Elephant owners hit boycott path in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala's temple festivals may no more see elephants, with their angry owners protesting against criminal cases the police slap on them whenever the animals run amok.

"The Kerala Elephant Owners Association has decided that with no proper set of rules to decide what needs to be done when elephants run amok, we will not send any elephants to take part in temple festivals," P Sasi Kumar, joint secretary of the group, said.

Kerala has nearly 900 captive elephants that are booked in advance by temple authorities for festivals. April and May being the peak season for temple festivals, the revelry associated with the carnivals will be lost if the government does not respond soon to the elephant owners' grievance.

The owners are upset because the police implicate them in criminal cases when the elephants turn violent, the number of such cases has gone up in recent times.

"We want the government to set up a panel of experts to decide what needs to be done. We agree that elephants who are not well should not be allowed but how can we be implicated when an elephant runs wild? This is not fair, hence the boycott," said Kumar.

However, Kerala Forest Minister Binoy Viswam said the government had received complaints from wildlife enthusiasts on how elephant owners treat these animals. "Elephants certainly deserve to be treated better," he said.

"We have come out with guidelines on how the owners should manage elephants. Just because they are animals they can't be treated roughly. There are clear-cut guidelines on what needs to be done when elephants are taken for festivals," the minister said.