The status of Bangladesh's captive elephants - Md. Anwarul Islam

Introduction

In the early years of the eighteenth century, wild elephants were abundant throughout the eastern and northwestern divisions of Rangpur (northeast) where they frequently raided the crop fields. Several landholders kept tame female elephants as decoys for capturing these wild elephants. In some places elephants were occasionally caught in pits. This was a bad method, because the animals were frequently seriously injured by the fall into the pit. Elephants were also sometimes hunted and killed for ivory.

In Rangpur, elephants were owned by many large landowners or zamindars. In former times a large number of elephants was captured annually and given by the zamindar to the government as payment of land revenues. They were then sold by the revenue collector, and sometimes brought prices averaging only about £5 each. This practice, however, was later discontinued and the revenue was then invariably paid in cash. Some paid their tributes to the East India Company in elephants. There was a very high mortality rate among these tribute elephants. Out of seventy or eighty captured every year, only seven or eight arrived at Rangpur. Thus, later, the tribute was required to be paid in cash.

About a hundred years ago, elephants were still abundant in most of the forests of Bangladesh, even in the Madhupur forests near Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh). In fact, there is a road in Dhaka called Elephant Road, which was used by elephants brought from Peelkhana,^[2] a royal elephant stable, located to the northwest of Azimpur, in Dhaka. There is also an area in old Dhaka called Mahouttuli, a locality where the mahouts of Peelkhana lived. Elephants were brought to Peelkhana from various parts of what was known then as"Bengal” for training before being sent to different parts of British India^[3] where they were used by the British army to carry guns and for its commissariat. The principal non-military function of elephants was to remove logs cut from deep inside the forests. But eventually the British transferred their regular elephant-catching operations from Dhaka to Myanmar in 1900, because of the depletion of herds in the Garo Hills as a result of excessive capture.

Elephants were captured by use of a kheda (an enclosure constructed to capture wild elephants for domestication). This indigenous device was first used in Bangladesh in 1868. The Forest Department used it from 1915 to 1916. Large numbers of elephants were captured for domestication during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Bangladesh (Table 1). Just a few years before the creation of Pakistan in 1947, wild elephants had completely been extirpated from many areas where they had formerly been abundant.

The competent authority called for sealed tenders quoting the royalties the intending contractors could offer for each elephant they proposed to catch in the kheda. The royalty for capturing elephant by kheda sometimes went up to Rs.750 for each elephant (Chittagong District Gazetteer 1967). Generally, kheda operations were organized during the winter season, when the forests were comparatively dry.

Wild elephants

The elephant is now a critically endangered species in Bangladesh (IUCN/Bangladesh Redbook, 2000). No study has yet been conducted on wild elephants, but some notes on the status and distribution of wild elephants have been made by Ranjitsingh (1978), Olivier (1978), Khan (1980), and Gittins and Akonda (1982). Islam and Zabed (1992) and Islam et al. (1999) have studied man-elephant interactions. Today the strongholds of Bangladesh elephants are those areas that are relatively less accessible to humans, i.e. Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the southeast.

One non-resident herd of about 10 elephants comes down from the neighbouring Indian State of Meghalaya (especially from the Tura reserve) and strays around New Samanbag area of Maulvi Bazar district under Sylhet Forest Division in the northeast. Two other non-resident herds totalling 15 elephants come from Assam (especially from Karimganj) and are found in Durgapur of Netrokona district in the north. The presence of non-resident elephants coincides with the paddy crop seasons, i.e. February-May, and September-December. The resident herds that live in Teknaf area (southeast) frequent the neighbouring forested areas of Arakan in Myanmar and those herds that live in Sangu and Matamuhuri (southeast) frequent the forests of Mizoram state of India. Today there are about 200 wild elephants in the country, mainly in the southeast.

