THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government will take custody of domestic elephants that are abused by their owners and mahouts, Forests and Wildlife Minister K Raju told the Assembly on Monday.
“Sometimes, elephants in musth are paraded in festivals. Owners shuttle the jumbos between festival venues, violating norms. There were incidents where injured elephants were paraded in festivals and were denied food,” Raju said.
He said the government will take custody of such jumbos and house them at the elephant rehabilitation centre at Kottoor.“Owners unable to look after their old elephants can hand over the jumbos at the centre for a nominal fee,” Raju said.
He said the facility will be part of the Rs 100-crore development work going on at the Kottoor elephant rehabilitation centre which will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on June 23. There are 507 domestic elephants in the state. Thrissur has the maximum number of jumbos at 144.