Elephant death in the capital: The ordeals of 'legally' kept elephants 

Placards lie on the road in front of the Forest Department office in Agargaon, Dhaka on Thursday. Photos: Saqlain Rizve

There are a million ways for an elephant to die in Bangladesh. Human encroachment of wildlife habitats leads many elephants to look for food in the crop fields when these majestic giants are electrocuted by humans. This happens every year, with the latest such killing taking place in Sherpur earlier this month.

Then there is hunting for ivory and so on, happening in the forests and frontiers of the country. 

But on Wednesday, a young elephant "found" a new way to die in the capital city of Dhaka. It was hit by a Chattogram-bound train near Uttara when it was "walking" along the railway track. It was accompanied by its mahout, another elephant (possibly its mother) and another mahout. 

The mahouts fled the scene with the surviving elephant. 

Did the young elephant come for sightseeing in the city?  

No, it was in shackles and was being controlled by a mahout. Hence, the elephant didn't just die, it was not an accident, it was killed due to utter negligence. And there are several illegal activities involved in the process that led to the death.

First of all, under the Deer and Elephant Rearing Rules 2017, one can get a licence to keep an elephant. The intended keepers are mainly the circus companies and those who use the animal to carry or drag timber from forested areas.

However, with such activities seeing a decline, the owners of elephants often lease out these gentle giants to people who are supposed to maintain them.

In Bangladesh, these people often use these animals to extort from the roadside shops, vehicles etc in order to manage the cost of rearing the animal, as well as to earn a living for themselves. 

This, of course, is totally illegal.

"The elephant that died Wednesday was possibly licensed under the Deer and Elephant Rearing Rules 2017. However, extortion using elephants is a public nuisance and a criminal offence, in which case a lawsuit can be filed against the perpetrator," Md Sanaullah Patwari, director of the Wildlife Crime Unit of the Department of Forests told The Business Standard.

Animal rights activists point fingers at Forest Dept

Soon after the news of the elephant's death spread, animal lovers rushed to the spot. Videos posted by them show that the elephant was still alive, and was trying to stand up while bleeding profusely. Commoners gathered around had no clue what to do, but some of them were trying to comfort the ailing animal by watering it.

The people tasked with caring for elephants use the animals to extort from the roadside shops, vehicles, etc in order to manage the cost of rearing the animal, as well as to earn a living for themselves. Photo: Collected

The animal lovers contacted the Wildlife Crime Unit of the Forest Department, but they complained that the call saw no action.

"The elephant was hit by the train around 1:30 pm on Wednesday. Until 10 pm no forest official was seen in the vicinity. A sub-inspector of Railway Police guarded the dead body until that time while he tried and reached out to the FD officials," Rakibul Haq Emil, Founder and Chairman of People for Animal Welfare (PAW) told TBS.

The activists held a demonstration yesterday in front of the Forest Department office in Agargaon with banners and festoons.

"There are many conditions tied to the licence granted for elephant rearing. They cannot be used for illegal activities according to the conditions. Also, their ownership cannot be transferred without permission," Emil said.

"We have gathered here to demand answers from the FD: why won't they monitor where the licenced elephants are, and stop the inhuman treatment as well as the illegal use of the animals," the animal rights activist said.

After a few hours of demonstration, the activists were invited inside the building. Amir Hossain Chowdhury, Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) met them and said that the FD has proposed building a shelter for captive elephants. The forest guardian hoped that this shelter would solve many problems. 

The protesters demanded that the FD launch an emergency hotline number to tackle such situations. The CCF assured them that it would be arranged. 

No easy exit

Captive elephants can be randomly seen everywhere in the country, cities and villages alike. Without any exception, they are used to extort money from the markets and vehicles.

According to Dr M Monirul H Khan, a professor at the Department of Zoology at Jahangirnagar University, there are around 200 captive elephants in the country, and there's nothing much we can do about this.

"Such elephants do not fall entirely in the category of wildlife since they are reared for circus or timber extraction from hilly areas. Since their traditional use has reduced, they are now being used for other purposes such as extortion between jobs," Professor Khan told The Business Standard.

The professor opined that the government should not issue new permits to own elephants. He, however, said that the old ones already living with the humans should not be released in the wild, because they don't have the skills to be able to survive in a forest on their own. At the same time, these elephants may transmit diseases they get in captivity to other wildlife in the forest, which may be disastrous. 

Professor Khan also pointed out that zoos can take in some of these animals, but there are too many of them to be accommodated in the country's zoos.  

"Zoos cannot take in such a large number of elephants. So it is better to ensure that the captive elephants are treated humanely under the ongoing arrangement, ie under the owners' control. At the same time, the government must stop issuing new licences," Monirul Khan concluded.

A helpless Forest Department?

Imran Ahmed, Conservator of Forests (CF) at the Wildlife and Nature Conservation Circle of the Forest Department informed TBS that there are 27 licenced elephant owners in the country, and the last licence was handed out last year.

Imran Ahmed said when an elephant gives birth, the elephant calf also has to come under the licensing process at a certain age. A local FD official is supposed to visit the elephants and ensure that the elephants are alright. The owners too are responsible for reporting.

Regarding monitoring the illegal activities involving elephants, the official said that the FD cannot do that alone.

"It is difficult. I have intercepted such extorting mahouts. But when ordered to get down, they don't oblige. We cannot reach up to the elephant's back, and the elephant is trained to obey the mahout's instructions," the CF said.

The law enforcers should play an active role in stopping these illegal activities, the FD official stressed. He also admitted that the FD needs to be more strict in this regard.

In 2019, Rab apprehended two mahouts with their elephants who were blocking traffic in the heart of the capital in order to extort money. The elephants were sent to Mirpur Zoo and the mahouts were sentenced to two years in jail by a court.

Elephants are never domesticated

Although humans are known to be using elephants for 3,000 years, the animals have never actually been domesticated. The majestic giants require brutal training to take human instructions. Even then, they retain their natural instincts which are meant for the wild.

Captive elephants sometimes kill their mahouts all over the world. Such incidents also took place in Bangladesh before. Additionally, animal rights activists from all over the world have been calling for the abolishment of the elephant entertainment industry to stop the inhumane treatment of this animal.