KERALA, INDIA April 2011 (The Deccan Chronicle): Captive elephants were once an inseparable part of Hindu temple festivals alone. Over the period of time, the pachyderms have emerged as Kerala’s brand ambassador. However, they will disappear in the next 10 years thanks to aging factors, a reluctance to breed them in captivity and strong laws that protect wild elephants from predatory capture.
The state, at present, has only 546 captive elephants. The secretary of the Elephant Lovers’ Association, V.K. Venkitachalam, said 50 per cent of these elephants have crossed the age of 50. Principal chief conservator of forests and head of forest force T.M. Manoharan confessed the department had no accurate figures to determine their age. “We’re now collecting the data,” he said.
Everyone agrees age is fast catching up with the captive elephants. So, the only answer to supplement their depleting number lies in captive breeding. But most say it wouldn’t be economically feasible: an elephant eats a lot from the start, and most mahouts, thinking of old days, just wish they could catch one.