ANIMAL BILL OF RIGHTS
There is a raging debate today on how we
should deal with Elephants, and from that of other animals and the list is as
long as a piece of string! We have had international examples of the famous
Tiger Temple being closed down last week, ostensibly due to a public outcry
about the welfare of the Tigers in chains, an attraction where people were
allowed to touch and take tiger selfies!
HISTORY OF ELEPHANTS IN CAPTIVITY
So here in this essay let me look at the
case of the Elephant, and let me say at the outset that I am not an elephant
expert, and am merely an interested and caring bystander, who has never owned
an elephant, and NOT likely to ever own one either. I may also add that way
back yonder, in the era where bulldozers were NOT available, we used elephants
to cut down trees for cultivation, and carry logs to be put on lorries for
transport. My recollection then was that they would ONLY work from 7.30am to
12.30pm and from that time they get into the Deduru Oya, which was on the
border of the Estate, and lie in the water for 3 hours, to be cleaned brushed
and rubbed by the mahout, and then eat coconut and jack palms for the rest of
the day. That was the life!
If I go back further, I presume these
elephants were captured using other tame elephants at an elephant KRAAL, and
then tamed using means that may today be found to be cruel. They may have been
forced to SUBMIT, whatever the mental and physical restrictions were meant in
that context.
These tame elephants that have now
dwindled massively, as they are NO longer the workhorses of the past, used to
be lent to Temples for Pereharas all around the Country, and some had to
travel, walking for days to reach their destination. Today, they travel in
large trucks, some two at a time!
THE CURRENT DEBATE
It is now considered cruel to capture
elephants from the wild and tame them, no matter what means you use. There are
further abandoned baby elephants, found in many places, and are brought up with
the help of elephant sanctuaries with the intention of sending them back into
the wild, and there is a raging debate if they cannot be tamed and used by
wealthy people as PETS registered, and welfare checked up on annually before
renewal of the license to keep the pet!
CITES the international treaty forbids
capturing elephants from the wild for taming purposes, and I am not sure how
abandoned baby elephants are treated under this convention.
It further states that breeding from
captive elephants is the ONLY basis on which Elephants can be kept in future,
for zoos as well as for personal pleasure! I believe our veterinarians at
Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage are knowledgeable in breeding captive elephants,
but have NOT done so, as there has been a veritable supply of wild Babies
available to be transacted!
Clearly this is illegal, and all of them
have been obtained illegally by their owners, who are now in the process of
being prosecuted. The Minister of Sustainable Development said that he will
shortly expose ALL the names of those who have bought stolen elephants, and
within hours of this news item coming on the National Press website, it was
withdrawn, presumably because the Paper was threatened or influence used to
take that statement away, and NO DOUBT the intent will also be silenced with a
santhosam.
CODICILS
Interestingly, there is a campaign
worldwide for tourists not to ride on elephants as it is damaging to their
backbone, no matter that kings of the past, used to ride elephants on Tiger
Hunts to the Jungle! Added to this the Elephant Polo Tourist attraction is also
supposed to be banned, as being cruel!
Circuses where Elephants were used are
gradually sending them away to retirement homes, with many inhuman treatments
exposed on the net, and happy endings where lonely elephants are sent to farms
with other Elephants, shown relishing the company of their mates and having a
fulfilling retirement to natural death.
Zoos are facing the wrath of activists.
I believe the Elephant Circus at the Dehiwela Zoo, that I saw as a youngster,
has been done away due to the new ethos. Of course there is a campaign to close
zoos! Safari Parks may be next!
Then there is the Perehara that is
facing the wrath of the Elephant activists saying that chained elephants, with
lights on their backs and thousands of onlookers along the way are stressing
them unfairly. The JURY is still out on this, and there are religious
undertones, though I believe we MUST keep religion out of it. I was surprised
then when the President said that due to the shortage of Tuskers in Sri Lanka,
he will be getting Burmese Tusker Babies to be kept by temples for their festivals,
as it was a traditional practice.
I can assure you that NO temple kept
elephants. It was the wealthy landlords that kept them for their use, and lent
them to Temples for processions! Now the majestic tuskers are dying out, and I
believe there is ONLY one left of the casket carrying size, and is OLD!
