Aged, abused jumbo rescued in Tamil Nadu

60-year-old elephant Jamela has had deep wounds for the past few years but her owner had been abusing her constantly by taking her to festivals and functions without providing her adequate rest and proper medical treatment.

After disturbing images of Jamela with wounds went viral, the aged jumbo has been rescued from the owner in Tirunelveli and is now recuperating at an elephant rescue and rehabilitation centre run by the Tamil Nadu government near Tiruchirappalli. Jamela reached the rehabilitation centre on Sunday on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

A S Ramesh, the activist who flagged the wounds and wrote to authorities concerned, told DH that the elephant seems to have been abused by the owner for years together despite severe wounds.

“The owner had never bothered about the treatment of the elephant as he continued to abuse it to make money by not allowing it to take adequate rest. The elephant has been made to travel constantly despite the wounds that are severe in nature,” Ramesh told DH.

He said that the elephant was rescued and lodged at a rehabilitation centre in just four days of him raising the issue with authorities.

After veterinarians concluded that the elephant badly needed rest and treatment, massive efforts were mounted to shift Jamela from Ambasamudram in Tirunelveli district to Tiruchirappalli in the wee hours of Sunday.

The elephant was loaded into a specially designed vehicle brought from Coimbatore by trained mahouts, who came from Pollachi, in the early hours of Sunday and brought to the camp by the afternoon.

Veterinarians, who visited Jamela in the rehabilitation camp on Sunday, have decided on the treatment plan which is likely to begin in the next couple of days.

“She is doing fine. She is taking rest at the rehabilitation camp since Sunday. A proper treatment plan is being worked out by veterinarians who have identified the problems faced by the jumbo,” Tiruchirappalli District Forest Officer D Sujatha told DH. Besides the wounds, Jamela has had a troubled past as she was separated from her calf at an early age and brought by the owner.

“More than the treatment, what excites me is the fact that Jamela will be spending time with other elephants in the camp. She will be with the family of her kind probably for the first time. This will help her recover fast,” Ramesh told DH. The elephant rehabilitation centre already has five jumbos and Jamela is the sixth occupant.