NGO launches Save Jumbo campaign

“The response of the authorities was shocking and pained animal lovers in the city. So we decided to launch a campaign to wake up the authorities,” said Sunish Subramanian,Founder and Secretary,PAWS. There are seven privately owned elephants in Mumbai,Navi Mumbai and Thane. Most of them are used for begging or for religious purposes by their owners and made to walk a lot without enough food and water,said Subramanian. Cases of them being injured have also been reported to the police.

However,the campaign is not restricted only to elephants on the road. It also aims to stop the cruelty meted out to injured or sick elephants working in circuses and zoo elephants who are in captivity with not enough place to roam. The NGO aims to create awareness about the issue and collect evidence of cruelty to elephants in the form of photographs through the Facebook page ‘Save Jumbo’. After the documentation is complete,they will approach the authorities with the evidence and ask them to take action. “We want these elephants to be shifted to elephant camps,national parks,sanctauries and such natural suroundings,“ said Subramanian.

The initiative has begun in Mumbai but will soon be taken up at the national level. “With the involvement of public,we think it will make a huge difference,” said Subramanian.