There are three authorities in the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, which deal with domesticated elephants. The Director of Wildlife Preservation is the highest legal authority for discharging the responsibilities of the central government under the WPA-1972. He is also the Management Authority for CITES in India. He plays a direct role in regulating the import and export of domesticated elephants and grants permission for capturing elephants under Section 12 of the WPA-1972. The Central Zoological Authority (CZA) oversees the implementation of standards and norms relating to the zoo elephants under the provisions of the Recognition of Zoo Rules, 1992 and also regulates the transfer of elephants between the recognized zoos. Project Elephant, the third agency, was established in February 1992 to undertake conservation activities for the long-term survival of elephants in India. One of the objectives of Project Elephant is ‘to improve the welfare of elephants in domestic use, including veterinary care, training of mahouts, humane treatment of elephants, etc.'. But Project Elephant has mostly been busy in projects relating to wild elephants and it has not done much for domesticated elephants. Presently, it is in the process of gathering information about the status of domesticated elephants and their keepers. It also plans to organize a series of training programmes for mahouts, forest officers and veterinary doctors. It plans to utilize the services of NGOs and associations of elephant owners to facilitate registration of domesticated elephants. The Ministry of Social Justice, Government of India and the Animal Welfare Board of India have undertaken many initiatives to promote the welfare of domesticated animals and to prevent cruelty to animals. The major focus of their activities is the circus animals. Various branches of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCAs) in Kerala have been particularly active in preventing cruelty to temple elephants. The Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izzatnagar conducts a diploma course in wildlife health management for serving veterinary doctors. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun conducts training courses in wildlife management for forest officers. The WII has also been running a collaborative programme with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service since 1995 known as the Indian Wildlife Health Co-operative (IWHC). The IWHC consists of five veterinary colleges, one each in the east, west, north, south and central regions. Each college deals with wildlife health issues and training within its region. Two of these colleges, the College of Veterinary Science, Khanapara, Guwahati (Assam) and Madras Veterinary College, Chennai (Tamilnadu) are located in the major elephant regions in India, though they do not have any special programme relating to elephants at present. Kerala Agricultural University, Trichur, organizes workshops and training programmes related to the management of captive elephants for veterinarians, elephant keepers and other interested persons. |
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