Better in Wild

Hyderabad, June 26: If you are one of those who can’t stay away from circuses, be prepared for a “trunk-ated” version.

Because the ring is set to lose a jumbo attraction.

After the exit of tigers, lions and bears, it now appears to be the turn of elephants to take the bow.

Wildlife sources say elephants can be banned from the circus ring because owners have also been using them for other purposes, like hauling heavy load.

Central Zoo Authority sources say the proposal is under “examination”.

A worried Indian Circus Federation has listed the issue on the agenda of its July 7 meeting in Delhi.

The initial ban on animals performing in the circus ring included those mentioned in Schedule I and II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. As the Indian elephant does not figure in the endangered category, circus owners were allowed to retain them subject to certain conditions.

“But hardly around 250 elephants are now employed in circuses around the country and over 75 per cent of them are very old,” says Mustafa, the ringmaster of Empire Circus and a federation functionary.

The last elephant census showed their number had risen from 25,604 in 1993 to 26,413 in 2002 across 166 habitats. “But the fact,” Mustafa says, “is their tribe is fast dwindling with reduced forest cover every year.”

The veteran ringmaster says the Central Zoo Authority ensures that no new elephant is directly inducted into any circus group. Circus managements have to get ownership certificates from the chief wildlife wardens of the state concerned and a performance licence from the Animal Welfare Board, Chennai.

Already hit by the ban on tigers and lions, circus owners are so nervous now that they are not using the jumbos for any heavy work. “Earlier, tuskers were taken out during leisure hours and they brought back enormous quantities of green leaves that form part of their fodder. But now they are not sent out at all,” says Mustafa.

But if some temples in south India can keep elephants, why not circuses?

“They didn’t stay within the ring, did they?” a wildlife source counters.

And their actions got trumpeted, loud and clear.

T(u)sk, t(u)sk.