Apart from this, hobbles are often used to prevent their free movement. Apart from this, if the space has a covering, the structure should be at a height of at least 5.5 metres. And we do it by unleashing excessive, brutal and unjustifiable violence on the hapless animal that has been trapped. - During night events, power outages can wreak fear so generators are a must. Elephants between height of 2.10m and 2.25m should not carry logs exceeding 750 kg in weight while those taller than 2.25m should not carry logs heavier than 1000kg. A total ban has been imposed on involving a ‘musth’ elephant during celebrations, they cannot be chained or hobbled with spikes and organisers must ensure sufficient food and water for the pachyderms. These cookies are used to improve your experience and provide more personalized service to you. Elephant lovers say this could be because this is the geography which has the most number of temple festivals each year. Among the present crop of captive elephants in the state, seven that are considered the most majestic and grandiose are: Thechikottu Ramachandran, Chirackal Kalidasan (both Thrissur), Pambadi Rajan, Puthupally Kesavan, Erattupetta Ayyappan (all Kottayam), Thrikkalavur Sivarajan (Kollam) and Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan (Palakkad). - Elephants should be not be made to walk more than 3 hours at stretch and not more than 20 kilometres in distance in a day. It is a severe condition that has led to the death of many captive elephants in Kerala. An elephant over 65 years of age is considered as retired and should be exempted from work. Reportedly tied in one place for the last 20 years, the emaciated elephant was not able to sit, stand or lie down properly, precariously balancing its body on three legs, as seen in a video released by Liz Jones, of Save The Asian Elephants (STAE) in 2015. The elephant's death triggered outrage nationwide. KAU Publication, 1989. Musth is noticed in adult male Asian Elephants between. It has been recorded that, out of 56 elephants that died in the state in the last two years, 34 had impaction as cause of death. But he has also killed a dozen people and three other pachyderms and is partially blind. Several of these regulations have been amended slightly over the course of the years but these fundamental rules apply since 2003. No temple festival is complete without the attendance of at least one elephant to carry the idol of the deity. Traditional guidelines say the use of hook should only impart pain, not injure the animal, but it is never strictly followed and there are many incidents of wanton use of the tool resulting in grievous injuries to the elephant. Baby elephants are tied up and beaten mercilessly without giving food or water for days until they wilt and become ready for obeying commands. Animals, including elephants, were abused using sticks with nails, whips with metal wires and metal rods with sharp tipped hooks. The presence of at least an elephant has become mandatory for temple festivals in the state. It should also be ensured that there is enough food and water to consume en-route. - Any sedation given to control nerves should be prescribed by a vet. - Each truck should be accompanied by two assistant mahouts. Scientific investigation of musth … Kerala now has to rely on elephants caught in the northern parts of the country, and the animals are taught to respond to commands in Malayalam. Raman is a celebrity, both in the real world as well as on social media, with thousands of fans. Every moment spent with human beings is torture for the elephant. An elephant protects a young girl who met with an accident. From feeding regulations and space to rules to be followed by the mahouts or elephant caretakers and trainers, this document lists several rules when it comes to the maintenance of captive elephants. Chatta vranam or a wound that teaches discipline. It is a severe condition that has led to the death of many captive elephants in Kerala. A dead elephant is retrieved from a river in the Palakkad district of Kerala. This is useful for leafy forest floor but not the tarred city roads where they are forced to walk kilometres in scorching heat. And therein lies the fundamental problem – animal rights is at a superficial level, there is reaction, never any true action to stop these centuries of untold violence and captivity. We cannot domesticate it. Remorse, guilt - are guiding factors in our actions – no matter the circumstance or need. However, whether this hormonal surge is the sole cause of musth, or merely a contributing factor, is unknown. Even among the highly rated, some like Thechikottu Ramachandran command a higher premium than the others. Both on your website and other media. Aanakkoodu in Konni is a well-known training centre in Kerala. There are different types of sticks used to beat up the elephant. Journal of Theoretical Biology 417: 109‐130. Once a year bull elephants go into ‘musth’, a period extending 1 – 2 months in which the body’s reproductive hormones rise. Several elephants in … Modi says government committed to farmers’ welfare, Labuschagne set to step up for Australia against India. It is the fate of the captive elephants to live with what they fear the most. “You find cows tethered in the sun, and dogs caged in numerous homes in the state, but NGOs point fingers at captive elephant owners. Among the Asian subspecies, the Indian elephants belong to sub species Elephas maximus indicus.In the last three decades since 1986, the population of elephants has dramatically come down because of various reasons such as habitat loss, degradation of forest and … You can manage them any time by clicking on the notification icon. The elephant would stand right there for hours for fear of the stick falling down if he moves as much as an inch. Interestingly, the elephant craze as well as the locations of some of the state’s best elephants are mostly towards the south of the state, more specifically from Palakkad to Thiruvananthapuram. The majesty of Guruvayur Keshavan which stood a shade over 3.4 metres tall, is still the standard against which elephant lovers benchmark other tuskers. The annual cultural feast has echoes in the present-day Thrissur Pooram where two temples face off in an exhilarating contest headlined by parasol-sporting tuskers and an array of drummers. Mature male African Savannah elephants are known to periodically enter a temporary state of heightened aggression called “musth”, often linked with increased androgens, particularly testosterone. But, looking at the recent cases of animal abuse emerging from India, makes you wonder if we are a society that has lost all capacity for remorse or guilt. During the period of musth, they are banned from doing work, including taking part in any ceremonial events that endangers public life. It is worthwhile to inquire how many of the freed animals survived”, says Ravindranathan Nair, treasurer of the Kerala Elephant Owners’ Association, who owns two elephants himself. Over time, the temple deity was carried on the forehead of the elephant thrice a day as party of a daily ritual. It has been pointed out that these leaves should be replaced with fodder grass to no avail. If undetected and untreated in the early stages of the disease, impaction of the colon leads to the painful death of the animal. There is also the strange belief among Kerala elephant keepers that the animals love what humans eat – like a proper meal with boiled rice and vegetable curries. Each elephant being used should have a fitness certificate from relevant authorities. Most of the male elephants have musth period during monsoon season (Falls in the Malayalam month Karkkidakom) from June to October. Lack of sweat glands and standing in scorching heat. The musth period, a condition of elephants characterized by highly aggressive behavior, accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones, lasts 3 to 4 months for an elephant. And to extract obedience from such a fearsome magnificent animal, we need to constantly remind it of the pain it will go through otherwise. Gulf News is focusing on the treatment of Kerala’s captive elephants, which are primarily used for religious ceremonies and for logging in forest areas. The minimum floor area for captive elephants according to this rulebook are as follows: - Weaned calf shorter than 1.5 metres: 5 metres by 2.5 metres, - Sub adult elephant of height 1.50m to 2.25m: 7m by 3.5m, - Adult elephant of height above 2.25m: 9m by 6m, - Cow elephant with unweaned calf: 9m by 6m. Elephants are always wild and the notion that those in man’s custody are friendly with us is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain that binds the animal. - Trucks with lengths below 12 feet cannot be used to carry adult elephants. Fore legs, hind legs, middle of the body and neck are the usual places. While the ban on the use of elephants in circuses was welcomed, when it comes to using elephants for tourism, there are two distinct views. , walk or feed them three hours of travel the use of animals in.. 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