Two female captive elephants of Byculla Zoo,Laxmi and Anarkali,may soon be free of their enclosure measuring 4,000 square feet to roam in the dense forests of Chhattisgarh,giving a ride to forest officials on patrol duty. On Monday,the elephants had a visitor from Chhattisgarh,conservator of forests,Bilaspur,Anil Sahu. Sahu was in the city to see the elephants and decide if they could be shifted to one of the tiger sanctuaries in Indravati,Achanakmar,Udanti or Sitanadi in Chhattisgarh. Sahu was visiting Mumbai after being advised by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to consider the elephants for relocation. The CZA had recently issued a nationwide order that no elephant be kept in zoos and all zoos shift their elephants to sanctuaries or national parks. Maharashtra has six female captive elephants in all,two each in Mumbai,Pune and Aurangabad. Sahu said,We need four elephants for our tiger sanctuaries,which will primarily be used by forest officials for patrolling the jungle. Many parts of the tiger reserves are dense forests,which cant be penetrated in jeeps or cars. The elephants would be used for that, he said. After observing Laxmi and Anarkali for a few hours,Sahu said they seemed in good health but could be a bit old to be useful for patrolling. The retirement age of an elephant is 65 as per wildlife rules. The Byculla Zoo elephants are around 50 years old,which means they barely have 10 years to work. Besides,we need to see how to rehabilitate the animals later. Byculla Zoo director Anil Anjankar,said,We too are concerned about the rehabilitation,considering their age,and have even requested the CZA to exempt our elephants from being relocated. However,the CZA has not accepted our request. We will try our best to ensure the two females are relocated without much stress. Vet Dr S Tripathi said winter months,around November and December,would be ideal for relocation. Sahu will next visit the Aurangabad zoo to observe the 2 elephants there. Based on my observation,I will send a report to Chhattisgarh chief wildlife warden,who will then take the decision, Sahu said.
