Kumki training to jumbo calf opposed

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar posted the case for further hearing to Wednesday after directing the state forest department to inform by then as to whether it has any objections in subjecting the calf to such a medical examination as sought by the petitioner. 

Prema Veeraraghavan, co-founder, Elsa Foundation, on expressing shock that Chief Wild Life Warden, Forest Department, whose responsibility is to protect endangered wildlife has instead taken a reckless decision to capture and tame a male elephant calf in distress, submitted that the elephant calf which has not attacked or killed any humans has been subjected to severe harassment from the time of its capture in Mankarai forest in Coimbatore on March 14, 2017. 

Narrating the improper process adopted by the Forest department by letting the calf in an alternate forest away from its mother and natal herd resulting in its return twice, the petitioner said reports have now emerged that this time around the forest department has captured the calf and kept it inside a ‘Kraal’ (cage) at Varagaliyar in a bid to tame it as a ‘Kumki’, she said.

Pointing out that the entire process of taming is an utterly barbaric act and is in violation of laws meant for the protection of wild life, the petitioner said in an earlier hearing on this issue, the High Court on May 4 had directed Dr. Santhosh Sahu, veterinary policy advisor, PETA, to examine the captive calf. 

The report submitted by him clearly revealed that besides the poor and unhygienic housing conditions, maintenance and care, the forest department has been negligent in offering medical treatment to the calf and that the inflammation in its oral cavity has not subsided for the past four months as continuous drooling of saliva is noticed, the petitioner said. 

The plea also sought to shift the elephant calf to a larger enclosure without chaining it and subsequently release it in its native forest, from where it was captured.