Report to Minister Maneka Gandhi (4/16/99)

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16 April, 1999
Minister Maneka Gandhi
Ad Maharini Baugh
New Delhi, India 110065

Dear Minister Gandhi:

I am writing you once again regarding the Makhna at the Mudumalai Elephant Camp. I have read with great dismay your report which was sent to individuals who have expressed concern over Loki. I hope this report is not based on your own personal observations as I am certain you could not have stated that you "have dealt with the matter" if you had seen the elephant or reviewed the audio and video tapes of his beatings which have been euphemistically referred to as "training".

Since we received no response to my initial letter to you, we dispatched Ed Stewart, Director of PAWS, to India at the request of Congressman Sam Farr and other concerned citizens.

PAWS operates a sanctuary for abused and abandoned captive wildlife in the United States and both Mr. Stewart and I have many years experience with Asian and African elephants. We currently house four elephants at our sanctuary, two Africans and two Asians. All elephants are managed without the use of chains, canes, ankuses or other weapons. While it is our philosophy that elephants should be left in the wild, we have, unfortunately, had to deal with captive elephants. We have discovered many alternatives to the cruel "training" which is endemic to mahout management, and we have sponsored programs in Africa to minimize human/ elephant conflicts in that country. It was our hope to offer assistance with the issue of human/ elephant conflict and "rogue" elephants in India.

Mr. Stewart arrived in Chennai on April 6th and met with Rob Silberstein from the American Embassy in Chennai on three separate occasions. Mr. Silberstein also arranged meetings with Mr. Udhayan, Wildlife Warden in the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary and Mr. Chitrapu, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests.

Mr. Stewart was allowed to see Loki and to videotape his present situation which Indian officials continue to insist is good. In our opinion, based on many years experience with captive elephants, Loki is now a "trained robot" standing quietly beside the mahouts and posing for pictures. What a price he has paid for his life! Perhaps the worst indignity is his loss of spirit. There is no elephant inside that shell; nothing remains of the proud, free bull elephant ranging through the forest which is his heritage.

Despite the international outrage over the continual beating of this elephant, we have heard reports that the punishment continues as the mahouts are not satisfied that he is totally submissive. In my opinion, he appears to be thoroughly brain washed. He stands forlornly next to the belligerent mahout holding the end of the mahout's stick. When he drops the stick, they yell and threaten him and he quickly obeys. It is a disgusting and frightening sight, a once proud bull elephant, the most magnificent of all animals, bereft of independent thought or will of his own, standing next to his cruel captors wearing a cow bell around his neck.

Loki is not "free to wander around the elephant camp"; when he is allowed to graze in the forest, he is forced to drag a long chain which must weigh hundreds of pounds. Mr. Stewart was told by camp personnel that he has lost weight, he has an abnormal drainage exuding from both eyes, his leg wounds continue to drain, his right front leg is swollen to the shoulder and several of his toe nails are distorted due to the injuries. His physical condition is not "good". It is difficult to believe this abuse exists in the land of Mahatma Gandhi!

While some may view Loki's treatment as an extreme measure taken to protect individuals from the damage caused by a "rogue" elephant, I can assure you the brutal torture which is used to break the elephants' spirit is common practice among all mahouts in India. It has been well documented by many television crews and elephant researchers and is, sadly, the basis for circus elephant training in this country.

I am thoroughly appalled to report that Mr. Stewart also watched the "taming" of a nursing baby elephant whose mother had been killed for crop raiding. The calf was captured and taken to the Bandipur Elephant Camp in Karnataka where he was roped to two trees and repeatedly beaten by mahouts.

Elephants are born into a community of love where they are the centre of a caring family; the stress of the loss of his mother and herd coupled with the strident voices of the mahouts and the physical punishment meted out to the infant is a crime against nature. Mr. Stewart's video of the beating of this innocent, orphaned baby elephant is further testimony to the abuse which is rampant in the elephant camps.

PAWS has no desire to "turn every animal tragedy into a fund raising and self-promotion opportunity" nor are we attempting to "market misery in India." We have deplored mahout training for many years but felt that little could be done about it. We were asked to investigate the allegations regarding Loki, and Mr. Stewart traveled to India with no preconceptions one way or another. As I stated in my first letter, we have great respect for you and your country, but the archaic brutality of the elephant camps has not been "dealt with" and it is an outrage to all who care about the wild elephants of the world. I cannot believe that the citizens of the only country in the world with humane ethics written into its' constitution and many of its' religions could rationalize the treatment of Loki and the baby elephant as "saving their lives".

We have offered to assist by providing solutions to the problem of crop-raiding elephants and alternative methods of handling captive elephants. There are many ways to eliminate the suffering of the elephants and to maintain India's culture and philosophy; the stubborn refusal of government officials to recognize the problem is what creates the "inability to work with local people toward the common goal of animal welfare."

Whatever you may think of IPAN and Deana Krantz, they have done the elephants of India a great service by exposing the cruel treatment of Loki, and for that they have been vilified and their good work within the tribal and village communities has been interrupted. I fail to see how they may have benefited from this controversy.

I am sending you copies of the video and audio tapes of Loki's training and the "breaking" of the baby elephant of Bandipur. I hope that you will review the tapes and agree that elephant camps should be abolished and replaced with true sanctuaries where elephants like Loki and that pathetic baby of Bandipur may live proudly with freedom from ropes, chains and tormentors.

We are establishing programs urging tourists to boycott places that provide elephant rides and photographs with elephants, but the hope of the future for the elephants of India is the elimination of elephant camps and "mahout training". I hope that you will appreciate and understand our offer of support and assistance in providing all elephants, captive and wild, the freedom and independence which is their right.

Sincerely,

Pat Derby
Director
Performing Animal Welfare Society

cc: Congressman Sam Farr
Ambassador Richard Celeste
Robert Silberstein