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Business News›News›Politics and Nation›Delhi's last elephants await order to move out of the capital

Delhi's last elephants await order to move out of the capital

Moving away from pollution

Moving away from pollution

After years of pressure from activists who accuse the animals' owners of flouting wildlife regulations by keeping them in a city, authorities have ordered the seizure of the elephants.

They plan to move the 40-year-old Heera -- along with Dharamvati, Laxmi, Gangaram, Moti and Chandni -- out of the smoggy Indian capital, but warn it could take months to find a new home for them.

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AFP
Insufficient basic needs

Insufficient basic needs

A senior Forest Department official said that the elephants are kept away from their natural habitat, highlighting "reports of insufficient food, water, shelter and veterinary care", all which could expose them to disease.

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AFP
Wedding prop

Wedding prop

Fifty years ago the Indian capital housed more than 200 elephants, covered in garlands and carrying grooms to weddings, or being sought by the faithful for blessings at temples.

But now the city -- overcome by cars, a population of 20 million and choking on pollution -- is no longer a suitable home for the animals, with Heera and his five bedraggled companions the last elephants to live there.

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The poor relative

The poor relative

Media reports say authorities are struggling to relocate the elephants because four are sick.

Officials hope to find a new home resembling the luxuriant farm belonging to consumer goods tycoon Vivek Chand Burman in Delhi where a seventh, female street elephant was recently taken.

She has her own mud pool and quarters complete with fans and sprinklers, a world away from her poorer relatives who wade in the Yamuna, one of the world's most polluted rivers.

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AFP
Keepers legacy

Keepers legacy

But while animal rights campaigners welcome the move, it is a difficult moment for their owners -- who deny any neglect.

Some owners say it is an attempt to snatch the legacy passed on by their ancestors.

"They (elephants) are like our family and have been with us through thick and thin. We cannot live without each other," said Mehboob Ali.

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AFP
Forest calling

Forest calling

Activists claim that it is a nexus of commercial exploitation, where little interest is paid to the animals' welfare.

Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of Wildlife SOS, said the elephants had spent most of their lives in deplorable conditions and must be taken back to the forests.

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AFP

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Realisation yet to hit

Realisation yet to hit

Satyanarayan said if people are actually made aware of the brutal methods used to capture, tame and bring these elephants to the city, they would never want to see them here again.

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AFP
The question that matters

The question that matters

"What would you choose, the joy of seeing an elephant rolling in the mud and walking the jungles, or seeing an abused and captive creature on the streets of Delhi outside a temple or a circus?" asked Satyanarayan.

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AFP
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