An expert committee, constituted on the directions of the High Court of Karnataka to study elephant camps in the State, has said that the health management in six camps was “poor”.
The six camps are Mathigodu, Cauvery, Dubare, Balle, Rampura, and Sakrebail. They said that veterinarians visiting the camps did not have surgical equipment, ground staff to assist vets, stock of emergency medicines, and budgetary allocation for the healthcare of elephants.
However, the committee found positives in the management of the camps, pointing out that condition of most of the 96 elephants in the camps was good and behaviourally the animals were sound, and the management of musth elephants was excellent.
Rampura the best
Stating that Rampura camp was the best among the six camps, the committee said that saddle used in the camps were appropriately designed.
Though the committee said that it is a good practice to allow visitors to see elephants at close quarters, it suggested that there should restrictions to keep the elephants slightly away from the public.
The report of the committee, comprising K.M. Chinnappa (Karnataka); Kaliavanan (Tamil Nadu) and N.V.K. Ashraf (Uttar Pradesh), was submitted before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar on Tuesday.
After going through the report, the Bench directed the government to file a statement indicating in what manner the recommendations of the committee, particularly health management, which scored only 2.8 out of 5, would be implemented. The Bench was hearing a PIL petition complaining about facilities in the elephant camps.
Relocate three camps
The committee also recommended that Rampura, Mathigodu and Balle camps in the core/critical tiger habitats of Bandipur and Nagarahole tiger reserve be relocated to appropriate sites in a time-bound manner. It pointed out that camps in the protected areas should keep only the required number of elephants for patrolling and safari operations. The Mathigodu camp did not have a perennial waterbody, which is an important criterion to be considered while establishing a camp, and water level in the lake dips during summer, the committee pointed out.
It recommended that the practice of mahouts cooking food concentrate for elephants in their homes should be discontinued and a centralised kitchen-cum-feeding station should be established for quality assurance.
While suggesting mandatory weighing and taking morphometry (measuring of external shape and dimensions) of every elephant in regular intervals, the committee said all trained elephants and captive-born calves should be measured every six months. Only the elephants used for Dasara festival are weighed and measured, the committee pointed out.
Noticing the lack of pedicure in camps, the committee said all camps should have a basic set of pedicure equipment. Nail trimming and rasping should be done in elephants that have jutting out, overgrown and cracked toenails.