THE FUTURE
We have kept out of this argument, the
existing 150 elephants in captivity who with their owners, who have a
relationship with them, having brought them up since childhood, believe that
they are treating their charges well, and do not wish to hand them over. They are
properly licensed and legitimate.
These elephants along with the Elephants
at Pinnawela, and those bred under the NEW breeding program can be sold, and
used for temples. Technically then as things stand now, it is ONLY these
elephants that can be used in Peraharas. I presume NO elephant is NOW used in
Sri Lanka for pulling logs.
In Thailand there are still many working Elephants,
and with the advent of logging equipment, families of elephant owners there,
who are poor professionals are left destitute for the lack of work. I am told
it is a similar story in Myanmar, where elephants are still used for logging,
and work. Presumably captured using cruel means and forced to submit to a work
schedule, losing their freedom along the way.
Will the traditional perehara, using 100
elephants die away, along with the dwindling numbers? Should elephants be used
in Peraharas? Should the Zoo in Dehiwela get rid of their elephants? What do we
do with Pinnawela? How should we operate elephant transit homes adjoining
National Parks?
These questions have now come onto the
front burner. You should think about it, and depending on your definition of
cruelty take your position. Add to this the new knowledge on elephant behavior,
and traditional herds, and immense memory, where do we go from here?
Into this argument one needs to think of
Human induced cruelty or happiness, and forest induced cruelty arising from fights,
young males being thrown out of herds suffering injury in battle with others. The
question of HUMAN ELEPHANT conflict in the wild, where HAKKA PATTAS and shootings
are injuring elephants some extremely painfully, must be addressed as a separate
topic from this discussion. Then the annual train kill of about 100 elephants. and
the precautions taken to reduce this number enter the debate there.
The role of the VETs in the Department of
Wildlife is another, in saving injured elephants from train accidents, and human
elephant conflict, and transporting particularly difficult elephants to the Elephant
Prison in Horowapothana for their own safety. They are incarcerated in 3,000 acres
with many uncontrollable elephants, and is also a recipe for a disastrous outcome.
We must restrict our debate here only to
the Sri Lankan context, so we don’t lose the wood from the trees and get into an
IVORIAN conflict amongst us!
7 comments:
First look at the welfare of the elephants in captivity, in both Pinnawela and held privately. They must initially be held under certain minimum standards of care, as any Elephant in captivity will probably have to be in chains for their and human safety anyway, as is in itself a controversial form of punishment no matter which way you look at it. Its almost inevitable if you have humans around, and not ina purpose built enclosure that is secure, leaving the animal free of any chains!
I am told the Elephants in Pinnawela are NOT treated well, and that the charges abuse them. Then it is first the duty of the Director there to instill codes of conduct amongst his staff for better treatment. This can be further corroborated by 24hr CCTV of all the enclosures that is not an expensive way to monitor the welfare, and take action by 24hr security if there is any rumbles in the jungles.
The answer to the shortage of elephants in captivity is restarting the breeding program at Pinnawela that can lead to about 20 animals being born each year, after the two year gestation, to add to the dwindling stock and keep a permanent 200 animals in captivity other than at Pinnawela and transit homes of orphaned babies.
Ganga the Elephant of the Gangaramaya Viharaya, has been removed from the temple premises, and is presumed living in better surroundings, in one of the numerous properties and estates owned by the Temple with more freedom. It was not right to keep that elephant for the thousands of visitors who come to the temple, both local and foreign to see it more as a collection of BRIC a BRAC, as the area given to her was far too small for an animal her size.
The President is WRONG in bringing baby tuskers from Myanmar to Sri Lanka to fill the shortfall. They should be left there, as it is accepted that transport of elephants between Countries MUST be avoided unless absolutely necessary or to bring one or two to Pinawela for breeding purposes for the purposes of breeding them locally.
Temples SHOULD NOT hold elephants. They have enough to do to look after the spiritual well being of the devotees to be worrying about the welfare of an animal. Leave that to the experts, and people with more knowledge of that department.
The Elephant transit home MUST be reopened in Ritigala to cater to the sub species in the Minneriya Kaudulla Wagamuwa belt. That is very different to the UDA WALAWE subspecies. Rehabilitation must be done carefully, and using tracking collars to keep tabs for at least 5 years after they are released, to determine success of, and especially if females are able to join existing herds in the area, for bonding.
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