Ministry orders probe into elephant death

NEW DELHI: One month after thecontroversial capture and death of a rogue elephant calf in Chhatisgarh, theenvironment ministry has finally ordered an inquiry.A three-membercommittee of experts has been given one month to probe the circumstances andcause of the death as well as the appropriateness of the techniques adopted forthe capture. It will look for lapses or irregularities by any person orauthority and suggest what can be done to avoid such tragedies infuture.The committee will be headed by the ministry''s formeradditional director-general (wildlife) SC Sharma. The two! other members are NPanneer Selvam, veterinary officer at the National Zoological Park here, and SSingsit, presently heading the Dehra Dun-based Wildlife Institute ofIndia.The announcement comes four days after celebrated‘elephant woman'' Parbati Barua rebutted charges that her team was to blamefor the death and hit out at the state''s forest department for not defendingher. In a letter to the environment ministry, Barua said: ``It appears that thesenior forest officers of Chhatisgarh either do not have the technicalcompetence to give a suitable reply to these allegations or they themselves havesomething to hide.''''The controversy, which has seen Barua''s husbandand Project Elephant director S S Bist being dragged in, erupted when animalwelfare activists upset by the ``archaic'''' methods of capture and subsequentdeath showed footage of the elephant''s suffering. The capture was done by thestate forest department.There are indications that Bist may beshifted from his post. Barua said the “vilification'''' campaign by“some vested interests'''' reflects either the “ignorance or thecrooked mindset'''' of the people involved. But activist Maneka Gandhi and othershave ``reportedly'''' used this as a base to make ``false complaints'''' to thecabinet secretariat and the Central Vigilance Commission ^ and asked theenvironment ministry and the state government to prosecuteher.Requesting the ministry to stop this harassment, Barua said shecomes from a celebrated family known for capturing and training elephants andhas impeccable credentials. ``Elephants are a way of life for me and I loveelephants much more than these persons who are shedding crocodile tears andtrying to gain cheap publicity at my cost.''''She said she went toChhatisgarh after "desperate" requests from the state forest department and hasnot signed any contract with them. She has received only the wages and expensesfor her elephants and support staff.Barua described the footage shotby wildlife film-maker Mike Pandey''s team as "highly biased" and maintained thatdeaths during capture and training are not unusual.She said she didnot use the traditional shikarcapture method in the state. A bull tusker was chemically immobilised andcaptured by forest officers in Jashpur on February 6. This elephant, which hadkilled three persons, was given to her for training.She contendedthat the chemical immobilisation wasn''t done professionally. The elephant wasdarted six times, one dart hit the trunk from close range and this wound did notheal. This "probably" led to the elephant''s death on February 24. Besides,forest department support was not adequate or timely.The elephant,she said, was not treated cruelly; it was fed and watered properly and trainedin a north-eastern method considered safe by experts. This involves use ofropes, the injuries caused by this do heal. The tusks were trimmed slightly toprevent the animal hurting himself or his handlers. Spear use was confined toself-protection. And, training stopped after February 14, when the elephantreduced its intake of fodder.