In Kerala, elephants fire up the zest that celebrities normally pull off elsewhere. Craze towards celebrities could be a rule, but fan base for elephants is Kerala’s exception. You hardly spot a domestic elephant in Kerala without fan following. The fan count bench marks the ‘rating’ of the tuskers. Many prime slots in the media air elephant stories. Where else, if not in “elephants’ own land”, can an elephant biopic turn a grossing movie?
Penchant for the pachyderms
Penchant for the pachyderms exists in the genes of Keralites, so to say. In olden days if children grew up steeped in elephant lores, these media hits that kindle their fire. The new gen carves out their own space with fan pages in social media. Some of these groups have subscribers running into thousands. Any event, be it social or religious, in Kerala is incomplete without the presence of elephants. When the elephants were customarily used in wars, circuses and stunts elsewhere, Kerala’s jumbos had a much divine role; they carried the idols of the deities. Kerala’s signature Ezhunnellippu or procession of majestically caparisoned elephants accompanied by percussion ensemble is a hot tourist draw.
If the statistics are to be believed, there are 500 odd captive elephants in Kerala, out of which about a hundred are trained and are festival ready.
Grooming for the Events
Elephants participating in an event need to be trained on, among the other things, the posture, ability to hold still throughout the procession, cracking the crowd fear, tolerance to the fellow elephants, and response to the commands. Check-ups are done, especially for the signs of musth, by the veterinarians before an elephant is cleared for the events. Musth is a periodic condition which marks the presence of high testosterone level in the blood of the bull elephants resulting in their highly aggressive behaviour. If elephants in musth are engaged in the processions, they could run amok causing mayhem. The lassoing, sedating etc., adopted to win them back cause health hazard to the animal. Other than in events, elephants are also employed in logging operations and in movies. Moderate logging is considered a healthy workout for the pachyderms in many countries.
The Training Blues
There are other reasons too why elephants mis-behave. Trauma of separation from the natural habitat could be the reason one. Then there are training blues. Though these situations cannot be done away with completely, only experts can say whether there can be a more sensitive syllabus for the taming process. Ugly fan fights too surface at times, with miscreants provoking the “rival’ elephant so that their ‘ranking’ drops.
The elephant upkeep is expensive. The itemization has fodder, mahout’s (usually pair) pay, transportation in trucks to locations and wellness maintenance. Treatment for serious ailments can be a drain on finances and the survival rate is very low. A health insurance scheme for the elephants was floated sometime back, but it hit rough weather due to various reasons.
Turning to the past, elephants were the pets of rich temples and the aristocrats and they owned these animals out of sheer passion. Later on when the affordability became the criterion, elephants became the prized possession of the corporates.
Dwindling Numbers
The number of event ready elephants is fast dwindling. Most of the existing elephants have crossed middle-ages and face ageing issues. In addition there are the ban on capture and sale of elephants and the resistance by the animal activists. There is a scarcity of skillful mahouts too. No wonder then that enthusiasts have started exploring alternatives to elephant lead processions in various events. Will Kerala’s signature elephant procession become a thing of past?
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