100 captive elephants treated at Jaipur

Jaipur, August 25, 2001: In a landmark health camp and training programme organised at Jaipur by WTI, Tourism Department, Rajasthan Government and Help in Suffering (HIS) nearly 100 elepjhants received free treatment and 30 local vets trained between 21 to 24 August. The Wild Rescue programme of WTI is run in partnership with the Animals in Crisis and Distress Programme of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). The training workshop cum healthcamp could not have come at a beter moment for the captive elephants who were suffering from a host of diseases including blindness, absecees and foot rot. Two of India's most acclaimed elephant veterinarians from Kerala Dr. Jacob Cheeran and Dr Chandrashekharan Panniker were flown in by WTI especially for this camp.

Jaipur is known traditionally for camels. It was a unique sight therefore to see a parade of 30 odd elephants in front of the Amer fort just outside the city and a motley crowd of four veterinarians, half a dozen conservation workers, 30 odd trainee veterinarians and the media tend to them. The occassion was a four day veterinary training and health camp that was organised as part of the Wild Rescue programme of WTI. Drs Cheeran and Panniker were joined by wildlife vets Dr Ashraf and Anand and Bahar Dutt from WTI in training the enthusiastic local vets and administering basic treatment to the elephants. All the 100 odd elephants that are used in Amer recieved treatment. Among common ailments were a large number of cases of blindness of one eye (caused largely due to vitamin deficiencies), abscess formation and foot rot. Although all elephants could not be fully treated during the period, emergency cases were dealt with and prescriptions given for other cases. Long dialogues with the mahouts and owners of each elephant ensured that the elephants would be given better attention even after the end of the camp. WTI partners, Help in Suffering, will continue monitoring in Jaipur on a day to day basis.

The training workshop received enthusiastic particpation by vets from Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Ajmer. The philosophy of the WIld Rescue programme is to impart skills locally so that what is started out by the programme can then be continued by local talent. The workshop was inaugurated by the Secretary, Department of Tourism Rajasthan Government Mr.... and was attended by Mr. Vivek Menon, Executive Director WTI, Ms Christine Townend, Trustee of HIS and Mr----, Director Animal Husbandry, Government of Rajasthan. The event was widely covered by national and local media as being the first one of its kind in Rajasthan. The excellent rapport achieved by the vets with the elephant owners and mahouts was notworthy. WTI also added a session on law that was taken by a local advocate Mahender Singh Kacchawa to emphasise the need for elephant owners to get legal ownership permits and other documentations under the Wildlife Protection Act and teh Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.