“I could not understand why men made traps to get the free creatures of Elephant-Land into their grasp”—Mora, the cheerful elephant calf of Mulk Raj Anand’s book of the same name thus expresses its agony over the loss of its dear ones to elephant hunters. The empathy for Mora and its tribe has continued through generations but nothing much has changed on ground; the jumbos’ predicament continues. They are being trapped, captured, chained and land in captivity far removed from their natural homes and families.
Ferrying of elephants in trucks from their natural habitat of Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India to Jamnagar in Gujarat, an unnatural terrain for elephants, has created much anger and strong resentment recently. While there have been mass protests in both Assam and Arunachal against the move, animal rights body Centre for Research on Animal Rights (CRAR) stated that “…transfer of 20 elephants in a 49 vehicle caravan across 3000 kms from Arunachal Pradesh to Gujarat justifiably raises a great deal of concern. A caravan transporting elephants at this scale has possibly never been seen in 75 years of Independent India, at least never since elephants were shipped to our frontiers for war in the 19th century”.
This certainly has not been the first instance. Elephants— male, female and calves were sent to other parts of the country, specifically the southern states, citing “religious purposes”. But transportation of elephants has become more frequent in the last four/five years and documents show all the transported elephants were bound for Jamnagar in Gujarat. “Simply, the trade in elephants has become more frequent after the establishment of a rescue and rehabilitation centre in Jamnagar,” said Jayanta Kumar Das, who had been honorary wildlife warden for the Udalguri district in Assam.
The Radhe Krishna Elephant Welfare Trust is said to have created infrastructure to house 200-300 captive elephants in need of rescue and rehabilitation. Interestingly, all the transported elephants were healthy, most of them sub-adults and not in dire need of care. There have been serious allegations that sometimes elephants have been illegally captured from the wild and reclassified as a captive to send to Jamnagar. “If there is need for rehabilitation of these elephants, why force them cover such huge distance? We have a rehab facility at Kaziranga. If the need arises the government must think of facilities in other parts of the state,” Das added. In fact, there had been demands for wildlife rehab facilities in districts of Assam bordering Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. Almost all captive elephants in India, largely, come from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
Between 2011 and 2017, some 50 domestic elephants were transported out of the state of Assam for specific periods, but none of those animals were brought back. In case of elephants sent to Jamnagar, the transporters produce valid documents, including No Objection Certificates (NOC) from the chief wildlife wardens of both states involved, fitness certificates by a veterinarian and non-commercial donation documents between the elephant owners and the Radhe Krishna Temple Welfare Trust in Jamnagar.
From lesser devils to the deep sea
Conservationists are bewildered by the number of elephants and at the frequency which they have been transferred. The manner these long-ranging mega faunas are removed from the place of their natural occurrence to an unnatural terrain with very different climatic and geographic locations where they would be held captive life-long is simply unethical and extremely worrying.
However, a report of the high-powered committee set up by the High Court of Tripura– to adjudicate all requests for transfer of wild/captive wild animals for rescue—has found the Jamnagar facility “conducive” for housing the elephants for their entire life.
“Elephants in the northeastern states have a much better quality of life even if their owners are in poverty. The elephant facilities where they are being sent could be very conducive with highly enriched artificial conditions but wouldn’t it amount to cruelty if the animals have to bathe in artificial showers and not in a flowing river? Forced to have food like khichdi, ladoo, and chappatis in place of the natural fodder they are used to in this region? We are just pushing them to life-long miseries in those facilities,” said Jayanta Kumar Das.
Das’ fears have been echoed by an elephant expert and veterinarian who wished not to be named. Citing instances of the very high incidence of gastric impaction and intestinal obstructions seen in captive elephants in Kerala, he said—“elephants from Northeast India get a supply of juicy succulent fodder all the year round. Their system is simply not suited to coarse coconut and palm oil tree leaves. In the Jamnagar facility too, there could be many complications arising out of the very different diet.” “Elephants are social animals with families composed of cows and calves. Bulls are often seen loosely attached to the herd. In the northeastern states, even in captivity, the animals seem to enjoy the company of other elephants. They are happy only in the company of other elephants. In the artificial facilities, they don’t have a chance for normal socializing or mating or we can say breeding opportunities,” he added.
