<p> Dasara elephants are well-fed and taken care of for the royal Jumboo Savari, but five female circus elephants are languishing in an under-construction building in Mandya district without proper food and water for the last seven months. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Repeated requests by conservationists in the last seven months to take care of the elephants and shift them to a rescue centre haven’t yielded the desired response from the Forest Department. <br /><br />Forest Department officials are just passing the buck, saying the additional chief secretary has to decide but the latter says he is not at all aware of the issue. <br /><br />Incidentally, Bengalureans are supporting a social media campaign to save the pachyderms. A petition run on Facebook for the animals has drawn the attention of many Bengalureans who are signing up for their rehabilitation. <br /><br />Five elephants named Chaya, Chanchal, Kumari, Roopa and Lakshmi have been left at Fun Fort in Mandya and all of them micro-chipped. They were part of Gemini Circus. <br /><br />The circus troupe owner had brought them to Mysuru from Shivamogga and was to take them to Maharashtra. But the Animal Welfare Board of India and the Central Zoo Authority questioned the permission taken to use the elephants and the resources to take care of them. The clueless owner just abandoned the elephants, according to Ashok Hallur of the Asian Nature Conservation Foundation. <br /><br />Unhygienic conditions<br /><br />Since April, the elephants have been housed in an under-construction building which is under litigation. The place is unhygienic and the pachyderms are given neither proper food and water. <br /><br />In the last seven months, conservationists wrote many letters to the Forest Department. <br />The most recent letter was written to Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Ravi Ralph on October 12, 2015.<br /><br /> But no official has paid attention. Conservationists want the elephants be shifted to Doddahaveri, an elephant rescue and rehabilitation centre set up by the Forest Department in Mysuru. <br /><br />Officials in the Mandya forest division say they have informed the higher-ups at the Bengaluru head office. But officials in Bengaluru insist the matter has to be decided by the Additional Chief Secretary, Forest, Ecology and Environment, Madan Gopal.<br /> <br />A senior forest department official said: “We have not taken any decision yet and have told Madan Gopal about this. The elephants have been staying there since April and can stay there longer. It does not matter.” <br /><br />On his part, Gopal said he wasn’t aware of the matter but promised to look into it and visit the place. <br /><br /><em>Forest department official: We have not taken any decision yet. The <br />elephants have been staying there since April and can stay there for longer.<br /> It does not matter.</em><br /></p>
<p> Dasara elephants are well-fed and taken care of for the royal Jumboo Savari, but five female circus elephants are languishing in an under-construction building in Mandya district without proper food and water for the last seven months. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Repeated requests by conservationists in the last seven months to take care of the elephants and shift them to a rescue centre haven’t yielded the desired response from the Forest Department. <br /><br />Forest Department officials are just passing the buck, saying the additional chief secretary has to decide but the latter says he is not at all aware of the issue. <br /><br />Incidentally, Bengalureans are supporting a social media campaign to save the pachyderms. A petition run on Facebook for the animals has drawn the attention of many Bengalureans who are signing up for their rehabilitation. <br /><br />Five elephants named Chaya, Chanchal, Kumari, Roopa and Lakshmi have been left at Fun Fort in Mandya and all of them micro-chipped. They were part of Gemini Circus. <br /><br />The circus troupe owner had brought them to Mysuru from Shivamogga and was to take them to Maharashtra. But the Animal Welfare Board of India and the Central Zoo Authority questioned the permission taken to use the elephants and the resources to take care of them. The clueless owner just abandoned the elephants, according to Ashok Hallur of the Asian Nature Conservation Foundation. <br /><br />Unhygienic conditions<br /><br />Since April, the elephants have been housed in an under-construction building which is under litigation. The place is unhygienic and the pachyderms are given neither proper food and water. <br /><br />In the last seven months, conservationists wrote many letters to the Forest Department. <br />The most recent letter was written to Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Ravi Ralph on October 12, 2015.<br /><br /> But no official has paid attention. Conservationists want the elephants be shifted to Doddahaveri, an elephant rescue and rehabilitation centre set up by the Forest Department in Mysuru. <br /><br />Officials in the Mandya forest division say they have informed the higher-ups at the Bengaluru head office. But officials in Bengaluru insist the matter has to be decided by the Additional Chief Secretary, Forest, Ecology and Environment, Madan Gopal.<br /> <br />A senior forest department official said: “We have not taken any decision yet and have told Madan Gopal about this. The elephants have been staying there since April and can stay there longer. It does not matter.” <br /><br />On his part, Gopal said he wasn’t aware of the matter but promised to look into it and visit the place. <br /><br /><em>Forest department official: We have not taken any decision yet. The <br />elephants have been staying there since April and can stay there for longer.<br /> It does not matter.</em><br /></p>