THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It seems the rising temperature is taking a toll on captive elephants in the state as highlighted by the number of jumbos running amok.
The state witnessed as many as 464 elephant fury cases in the first three months this year. It was 317 for the same period last year, said Heritage Animal Task Force secretary V K Venkitachalam. According to experts, shortage of captive elephants and increase in the number of festival processions have put severe pressure on the tuskers in this summer.
At present the day temperature hovers around 39 to 40 degree Celsius in central Kerala. According to veterinarians and elephant experts, under normal circumstances elephants in the wild will only graze in the early morning hours and during late evenings. So, one can easily imagine the plight of the captive elephants which are forced to stand for hours at the festival venues under the sun.
In Kerala, the captive elephants are paraded under the scorching sun for hours in the day though the captive elephant maintenance rules prohibit parading of elephants between 11 am to 3 pm. They are not allowed to rest even in the night.