Elephant rescue centre

By Narendra Pai

It was a mix of emotions visiting the WRR centres where two rescued captive elephants were hosted at. Away from the noise of Bengaluru city, the centre at Malur is in the middle of plantations and natural forest. Two elephants Aneesha and Gauri, both held captive for over fifty years are housed at the centre. Aneesha’s front leg joints are fused due to prolonged captivity, and she also has wounds on her back, perhaps due to lying on a cement floor all her life thus far. I realised that these elephants have not learned the basic skills elephants in the wild learn through their peers. We heard from Prof. Sunayana that Aneesha is only now picking up skills such as picking grass from her trunk from Gauri.

The shelter is a reflection of the sorry state of affairs when it comes to rules and regulations against having elephants (or other wild animals, for that matter) privately held captive. The complexity of temple administration in different states and lack of targetted laws at the centre is part of the problem. One wonders about the role of animal welfare board of India and their honorary animal welfare officers. Given the centre’s priority in funding gaushalas (which are not really any proxy for treatment of the ‘holy cow’ with the respect it commands in popular Indian belief), one wonders if any government agency can establish, fund or manage any of such facilities.

How justified it is to keep these majestic beings out of their natural habitat, not by causing harm to them but also to the Mahuts who are from one of the most vulnerable sections. As I engaged in these thoughts, surveying the facility which provides for an open space for elephants and indeed cats, cows and calves, Aneesha finished a bucket of guavas quite slyly before we could have the privilege of feeding her!