In a corner of Kanpur,a jumbo problem

On Wednesday afternoon,the elephant was able to stand up with support from a crane and moved around a bit. Soon,a woman from Ghatampur,Chanda Devi,arrived and claimed she is its owner.

She said the elephant,called Champa,was her only source of income. She had been hiring it out for weddings.

“My son Radhey is mentally challenged,and my three daughters Usha,Mamta and Sarojni do not work,” she said.

Singh said that since the elephant is blind,it needs extra care. It has both internal and external injuries,which shows that the owner did not take proper care of it.

“There are injuries on all its four legs,around both ears and near the tail. But the owner,instead of arranging treatment,just abandoned the animal,” said an angry Singh. “We will definitely lodge a case against Chanda on charges of cruelty towards an animal,included in the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act.”  

Chanda said her father-in-law had bought Champa a long time ago and it had been a part of the family since.

Champa was born blind. As for its injuries and weakness,she said it was nothing serious.

She had brought the elephant to Kanpur a month ago as it was the marriage season. She said she had not abandoned the elephant,but kept it on the road divider at the Double Pulia road.

District Forest Officer B R Ahirwar said Chanda will have to produce documents in support of her claim of ownership.

The information about the animal had been passed on to senior officials and they were awaiting instructions on where the elephant should be shifted.

In the meantime,the animal is being provided treatment on the roadside. “We do not have a veterinary hospital,and the ones under Animal Husbandry Department do not have indoor treatment facility,” said Singh.

The animal is recuperating from the external injuries and it would take around a week for the treatment to be over. “The internal injuries still remain a challenge for us,and we are looking forward to invite a team of specialists from New Delhi or Lucknow to examine the elephant,” Singh added.

White cub dies at zoo
One of the two surviving tiger cubs in the Lucknow Zoo died of a cardiac arrest on Wednesday morning. It was part of a litter of four cubs which were born on November 9. Earlier,two other cubs had died.

The white cub was given its regular feed at 11 pm on Tuesday night and again around 5 am on Wednesday morning. Around 6.30 am,however,it suddenly collapsed.

“It is a case of sudden death — the cub was doing fine till last night. White tiger cubs are usually the recessive type and born slightly weaker. This could be the reason behind its sudden death,” said Renu Singh,Director of Lucknow Zoo. The postmortem stated cardiac arrest as the cause of death.

The incident came to light after zoo officials noticed that the cub was not moving. “The veterinary doctor was called and efforts were made to revive the cub,but all in vain,” said Singh. ENS