Bonded for life

Sept. 4: Overworked, underfed and grossly neglected — domesticated elephants in the Barak Valley are a picture of contrast to the marauding wild herds that plunder villages with alarming regularity.

Although animated discussions on human-animal conflict begin in government offices every time these herds attack the villages, nobody spares a thought about the ones that have been dutifully serving their human masters and have become indispensable “workers” in timber firms and saw mills.

Neither the office of the conservator of forests in Silchar nor the district forest offices in Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi keep track of these exploited animals.

The forest directorate had instructed each district forest office to conduct a census of domesticated elephants in 2003, but not much headway has been made in terms of doing a headcount.

The idea of conducting a census sprang from the Centre’s concern about the alleged illtreatment of domesticated elephants across the country.

The Centre had also planned to distribute microchips among elephant owners to track the animals.

These microchips, meant to dangle from the neck, emit signals that help mahouts easily track trained elephants that lose their way or are hurt.

In the past four years, only 27 domesticated elephants were registered in the Barak Valley districts. The conservator of forests for south Assam, Y. Suryanarayan, is not convinced that there are only that many domesticated elephants in the three districts. He believes there are at least 100 of them.

Only 11 of the registered elephants have microchips dangling from their necks. If forest officials don’t care, neither do the owners of the elephants. For most, these animals have become an economic burden. Since there has been a drastic drop in logging in the Barak forests, domesticated elephants are now mostly “unemployed”.

“The tame elephants, which once were the symbols of prestige for the owners, have now turned out to be a burden. We are now struggling to feed and maintain them,” said Abdur Rahaman, an elephant owner from Karimganj.