The environment and forests department has decided to relax a few new norms to enable elephant owners bring tuskers back to Sonepur fair.
The decision necessitated following reports of only 14 tuskers turning up at this year's fair, which witnessed low footfall of foreign tourists due to the absence of sheer elephant exhibition.
The issue of stringent norms preventing elephant owners in bringing their jumbos was raised during a meeting at Sonepur fair on Monday, which was attended by senior officials of the Union environment and forests ministry, state forests department, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), mahouts and elephant owners. The meeting was also attended by R.K. Srivastava, inspector-general, Project Elephant (under the ministry of environment and forests).
"Many people did not bring their elephants as it required a lot of paper work and visits to forest department offices," said Akhtar Imam, an elephant owner from Gaya.
Other elephant owners stated that the number of tuskers coming to the fair can go up to even 100 if the authorities relax the norms and provide facilities for their stay. "We have to pay rent for taking space at the fair and spend heavily for purchasing fodder for the elephants daily. If the authorities support us in bringing and keeping the elephants at the fair, then the number of elephants would go up to 100," said Jyoti Kumar, another elephant owner at Sonepur.
Senior officials claimed that measures would be taken to provide all necessary support to the elephant owners. "We have decided to form an association of elephant owners, which would issue permits for bringing tuskers to the fair. Thus, the elephant owners would not be required to keep running to the divisional forest officer's (DFO) office. Besides, elephants from other states would also be allowed specifically for Sonepur cattle fair upon consent from the principal chief conservator of forests," said S.S. Choudhary, additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), Bihar.
The forests department introduced a number of stringent norms this time to ensure a strict vigil on the elephants coming to the fair and to leave minimal scope for their illegal trade.
For the first time, elephant owners were asked to take consent from the DFO of their area for taking a tusker to the fair. They were also required to submit a declaration to the DFO regarding the purpose of taking the elephants to the fair. Besides, they are also required to submit a photograph of the elephants to the DFO of the area, once they return to their respective places.
The norm was introduced to an extent that prohibits issuing new permits for entry of elephants from other states to Bihar through a decision taken by state wildlife board in its meeting on June 19.
Check-up camp
A team from Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) comprising veterinary officer Shantanu Kalambi and project-cum-technical officer Achintya Tripathi held a five-day elephant check-up camp at Sonepur, which concluded on Monday.
"Elephants were assessed for body condition, age, presence of wounds and abscesses. Footpads were examined for evidences of fissures and wearing. Toenails in both fore and hind limbs were examined for crack marks. Their eyes were tested for any evidence of blindness or corneal opacity. The height of each of the elephants was also measured using a bamboo pole and a measuring tape," said Achintya.
