Give them the gift of freedom

Animal rights group speaksu00a0for elephants on eve of Ganesh Chaturthi, but zoo denies any wrongdoing

With just one day to go before Mumbai's beloved elephant-headed deity makes his celebratory entry into the city, animals rights groups are revelling in the fact that 18 elephants have been freed from zoos in various cities in India.


An elephant roams the Mumbai roads in Vakola, Santacruz

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says these pachyderms have been moved to, "Rescue and rehabilitation centres" which, "are closer to forest area."
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Says PETA India Director of Veterinary Affairs, Dr Manilal Valliyate, "We can confirm that the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has moved the 18 elephants which is in keeping with the CZA's 2009 order banning the use of elephants in zoos."

PETA adds, "We have not contacted the Byculla zoo (Mumbai) personally, but are now trying to put pressure on them through the CZA to release the elephants into sanctuaries where they will be able to roam."
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Though the PETA says it has not contacted the Byculla zoo or Jijamata Udyan in the city directly, it accuses the Mumbai zoo of trying to circumvent the CZA directive by asking to be exempt from relocating the elephants.

The zoo authorities disagree that they are trying to circumvent anyu00a0 CZA directive. Said a zoo official, "We have two elephants currently at the Jijamata Udyan.

They are named Anarkali and Laxmi and have been at the zoo for 20 years or more. We are not circumventing any kind of directive.

In fact, we have to go by the CZA diktat. There is an Elephant Committee constituted by the CZA, which is going to give a report about what can be done about these elephants. We will go by whatever that report says."

The PETA claims it had kept the pressure up on Delhi's CZA by writing two letters to the authority urging it to move the elephants out of the zoo. The letters have been addressed to B S Bonal, member secretary, CZA in New Delhi.

PETA says, in arriving at the ban, the CZA cited major concerns about the living conditions of elephants in zoos, including the lack of adequate space to permit free movement and the stress from being chained for long hours.
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The CZA also expressed concern over the serious threat to which visitors are exposed when elephants are kept in captivity.

"Thanks to the CZA's action, life has improved tremendously for the elephants who have been moved from the cramped confines of a zoo to the large, natural spaces where they now reside," says Dr Valliyate.


An elephant being used to collect money,
despite court bans on elephants on city roads

"Now, we are urging the CZA to give elephants the gift of freedom this Ganesh Chaturthi by keeping their commitment to move every remaining elephant still held captive in Indian zoos to forest areas where they can live out their lives in peace."

The PETA also claims that an elephant had killed a man at the Byculla zoo last year because the elephant was "frustrated by captivity."

Yet, news reports say that the intruder was killed because he encroached into the elephant Laxmi's space. He was a drug addict who was trying to steal a bolt from the elephant's enclosure.
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The elephant had wrapped her trunk around the man and dashed him against the wall, killing him. Experts had said at the time, that Laxmi may have killed the man because she was provoked.

It may be some time before Laxmi and Anarkali get relocated from Mumbai, but if they do, there is little doubt about how they would carry their belongings -- well in their trunks, of course.

Would Mumbai be next?
Here is where these 18 elephants which PETA says have been freed, have been relocated.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

The Bondla Zoo, Goa shifted two elephants to Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Goa.

Two elephants from Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, Visakhapatnam have been transferred to an elephant camp.

The Assam State Zoo, Guwahati had transferred a total of four elephants (two elephants to the Nameri National park and two to the Sonitpur Wildlife Sanctuary).

The Lucknow Zoological Gardens, Lucknow has shifted two elephants to the Dudhwa National Park and Katanya Chat in Uttar Pradesh respectively.


Laxmi and Anarkali at the Jijamata Udyan in Byculla

Kanpur Zoological Park, Kanpur has shifted one elephant to Dudhwa National Park.

Nandankanan Biological Park, Bhubaneshwar has shifted five elephants to the wildlife sanctuary area.

The Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, Patna has shifted two elephants to Bettiah Tiger Reserve.

One year earlier...
In March 2010 on a particularly hot day, the serenity of a Sunday afternoon was ripped to shreds. Laxmi, an elephant at the Jijamata Udyan killed a man after he entered the enclosure.

Ranjit Manakadan, assistant director, Bombay Natural History Society, had said, explaining the incident, "Elephants are like humans -- varying in nature from timid to aggressive.
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They do not like the sun. They are not at peace in the blazing heat, and they need shade and water."

The unfortunate man intruded into 'the elephant's very small space' as a result of which he was killed, says Mumbai-based J C Daniel, former director, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).

"Elephants are social animals. It is a matriarchal society where the female (known as the cow) leads the herd. Since the elephant is a social animal, it makes little sense to keep it in isolation and chained.

They have to be free to move about, as this space is too small for them. It's time we take the zoo out of the city, maybe on the outskirts. I think only the Aarey land qualifies for this purpose," Daniel had said.

He had added, "Elephants need a lot of water. Even in the wild, you can see them basking near streams and lakes.

The intruder invaded into that small space and the elephant most probably gave him a knock. Elephants usually kick or hit you with their trunks. One push is enough. An elephant attacking a man is like squashing a cockroach."