Festival managers should rethink the practice of using elephants for mere show of pomp and ensure that they are employed only for unavoidable rituals or religious ceremonies considering the huge stress such events exert on jumbos, National Wildlife Board member P.S. Easa has said.
He was inaugurating a one-day workshop on the protection of captive elephants, organised by the Kozhikode division of the Kerala Forest Department at the Malabar Chamber of Commerce hall in the city on Tuesday.
Maintaining that rules and regulations alone could not ensure the protection of the wildlife, especially captive elephants, Dr. Easa said that only a change in the attitude of people towards the sufferings of animals would do any good.
Follow rules
He urged mahouts and elephant owners who attended the workshop to be extremely sensitive and discerning while dealing with elephants. He also asked them to strictly follow the rules and regulations regarding protection of captive elephants.
Talking about the increasing demand for elephants to be used for festivals and religious ceremonies even as the number of captive elephants steadily fell in the State, the veteran conservator said there was an increasing need for sensitivity on the part of festival organisers and people as far as public safety and protection of elephants were concerned.
A presentation by K. Geetha, deputy director of wildlife education, explained the nuances of the existing laws in this connection.
Divisional Forest Officer (Flying Squad) Jose Mathew, along with other wildlife experts, fielded queries from the participants regarding the laws. Participants suggested amendments to the laws.
