Chernnai:
The death of a three-day old elephant calf in a kraal, a space meant
to confine the movement of captured wild elephant till it obeys the
command of mahout, in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve has sparked an outcry
with a contempt petition filed in Madras high court seeking action
against the principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife
warden.
The contempt petition which was filed before the bench comprising of
Acting Chief Justice Satish K Agnihotri and Justice M M Sundresh by E
Seshan stated that principal chief conservator of forests
Lakshminarayan has lied in his earlier counter before the court that
there is no large female or large sub-adult elephant.
“It is obvious that the present female elephant which gave birth to a
calf on June 4, 2014, was in 13th month of the 22 months gestation at
the time of capture.
Alleging negligence on the part of forest officials, Seshan said that
the pregnancy of the female elephant has not been diagnosed even at
the time of capture.
He said the female elephant was constrained to give birth in kraal
where there is no space even to turn around and in which the elephant
cannot also lie down.
He also stated that the male calf born to this female weighed only 40
kg as against the weight of 100kg. Even the height of the calf was
much lower than average height and it could not even reach the teats.
The calf died on june 7, 2014 and it is purely due to the negligence
attributable to the forest official besides his subordinates in
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve including the veterinary doctor who is posted
exclusively to take care of elephants.
The judges issued notice to the respondent. Special public prosecutor
M K Subramaniam took notice for the respondent. The hearing has been
adjourned for two weeks.
The death of a three-day old elephant calf in a kraal, a space meant
to confine the movement of captured wild elephant till it obeys the
command of mahout, in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve has sparked an outcry
with a contempt petition filed in Madras high court seeking action
against the principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife
warden.
The contempt petition which was filed before the bench comprising of
Acting Chief Justice Satish K Agnihotri and Justice M M Sundresh by E
Seshan stated that principal chief conservator of forests
Lakshminarayan has lied in his earlier counter before the court that
there is no large female or large sub-adult elephant.
“It is obvious that the present female elephant which gave birth to a
calf on June 4, 2014, was in 13th month of the 22 months gestation at
the time of capture.
Alleging negligence on the part of forest officials, Seshan said that
the pregnancy of the female elephant has not been diagnosed even at
the time of capture.
He said the female elephant was constrained to give birth in kraal
where there is no space even to turn around and in which the elephant
cannot also lie down.
He also stated that the male calf born to this female weighed only 40
kg as against the weight of 100kg. Even the height of the calf was
much lower than average height and it could not even reach the teats.
The calf died on june 7, 2014 and it is purely due to the negligence
attributable to the forest official besides his subordinates in
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve including the veterinary doctor who is posted
exclusively to take care of elephants.
The judges issued notice to the respondent. Special public prosecutor
M K Subramaniam took notice for the respondent. The hearing has been
adjourned for two weeks.
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