ALAPPUZHA: The "retired" elephants continue to be put to heavy works in the state. Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules 2012 makes it mandatory for elephants to retire at 65. But it allows owners to put them to ‘light works” which are not defined. A five-member expert committee is now at this job, but the activists are concerned at the delay. Presently, 42 of 524 captive elephants are above 65. They are widely paraded at festivals and forced to work hard.
In October, Guruvayur Padmanabhan, 78, owned by the Guruvayur Devaswom, was taken all the way to Kalarcode Mahadeva Temple here from Thrissur for Arattu festival. Following this, Thrissur district elephant monitoring committee chaired by the district collector drew flak from animal rights activists. The same elephant was also paraded at Malliyoor Vigneswara Temple in Kottayam during Vinayaka Chaturthi, Thrikkakara Mahadeva Temple for Onam festival and Thuravoor Temple in September, and at the recent Navarathri festival in Palakkad.
“The panel’s primary task is to categorise the kind of jobs a retired elephant can do," chief wildlife warden Dr Anil Kumar Bhardwaj told DC. The government fixed the retirement age in 2007 after activists protested against cruelty towards elephants. He constituted the panel in October on a proposal by State Board for Wildlife. "We were told they would submit the report within a month," said M.N. Jayachandran of Kerala Animal Welfare Board. "The CWW has to set a deadline and take an early decision. Using retired elephants for strenuous work and making them travel hundreds of kilometres is deplorable.”
