One may expect a substantial reduction in the number of privately owned elephants in the northeast unless logging operations are legally resumed. A similar reduction may be expected in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar if the landlords no longer find it viable to maintain elephants without sufficient economic returns. But elsewhere in India private ownership of elephants appears to have stabilised. There is fair scope for hoteliers and tourist organizations to utilize domesticated elephants in well-known tourist locations in southern and western India as is the case in Rajasthan. Veterinary care Not all domesticated elephants in India get veterinary care. The zoo elephants and SFD elephants fare the best. All major zoos in India have at least one full-time veterinarian. Major National Parks and Sanctuaries in India also have full-time veterinary doctors. But most of these veterinary doctors are officers of the Veterinary (Livestock) Departments sent on deputation to the Forest Departments or the zoos for a fixed period. They join as novices, gain experience and return to their parent department before contributing anything meaningful. But some of the zoo doctors with long experience with captive elephants have contributed a lot to veterinary science and have published papers and articles relevant to elephants. Forest authorities in most of the National Parks and Sanctuaries receive help from the Veterinary Departments in arranging the immunisation of livestock in the fringe areas - a legal requirement under the WPA-1972. In many other Protected Areas, NGOs also arrange veterinary support for the immunisation of livestock. In most of the districts having captive elephants, local veterinary doctors are called upon to treat sick elephants. They are also summoned to help the owners to control bad tempered elephants, particularly loose tuskers in musth. Needless to say, most of the veterinary doctors are not well prepared to deal with these cases. However, in States like Assam and Kerala, which have substantial populations of captive elephants, there are some private veterinary practitioners with sufficient experience of dealing with elephants. Care of domesticated elephants is not covered in the syllabi of most of the veterinary colleges and only a few colleges send their students for internships in a zoo or a Protected Area having captive elephants. Two notable exceptions are Kerala Agriculture University, Trichur and the College of Veterinary Sciences, Khanapara (Guwahati) that have research and teaching programmes relevant to captive elephants. Kerala Agricultural University also organizes workshops and refresher courses on captive elephant management for veterinary doctors. Tranquillising equipment and good laboratories are not available in most district towns having elephants. This often creates complications. There have been cases in West Bengal when the local veterinary doctors identified anthrax as the cause of death of some elephants, but detailed laboratory tests showed that this was not so. There also have been cases in India when as a result of the absence of tranquillizing guns some problematic tuskers have had to be shot dead rather than simply tranquillized. In remote villages in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and the northeastern States, veterinary help is rare and elephant keepers depend on kaviraj (practitioners of traditional medicine), ‘quacks' or their own knowledge. In Kerala, some kaviraj are in great demand by elephant owners. Some practitioners also use homeopathic medicines to treat sick elephants. However, the present generation of elephant owners and mahouts in India generally shows a preference for modern rather than traditional veterinary treatment. |
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