From Pinnawala’s freedom to shackles in somebody’s backyard
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“Within the span of 40 years of the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, the baby born on the eve of 2nd July 2015 was the 70th. He was born to parents Shanthi and Wasabha under the observation of veterinarians as a very healthy young one. As this was the first birth recorded after 2010 it was an immensely joyous occasion to the whole of the staff. On the auspicious day of 06.08.2015 the baby was named “Anuradha” and was released to the herd of elephants. The greeting he and the mother received was a heartfelt sight bringing tears to the eyes of tourists and workers alike. As Anuradha and Shanthi neared the herd Anuradha’s aunt Meena came forward to escort them towards the middle. There the matriarch greeted them and welcomed to the herd with customary trumpeting. Then the whole herd huddled to a single pile touching and cuddling their newest precious member with promises of taking care of him well.” – As announced in the Department of National Zoological Gardens website.
Now we hear of a Cabinet decision to give elephants from the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage (PEO) to individuals and institutions– a move that will cruelly separate elephants from their close knit herds. That the PEO is overcrowded is the reason for this decision. Individuals will have to pay a Rs. 10 million bond, but the bond will not apply to religious institutions.
Conceptualised by then Tourism Minister P.B.G. Kalugalle, the PEO established in 1975, stands on 25 acres of land, on the banks of Ma Oya, amidst the scenic beauty of luxuriant verdancy. Originally under the Wildlife Conservation Department, it is now under the National Zoological Gardens Department (NZG). Today, home to 88 elephants, it opened with five orphaned elephants.The first calf born there, in 1984, was Sukumali. A prime tourist attraction, the PEO is one of the State’s main revenue earners.
For animal rights activists and conservationists, the Cabinet decision is distressing. It is heartless and ill-conceived – exposing these magnificent animals to cruelty, abuse and exploitation and affecting their breeding.
Elephants are herd animals. They live in matriarchal family groups, led by the oldest female in each herd. Elephant behaviourists say elephants display complex social and emotional behaviour, valuing their families more than most animals and form lifelong friendships among them, even mourning the deaths of loved ones, with mothers grieving over stillborn calves and some lingering where friends and family members had died. The calves sometimes hold on to their mother’s tails with their trunks to keep up, while other female elephants protect them from danger. Being extremely intelligent animals, with long memory spans, said to serve matriarchs well when during dry seasons they guide the herd to watering holes, over long distances they recall from the past. In private custody, deprived of their natural habitat, where they roamed free with their herd, browsing, foraging and socializing, these majestic animals undergo tremendous physical and mental suffering.
Instances of elephants given to private individuals and temples, suffering or dying due to cruelty, negligence, lack of care or callousness are galore. There are photographic evidence and eye witness accounts – all four feet shackled for hours with short iron chains cutting into the skin causing deep wounds, and fatal foot ailments due to lack of exercise. Assaults by intoxicated mahouts, exposure to lightning and floods causing death, torturous training, using heated iron rods for taming, parading on burning concrete roads, malnutrition, lack of veterinary care, starvation during pageants, overriding, overdriving and pulling by the ears to hasten speed at elephant races popular at Sinhala New Year festivals are only a few examples of this wanton cruelty.
Sannasas or agreements giving elephants to private custody require the animals to be used only for religious or cultural activities, but they are often hired for commercial gain by the recipients to hotels for rides or to nature parks. As Wildlife Minister Gamini Jayawickreme Perera has said, “When we announced that we are going to take back elephants if we find them used for elephant rides almost 80 % of the temples had taken back their elephants, admitting that the temples were engaging in tourism activities.”
There are no laws to assure captive elephant welfare. Consequent to a court case filed by the Animal Welfare Trust, Welfare Regulations were formulated, but a delay in their gazetting to give them the force of law has led to concerns that persons with vested interests are stalling them. The Wildlife Minister however, has given clear directions to his officials to take immediate action to gazette them.
Captive breeding statistics are dismal, with only three births recorded.Pinnawela,by 2015 had 70. Former NZG Director General Brigadier H.A.N.T. Perera says, private owners are disinterested in breeding, as pregnant elephants, during their 22 month long gestation period,cannot be used to earn money.
Challenging the statement that there is overcrowding, some speculate that the Cabinet decision is a stratagem to give elephants to those demanding them complaining that they have no elephants for peraheras, but mostly requiring them 24×7 to exploit for commercial purposes. The creation of a ‘pool’ of trained elephants in Pinnawela to ‘hire’ for peraheras and return, a move unreservedly endorsed by activists, has been considered previously, but without success. Such endorsement exposes the humbug of those accusing activists of conspiring to destroy religion and culture by opposing private ownership. According to Brigadier Perera,then Environment Ministers Rukman Senanayake and A.H.M. Fowzie had between 2001 and 2004 sought Cabinet approval to train and hire out 50 elephants from the PEO, but with the Cabinet suggesting changes, which were not pursued, it had died a natural death. Last year, incumbent Minister Perera too made a similar recommendation.
As Brigadier Perera says even now the Pinnawela Zoo can be used not only to expand the PEO, but also to establish a Training Centre, a Veterinary Hospital and other facilities making it a Regional Centre of Excellence for Asian Elephant Conservation. Another option is to acquire adjoining land. Cannot land expansion be pursued to resolve Pinnawela’s purported overcrowding instead of separating elephants from their families?
President Maithripala Sirisena pledged a compassionate government in his Manifesto, referring also to the need to prevent violence to animals. A compassionate government cannot have heartless decision makers,who for political gain, succumb to the demands of those who will abuse animals for monetary gain. This compassion should apply not only to people, but also to elephants and all other animals.