Elephants share a crucial relationship with forests that has evolved over millions of years. They show the characteristic of the ecosystem where they thrive. Even the earliest treatise on elephants compiled in Assam has a mention of the same. The treatise included names of herbs by which ailments of elephants are taken care of. Hatipimpali, Hatitengechi, Gojpota, Hatimuriya, and Hastikarna are herbs with prefixes denoting the elephant along with innumerable other herbs, fruits, and grass including varieties of bamboo, creepers, orchids and aquatic plants the jumbos take as food and as self-medication. These are simply available in the environment the jumbos sustain in the northeastern states even if they are in captivity.
Dr Padmeshwar Gogoi, a retired professor of botany at Debraj Roy College who has also studied wild elephants over many years explains– elephant herds have traditionally crossed Assam on long journeys between Myanmar and Bhutan, pausing in what is now Kaziranga National Park and crossing over sandbars in the Brahmaputra River on their way. In such a scenario it is beyond comprehension, why such long-long ranging animals have been made to be stuck in artificial facilities life-long and that too, away from their natural places of occurrence.
Elephants are highly susceptible to temperature change
Dr Abhijit Rabha, retired Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, points out that elephants are far-ranging animals that depend on being able to find water, seasonally-available foods and quiet. Elephants are highly susceptible to temperature change, and they also migrate over large areas of land?—?where changes to water supply, vegetation, and weather can endanger the giant mammals.
On June 25, 2019, in a case involving the transit of four elephants to Ahmedabad, the Gauhati High Court directed the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW) of Assam to take a decision on whether to transport four juvenile elephants from Tinsukia district to Ahmedabad in Gujarat after consideration of all relevant aspects including the heat wave aspect. The CWW in this regard sought a report from veterinary experts.
The experts gave their report saying—“Evolutionarily, elephants as compared to humans or most of the mammals, have a very weak thermoregulatory system owing to the presence of minimal sweat glands (only present above their toe-nails) and presence of intra-abdominal testicles which is otherwise external in case of most mammals. The body temperature of elephants is 37 degree Celsius and their comfort zone is 25-26 degree Celsius. On the other hand, the present weather conditions through which the elephants are proposed to be transported is found to be very hot (the average temperature being 45 degree Celsius). Thus, there is every possibility of heat stroke of the elephants by any means of transport”.
The northeastern states more or less enjoy a moderate climate that is within the comfort zone for the elephants. Experts fear the elephants have to leave in totally artificial conditions or in a very hostile temperatures in Gujarat. One also wonders how the enormous demand for water for drinking and bathing of these elephants would be met every day.
“We need them here”
Assam remained an epicentre of human-elephant interaction for decades. In 2004, WWF India engaged some 10-15 kunkis (tamed elephants) to chase away crop-raiding herds in places of the Sonitpur district that showed encouraging results. The forest department and civil administration of other districts also showed interest in using kunkis against wild herds or even loners. The Udalguri district administration and a section of tea garden authorities in the district discussed to keep kunkis as a viable option to reduce loss of life and property in the conflict zones under a project –Elephants on the Line.
“Of late, tea districts in Assam have become hotbeds of human-elephant interaction owing to umpteen reasons. Whether it is Sonitpur, Golaghat or Udalguri– reports of maximum casualties on both sides come invariably from these districts. It is important to note that the prime elephant habitats in Assam had been cleared for the expansion of the tea industry. The onus is on the industry to compensate by way of protecting the elephants and helping in mitigating the human-elephant crisis,” said Chandan Kumar Duarah of Kaziranga Wildlife Society.
“We believe, even if half of the tea gardens in these three districts agree to keep kunkis, the problem of poverty-stricken owners of captive elephants could be solved to a great extent and the elephants would also be saved from an arduous journey and living a pitiable life away from their natural abode,” he added.
“We need them here. Not only for tourism activities but also for patrolling terrains of important wildlife habitats that are inaccessible otherwise,” Duarah summed up.