K.B. Ganesh Kumar laments absence of facilities to treat captive elephants

Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar, who is also the State president of the Kerala Elephant Owners Federation (KEOF), has expressed concern over the absence of dedicated facilities for the treatment of captive elephants in the State.

Presiding over the federation’s State conference here on Wednesday, he said the State government was mulling steps to establish a super specialty hospital for elephants at Guruvayur.

He said that discussions were held with Animal Husbandry Minister J. Chinchurani and the chairperson and the administrator of the Guruvayur Devaswom in this regard.

The proposed hospital, he added, could be equipped with modern diagnostic tools. Discussions were under way with private firms to procure such equipment. The Guruvayur Devaswom Board had expressed its willingness to collaborate on the project, he said.

Highlighting the shortage of trained veterinarians capable of handling elephants, the Minister said that very few veterinary doctors in the State were trained in elephant-specific medicine. He urged the Minister for Animal Husbandry to select interested veterinarians and send them to Thailand for advanced training, considering the world-class elephant care centres in that country.

Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran, who inaugurated the conference, pledged all support to ensure the welfare of the pachyderms. The demands of elephant owners would be considered with due seriousness, he said.

Kerala Forest Development Corporation chairperson Lathika Subhash, KEOF general secretary P.S. Raveendranathan and organisation secretary K. Mahesh, and Kerala Festival Coordination Committee working president Rajesh Pallatt spoke.