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Kerala jumbos to wear nameplates
All captive elephants in Kerala will wear nameplates from now on, according to the new guidelines issued by the State Forest Department for safely keeping the pachyderms. Metallic plates inscribed with the elephant’s name would dangle on a chain worn around its neck. Many elephants already wear nameplates but this is now being made mandatory in the State.
The condition regarding the nameplates is part of the guidelines issued by the Department of Forests in the context of the beginning of the season of temple festivals in Kerala. Ezhunnallippu (festival procession and parade) of golden-caparisoned elephants is an indivisible part of festivals at most temples in Kerala.
The guidelines stipulate that every elephant should be wearing light-reflectors in their front and rear sides whenever they are on the roads - in a vehicle or on foot - during night time. This rule has already been there but the department wants it to be followed strictly. Every elephant should be covered by third-party insurance like in the case of vehicles, the department says.
As per the guidelines, the tendency to start new festivals using elephants for Ezhunnallippu and to use more elephants for already existing festivals should be discouraged. More than 2,500 temples in Kerala use elephants for their annual festival parades and hundreds of festivals parade more than 11 jumbos at the same time.
A senior official of the Forest Department said that most of the conditions specified in the new guidelines were already in force but elephant-owners, mahouts and festival committees tend to neglect them. “We have seen the disastrous results of this neglect in many cases. We should take the value of life - of both the humans and the animals - into consideration” the official said.
District-level committees should be formed in order to regulate the use of elephants in temple festivals. The district collector, SP, Divisional Forest Officer, member of the Devaswom board (temple administration body), representative of the jumbo-owners’ association and mahouts’ union representative should be the members of the committee.
Elephants in musth should not be used for Ezhunnallippu. Also, jumbos which are sick, pregnant or having some other health problem should not be used for the purpose. The owner should get fitness certificate for his elephant being used for festival parades from the competent authorities once in every two weeks.
Any elephant that causes loss of human life by running amok should not be used for festivals for 15 days from the day of the tragedy. It can be used for parades only after experts certify it as physically and mentally stable after detailed examinations, the rules say. Loss of human lives due to elephants running amok during festivals is not unheard of in Kerala.
Positioning elephants from one another at a safe distance (minimum six-feet) during festival parades, avoiding of use of thorny chains for fettering the animals and making them walk for long distances on roads or forcing them to stand in parades for long hours and like are some other stipulations proposed by the Forest Department.
However, elephant-lovers allege that these guidelines are not formulated out of sincere concern for the lives and welfare of captive elephants but for helping elephant-owners. “These are all simple rules meant to help the owners. Abiding by these rules
may seem easy but breaking them is easier,” said Padmanabhan Nair, a Thrissur-based jumbo-lover.
All captive elephants in Kerala will wear nameplates from now on, according to the new guidelines issued by the State Forest Department for safely keeping the pachyderms. Metallic plates inscribed with the elephant’s name would dangle on a chain worn around its neck. Many elephants already wear nameplates but this is now being made mandatory in the State.
The condition regarding the nameplates is part of the guidelines issued by the Department of Forests in the context of the beginning of the season of temple festivals in Kerala. Ezhunnallippu (festival procession and parade) of golden-caparisoned elephants is an indivisible part of festivals at most temples in Kerala.
The guidelines stipulate that every elephant should be wearing light-reflectors in their front and rear sides whenever they are on the roads - in a vehicle or on foot - during night time. This rule has already been there but the department wants it to be followed strictly. Every elephant should be covered by third-party insurance like in the case of vehicles, the department says.
As per the guidelines, the tendency to start new festivals using elephants for Ezhunnallippu and to use more elephants for already existing festivals should be discouraged. More than 2,500 temples in Kerala use elephants for their annual festival parades and hundreds of festivals parade more than 11 jumbos at the same time.
A senior official of the Forest Department said that most of the conditions specified in the new guidelines were already in force but elephant-owners, mahouts and festival committees tend to neglect them. “We have seen the disastrous results of this neglect in many cases. We should take the value of life - of both the humans and the animals - into consideration” the official said.
District-level committees should be formed in order to regulate the use of elephants in temple festivals. The district collector, SP, Divisional Forest Officer, member of the Devaswom board (temple administration body), representative of the jumbo-owners’ association and mahouts’ union representative should be the members of the committee.
Elephants in musth should not be used for Ezhunnallippu. Also, jumbos which are sick, pregnant or having some other health problem should not be used for the purpose. The owner should get fitness certificate for his elephant being used for festival parades from the competent authorities once in every two weeks.
Any elephant that causes loss of human life by running amok should not be used for festivals for 15 days from the day of the tragedy. It can be used for parades only after experts certify it as physically and mentally stable after detailed examinations, the rules say. Loss of human lives due to elephants running amok during festivals is not unheard of in Kerala.
Positioning elephants from one another at a safe distance (minimum six-feet) during festival parades, avoiding of use of thorny chains for fettering the animals and making them walk for long distances on roads or forcing them to stand in parades for long hours and like are some other stipulations proposed by the Forest Department.
However, elephant-lovers allege that these guidelines are not formulated out of sincere concern for the lives and welfare of captive elephants but for helping elephant-owners. “These are all simple rules meant to help the owners. Abiding by these rules
may seem easy but breaking them is easier,” said Padmanabhan Nair, a Thrissur-based jumbo-lover.
