Rajasthan Government Finally Acknowledges Tourists Would Be at Risk of Contracting TB From Infected Elephants Used for Rides
Jaipur – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India wrote a letter to Minister of Art & Culture and Archaeology & Museums Dr BD Kalla asking him to protect elephants, their caretakers, tourists, government staff, and the general public from tuberculosis (TB) by permanently ending the use of elephants for rides at Amer Fort. In response, Department of Archaeology & Museums Director Prakash Chandra Sharma asked the Jaipur deputy conservator of forests (wildlife) to ensure that all elephants used for rides at Amer Fort are tested for TB and that necessary action is taken. PETA India also asked the minister of the department to issue motorised cart licenses to elephant caretakers and mahouts so that they can shuttle tourists safely and have an alternative livelihood option when elephant rides are stopped.
“The COVID-19 pandemic means the public is more concerned than ever about the risk of disease transmission from animals to humans,” says PETA India Chief Advocacy Officer Khushboo Gupta. “We are thankful to the honourable minister for taking this crucial step toward protecting everyone’s health. The use of elephants is also unsafe for tourists because these animals often attack when upset or provoked.”
While scientists overwhelmingly believe COVID-19 first infected humans at a live-animal market in China, wild animals as well as those such as horses and camels commonly used by the tourism industry can and do also transmit zoonotic (animal-origin) diseases to humans.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – notes that a 2018 Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) evaluation report on captive elephants used for rides in Jaipur states that 10% of them were found to be reactive for TB. A scientific study of 600 elephants in South India indicated a high prevalence of asymptomatic M tuberculosis infection. Another study found human-to-elephant and elephant-to-human transmission of M tuberculosis between mahouts and captive elephants. In addition, a recent paper confirmed TB infection caused by reverse zoonosis in three wild elephants in South India.
And according to figures compiled by the Heritage Animal Task Force, captive elephants killed 526 people in Kerala alone within a 15-year span.
In its 7 May 2014 judgment in the matter of the Animal Welfare Board of India vs A Nagaraja and Others, the Supreme Court of India noted, “Entertainment, exhibition or amusement do not fall under … exempted categories [under Section 11 of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960] and cannot be claimed as a matter of right under the doctrine of necessity.”
Disclaimer: This story has not been edited by ABHAY INDIA Staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PETA INDIA
