77 elephants examined at Sonepur Mela health camp

SONEPUR, December 2, 2002: The mammoth creatures that trundled into the rural jamboree were all but healthy. The least they could have asked for was being checked for ailments – and that they were. The Sonepur Mela health camp for elephants was a success for the second year running.

Under Wildlife Trust of India’s Captive Elephant Care (CEC) project , a health camp for elephants is conducted here by the Wild Rescue team from WTI. The first such camp last year examined 92 elephants. This time, the health camp was conducted from November 16-20, 2002. Both the camps were conducted with the support of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

The Sonepur Mela is the largest livestock fair in Asia and perhaps the only place in the country where elephants are traded in large numbers. Sonepur lies about 15 km north of Bihar’s capital city of Patna. Other domestic animals traded at the annual fair include camels, dogs, buffaloes, cows, rabbits, guinea pigs, and poultry.

The WTI team comprised Dr NVK Ashraf, Programme Coordinator, Wild Rescue, Ms Kadambari Mainkar, project assistant, and two veterinarians – Dr Khyne U Mar from the Zoological Society of London and Dr Sunil Chawla from Help in Suffering, a nongovernmental organisation based in Jaipur). The team examined 77 elephants including calves and sub-adults. This year there were fewer elephants because of the strict restrictions imposed by the Bihar forest department.

Data was collected from elephant owners on ownership and animals’ details. Every elephant was assessed for body condition. Individuals were examined for the presence of wounds and abscesses and localised and/or generalised oedema. The feet were examined for evidences of fissures and the extent of erosion in footpads. Toenails were inspected for crack marks. The mucous membrane of all individuals was inspected and so were the eyes for any evidence of blindness and/or corneal opacity. A standard format was followed for collecting all clinical and non-clinical data about every animal. All animals were dewormed. Wounds and abscesses were cleaned and dressed, taking into account the severity of the infection.

Elephants began arriving at the mela three days before Kartik Purnima – the auspicious day for the holy bath at the confluence of the rivers Ganga and Gandak at Sonepur. Most elephants remain at the mela for not more than a week due to the costs involved in feeding animals at fair grounds. Only one sub-adult was brought to the mela for display, while the rest were on sale. Due to the forest department regulations this year, with the exception of two owners, all carried the ownership certificates. Most owners had a minimum of two and a maximum of four elephants.

Of the 77 elephants that were examined at the mela, 40 were males. Owners were asked about the origin and source of the elephants they owned. Except for one two-year-old male, the rest had been purchased. The origin of most elephants was Assam though a considerable number of them were also from Arunachal Pradesh. Most of the elephants were brought from places as distant as 200-400 km from Sonepur. Most were from Bihar’s districts of Siwan, Hajipur, and Vaishali, and the Uttar Pradesh districts of Dewaria, Deoria, Gopalganj, and Gorakhpur.

Of the 77 elephants, only two were in poor body condition. Ten elephants were blind and 21 had cataract, with seven of them having cataract in both eyes. Four had wounds, 40 had fissures on the footpads, and 28 had toenail cracks. The skin condition of most elephants was normal except for 13, which had skin infections such as warts and hyperkeratosis. There was one case of coetaneous meiosis.

The animals were kept tied throughout the day, with all four legs extended including the little ones aged between 2-5 years, obviously to restrain the animals from lurching the teeming lacks. Some were chained with the spikes penetrating into their skin.

Two elephants came into musth during the fair. One came to musth on his way to the mela about 5 km from the mela grounds, overturned the truck, killing a woman and injuring five children. The other was a tusker in the mela itself who came into musth on November 20. He was beginning to show signs of aggression having crushed a plastic chair and was reaching for the tents. Both were tranquilised by the forest department staff.

Pamphlets were circulated to visitors on the plight of captive and wild elephants in the country and suggestions were made to improve conditions of elephants at the mela, and restricting the visitors’ access to the camp.