For a more humane treatment of elephants

The two-day workshop, which ends on Thursday, is for better management of the animals and to ensure their welfare.

Loved and held in awe, elephants are also abused and needled into violent behaviour. But that may be a thing of the past with the State government taking steps to introduce a humane, scientific regime for reconditioning the animal for bonding with humans.

The State Forest Department and the Elephant Conservation and Care Centre in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh are now training stakeholders in reconditioning elephants using “the principles of positive conditioning and reinforcement,” said Brandson S. Corrie, head of the Forest Force, here.

The first workshop on reconditioning elephants using a positive relationship between the animals and their mahouts got under way at the Kodanad elephant rehabilitation centre near here on Wednesday, he said.

First of its kind

The participants include elephant owners and lovers, mahouts and officials of the department. “This is perhaps the first workshop of its kind in Kerala, which has a long tradition of elephants participating in cultural and religious events,” said Kartick Satyanarayanan of Wildlife SOS India, leading the training programme. The Wildlife SOS centre was set up in 2009 and has 22 elephants in its care now.

The conventional training of elephants is based on fear and punishment. But an approach based on rewards helped create better bonding between the animals and their caretakers to reduce conflict as well as to create comfortable atmosphere for the elephants, he said.

The two-day workshop, which ends on Thursday, is for better management of the animals and to ensure their welfare, said Mr. Corrie.

World-class facility

The Chief Minister and the Minister for Forests are keen on a more humane treatment of the captive animals. As part of this, the State is planning a world-class facility for elephant rescue and rehabilitation. The department is looking for a suitable location for the facility, he said.

There are 571 domesticated elephants registered in Kerala, and according to animal rights activists, 175 elephants died in Kerala between 2012 and 2015 of various causes, including torture.