The Paruthipalli Range of the Forest Department has registered a case against the Devaswom Officer at Parassala for ill-treatment of Sivashankaran, an 18-year-old elephant of the Sreemahadevar temple there.
Wildlife Warden Sunil Sahadevan said that a team of Forest Department officials inspected the elephant on Thursday and found the animal in a very pathetic condition.
Last week, the Paruthipalli Range Officer had issued a direction to the Devaswom Officer to provide a permanent shelter and employ a permanent mahout for the elephant.
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“During our visit on Thursday, we found the elephant standing in the open, tied to a concrete pillar and that too, when the animal is in musth. So we decided to register cases under several sections for violating the Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2012. As per the rule, there should be a proper shelter for the elephant with two trained mahouts to take care of the animal,” the Wildlife Warden said.
Violent mood
Sivashankaran was found to be in a “very violent and aggressive mood,” and efforts to provide him a temporary shelter did not work out on Thursday.
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“We tried to provide a temporary shelter by tying a polythene sheet on coconut trees where the animal stands. The elephant destroyed the sheet within minutes,” he said.
Two months
It would take at least two months for the elephant to recuperate and steps to shift the animal to a shelter home run by the department would be taken only after that, Mr. Sahadevan added.