Assam bans elephant begging

Guwahati, Aug 29 (UNI) An estimated 1200 elephants and their owners face an uncertain future as the Assam government today banned street begging by the pachyderms following protests from environmentalists.

PCCF (WL) and Chief Wildlife Warden of Assam M C Malakar issued an order stating, ''Making elephants perform tricks and manoeuvers without prior approval from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) amounts to violation of section 38H of the Wildlife (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972 and is an offence under Section 289 of the Indian Penal Code.'' Elephant begging on the roads, especially in front of temples, has become a common sight in Assam. There have also been instances of such animals going berserk, injuring and killing innocent people and destroying property.

Besides, the pachyderms are made to walk the scorching sun, pothole-riddlen roads, which is an offence under section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

Section 42 of the WPA, 1972, legislates that the chief wildlife warden may issue a certificate of ownership to any legally owned captive animal only after ensuring that the owner has adequate facilities for its housing, maintenance and upkeeping.

If the captive elephant is used for begging, it means that the owner did not have adequate facilities for its maintenance, which would necessitate cancellation of the certificate of ownership and consequent forfeiture of the elephants to the government.

However, the problem is very complex as there are about 1,200 domestic elephants and their mahouts in Assam, desperate to find out alternative sources of livelihood.

For centuries, domestic elephants had been an integral part of Assamess society and their primary job was to transport logs from the jungles of the Northeast. Domestication of elephants had been a culture, legacy and held sentimental values for generations in Assam.

However, the Supreme court order banning cutting trees to save the forests of NE has rendened 1,200 elephants and their mahouts jobless.

UNI