Rajasthan: Forest Department Declares 20 Elephants Unfit For Joy Rides; Tusker Owners To Challenge Order

The Rajasthan Forest Department has directed the Department of Archaeology and Museums to stop deploying 20 medically unfit elephants for tourist rides at Amber Fort. As per the order, of the 20 elephants, three tested positive for tuberculosis (TB) while a few others suffer from impaired vision, chronic foot problems and malnourishment.

"On the basis of the medical examination conducted in July 2020, around twenty elephants have been declared unfit. Reports of the medical examination state that three of them have been diagnosed with tuberculosis, 12 have 'one eye blind', and remaining need rest,” the forest department’s states.

Officials said the order has been issued keeping in mind the health conditions of the elephants.

“The three experts who conducted the medical examination are Dr. Arvind Mathur, senior wildlife veterinary officer, Jaipur Zoo, Dr. N S Manoharan, retired additional director, Department of animal husbandry and Dr. Kari Kalan, senior vet doctor and scientist at IVRI Bareilly", Upkar Baruna, in-charge of Haathi Gaon in Jaipur told Outlook.

List of elephants that have been declared medically unfit

The elephant rides around Amber Fort that were prohibited due to the Coronavirus outbreak, resumed on November 24, 2020.

As per the new guidelines issued by the tourism department, it is mandatory for mahouts and tourists to wear face masks. Also, thermal screening is a must before every ride.

Earlier, Jaipur had a total of 103 elephants, but the number reduced to 99 after four of them died, recently at Amber Fort.

Outlook had reported on the suspicious deaths of the four elephants in September 2020. Read here

Previously, the tuskers were used for carrying tourists uphill at the historic Amber Fort but after the death of the four elephants the animals have been restricted to their enclosers.

Electric cars should replace elephants, says PETA

The forest department’s order comes just a week after a committee constituted by the Project Elephant Division of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change submitted its recommendations regarding the matter. Soon after, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India also requested the government to implement the committee’s recommendations.

“We commend the immediate steps taken by the Rajasthan government to stop the use of some of the aging, ailing elephants identified by the expert committee. We hope that while implementing the rest of the committee’s recommendations, the government will also provide tourists with an opportunity to receive the royal treatment with the majestic, cutting-edge electric cars PETA India has proposed, which can completely replace cruel elephant rides", said PETA India Chief Advocacy Officer Khushboo Gupta.

Interestingly, as per the key findings of a 2018 report published by Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), out of 102 applications only 49 elephants can offer rides on plane terrains with one rider in addition to a mahout and only 43 elephants can offer rides on plane terrains with two riders at a time, excluding the mahout.

Out of the 102 applications, 19 captive elephants were observed to be blind, either unilaterally (right or left eye) or bilaterally (both eyes), rendering them unfit for any work, as the safety of the elephants and people around them are at high risk if such animals are used for any purpose, including joy rides.

Out of 91 elephants screened for TB, a disease that is transferable to humans, 10 elephants were found to be positive for TB.

Moreover, 100 percent of the 102 elephants suffer from various foot problems including overgrown toenails with cracks, deformation, discoloration, overgrown cuticle around nails and in the inter-digital space, dry and cracking and thin, uneven and bruised footpads, etc.

Elephant owners to challenge the order in court

Responding to the order, elephant owners voiced their disagreement "The report looks tampered. In January 2021, another medical examination was done which claimed that all of them were fit. This is a kind of trick the NGO's are playing with us. They intend to stop the elephant rides, and they also appointed their own doctors to the examination panel, who gave them a report in their favour. Their claims are baseless. Had they really cared about us (elephant rearers) or the elephants, they would have come to us during the last 10 months when we were going through a rough patch", Ballu Khan, President Vikas Samiti, Haathi Gaon, told Outlook.

"We will challenge the order in the Rajasthan high court,” Khan added.

The elephant owners have been hit hard by the Covid-19-induced lockdown.

Elephant rides during weddings and the ones at the Amber Fort, have been the main source of income for most elephant rearers. When these activities came to a halt due to the pandemic, their businesses were severely affected.

Since March 2020, the elephant owners have not just struggled to earn their bread and butter but they have also found it hard to feed the elephants under their care. It costs Rs 2,500 per day to feed a single elephant.

However, in December 2020, in an attempt to ease their woes, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had announced a relief package of Rs 4.2 crore for elephants and their caretakers. The money issued from the CM Relief Fund was distributed through the ‘Elephant welfare fund’ to each elephant-owning family for 10 months (March 17, 2020 - December 31, 2020).