<p>Thiruvananthapuram: With the number of <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/india/kerala/kerala-urges-centre-to-amend-wildlife-laws-as-elephant-attack-claims-one-more-life-in-nilambur-3356681">captive elephants in Kerala </a>drastically falling, the 300 odd captive tuskers in the state are now having a hectic schedule with some elephants even forced to attend two or more festivals a day.</p><p>Elephant welfare bodies have filed petitions against the stress caused to elephants.</p><p>With the death of around 150 captive elephants in the last five to six years, mostly due to age-related ailments, Kerala, at present, has around 345 captive elephants. Of that around 300 are male elephants that are mostly used for temple festivals. There are around 5,000 temple festivals in Kerala and the peak season is from January to April.</p>.Elephant falls in well in Kerala's Malappuram; locals oppose its release in same area.<p>"Elephants are now having a stressful period. There are instances of some elephants being forced to take part in three festivals a day, despite having wounds. I have filed a complaint to the forest authorities citing a specific instance," said V Venkatachalam of the Heritage Animal Task Force, a NGO working for elephant rights.</p><p>Venkitachalam said that eight instances of elephants running amok during festivals were reported during this festival season so far. One person was killed after an elephant ran amok during a mosque related event at Malappuram earlier this month.</p><p>Parading the maximum number of elephants is often considered as a matter of pride by temple festival organisers. But, now temples are struggling to get the number of elephants as per their whims and fancies. </p><p>Authorities of a temple at Perumbavoor near Kochi had tried to get three elephants and got only one for the festival. A festival related ceremony at a temple in Kollam was delayed for hours as the tusker booked for the event arrived late owing to its hectic schedule, animal rights activists point out.</p><p>Festival organisers also admit that the falling number of captive elephants is posing a hurdle. They suggest relaxation in rules for bringing captive elephants from other states as a solution. Though steps were taken for inter-state transfer of elephants, it is also caught up in legal tangles.</p><p>"Most temples are now able to parade only a limited number of elephants. Many are even finding it difficult to get one elephant. The practical solution to address this issue is to allow inter-state transfer of captive elephants," said Poora Premi Sangham (festival enthusiast forum) leader Vinod.</p><p>Sources in the sector said that the rate for parading one elephant starts from around Rs 50,000. For some popular elephants the rate goes up to Rs 10 lakh. Tusker 'Thechikottukavu Ramachandran', which killed 13 people, had fetched a charge of Rs 6.75 lakh for a festival in 2023. It is considered as the tallest captive elephant in Asia.</p>
<p>Thiruvananthapuram: With the number of <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/india/kerala/kerala-urges-centre-to-amend-wildlife-laws-as-elephant-attack-claims-one-more-life-in-nilambur-3356681">captive elephants in Kerala </a>drastically falling, the 300 odd captive tuskers in the state are now having a hectic schedule with some elephants even forced to attend two or more festivals a day.</p><p>Elephant welfare bodies have filed petitions against the stress caused to elephants.</p><p>With the death of around 150 captive elephants in the last five to six years, mostly due to age-related ailments, Kerala, at present, has around 345 captive elephants. Of that around 300 are male elephants that are mostly used for temple festivals. There are around 5,000 temple festivals in Kerala and the peak season is from January to April.</p>.Elephant falls in well in Kerala's Malappuram; locals oppose its release in same area.<p>"Elephants are now having a stressful period. There are instances of some elephants being forced to take part in three festivals a day, despite having wounds. I have filed a complaint to the forest authorities citing a specific instance," said V Venkatachalam of the Heritage Animal Task Force, a NGO working for elephant rights.</p><p>Venkitachalam said that eight instances of elephants running amok during festivals were reported during this festival season so far. One person was killed after an elephant ran amok during a mosque related event at Malappuram earlier this month.</p><p>Parading the maximum number of elephants is often considered as a matter of pride by temple festival organisers. But, now temples are struggling to get the number of elephants as per their whims and fancies. </p><p>Authorities of a temple at Perumbavoor near Kochi had tried to get three elephants and got only one for the festival. A festival related ceremony at a temple in Kollam was delayed for hours as the tusker booked for the event arrived late owing to its hectic schedule, animal rights activists point out.</p><p>Festival organisers also admit that the falling number of captive elephants is posing a hurdle. They suggest relaxation in rules for bringing captive elephants from other states as a solution. Though steps were taken for inter-state transfer of elephants, it is also caught up in legal tangles.</p><p>"Most temples are now able to parade only a limited number of elephants. Many are even finding it difficult to get one elephant. The practical solution to address this issue is to allow inter-state transfer of captive elephants," said Poora Premi Sangham (festival enthusiast forum) leader Vinod.</p><p>Sources in the sector said that the rate for parading one elephant starts from around Rs 50,000. For some popular elephants the rate goes up to Rs 10 lakh. Tusker 'Thechikottukavu Ramachandran', which killed 13 people, had fetched a charge of Rs 6.75 lakh for a festival in 2023. It is considered as the tallest captive elephant in Asia.</p>