Alternative Elephant Polo in Pink City

Jaipur, Nov 14 (UNI): Jaipur is all set to host The Alternative Cartier Elephant Polo Cup here on saturday.

The event is being promoted by Jaipur NGO 'Help in Suffering' and Elephant Family, UK with the help of sponsorer Cartier.

The match, scheduled at Rajasthan Polo Club, is an attempt to bring worldwide awareness to the plight of the critically endangered elephants both in the wild and in captivity in Asia through their presence at the Cartier event.

In a press conference here today, Mark Shand of Elephant Family, said the highlight of this ten-minute event would be that no ankush (pointed iron-hooks used to control elephants) would be used during the event, which is normally used to make a elephant chase a ball in usual polo matches.

Mr Shand said a total ban on all use of animals in sports is unlikly to bring results, that is why they believe in going step by step, particularly in Jaipur where elephant polo is being practiced over a century and has become a regular winter sports since 1987.

Patrick Norman, managing directer, Cartier Middle East said: ''Elephant polo is amusing, harmless, exciting and visually stunning game that is joy both to watch and play. The true art is in the symbiosis between the elephant, its mahout (Driver) and the player.

Cartier is associating with the event as it is a model of how elephants and humans can relate to each other humanely and in a spirit of fun.'' The event is likely to be heady mixture of major international and Indian celebrities and the cream of both national and international journalists will make up the four teams. The coveted cup has been specially designed by Cartier's master craftsmen.

However, the event has drawn criticism from a number of animal rights activsts from across the globe including PETA India, whose chief functionary Anuradha Sawhney has sought government intervention to stop this proposed act of ''immense cruelty.'' UNI RRT AY VC1452