Captive elephants

Captive elephants (n = 93) are mostly used in the timber industry for timber hauling and in circuses. Many of these elephants are the descendants of a single cow. Most of the captive elephants are found in Maulvi Bazar district in the northeast; the owners rent out these elephants for timber hauling, or else to circus parties. Of the 17 government-owned elephants, 13 are engaged in hauling logs. Of the 93 captive elephants, 72 are used to haul logs, 17 are circus elephants, three are zoo elephants, and one is owned by Betbunia Police Station, Rangamati. Of the captive elephants, 55 are females and 38 are males (Table 2 and 3). Of the captive elephants, 57 (27 males and 30 females) are under 30 years, of which 22 (15 males and 7 females) are under 10 years (Table 3). The age of six males and eight females could not be ascertained. People hire elephants to haul logs at the rate of Tk. 1 200 (c. US$ 60) for the whole day. Circus elephants are rented out for around Tk. 100 000 (US$ c. 1 900) for one year. The price of a log hauling elephant ranges from US$5 000-10 000, whereas a circus elephant may cost up to US$15 000.

Law

Elephants received some protection under The Elephant Preservation Act, 1879, known as the Bengal Act 1879 VI, which has been repealed. All wild elephants are now protected under the Third Schedule of the Bangladesh Wildlife (Preservation) (Amendment) Act, 1974. All reptiles, birds, and mammals under this schedule are protected animals, i.e. animals which cannot be hunted, killed or captured. The rogue elephants, listed under Part II of the First Schedule, can be hunted with a special permit in places as declared by the Chief Wildlife Warden (in fact there is no such post in the Forest Department!). There is nothing in the Act to protect domesticated elephants.

However, Article 9 states:

1). Any person having the control, custody or possession of any wild animal or meat or trophy of any wild animal shall, within such period as the Government may by notification in the official Gazette specify, declare to an officer the number and description of such wild animal, meat or trophy and the place where it is kept.

2). On receipt of such declaration, the officer shall enter upon the premises of such person in the prescribed manner and such person shall produce the declared wild animal, meat or trophy for inspection and verification before such officer; and if the declaration is found correct, the officer shall fix upon or put such mark of registration on such wild animal, meat or trophy as may be prescribed as lawful possession.

3). No person shall counterfeit, exchange or in any way interfere with any mark of registration fixed or put on by the officer on any wild animal, meat or trophy.

4). The officer shall, on being satisfied that the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) have been fulfilled, issue, in the prescribed manner, a Certificate of Lawful Possession of such wild animal, meat or trophy.

5). The authorized officer may, pending legal action, seize any wild animal meat or trophy that has not been legally acquired or imported under this Act.

Regarding trade, Article 15 states:

1). No person shall, with a view to carrying on a profession, trade or business, buy, sell, or otherwise deal in wild animals, trophies or meat or process or manufacture goods or articles from such trophies or meat unless he is in possession of a valid permit, hereinafter called a Dealer's Permit, issued for the purpose by an authorized officer.

2). An officer may grant, or refuse to grant without assigning any reason, a Dealer's Permit to any person to deal in any wild animal, trophy or meat, or any class of wild animals, trophies, or meat specified in such permit.

3). A Dealer's Permit shall be issued on payment of the prescribed fee and shall remain valid for a period of one year from the date of its issue unless earlier cancelled.

4). (i) The holder of a Dealer's Permit shall maintain such register or record of his dealings as may be prescribed and shall produce it for inspection at any reasonable time when called upon to do so. (ii) The officer may suspend or cancel the Dealer's Permit at any time and if he suspends or cancels it, he shall record in writing the reason for doing so.

5). Nothing in this Article shall be construed to exempt the holder of a dealer's permit from complying with the provisions of Articles 8, 9, 11, 12, and 13.”

The Forest Department has no knowledge of how many domesticated elephants there are in the country, although the department is the ‘custodian' of the country's wildlife. And the elephant owners do not know what the responsibilities of the Forest Department are.

Registration, care and management

All the circus parties are registered with the district commissioner's office. According to the circus parties, no separate registration is needed to employ wild animals in circuses. The mahouts and the owners are ignorant of the legal status of their elephants; they are even ignorant of the necessary daily diet for a captive elephant; proper veterinary care is also absent. Only the government-owned elephants receive good veterinary care. Some elephant owners claim that their elephants are registered with the local administration, but are reluctant to show the papers.

Under the existing law the registration of the captive elephants is the jurisdiction of the Forest Department, but the department has taken no initiative so far. Wildlife conservation has never been a priority issue in the country. There was a Wildlife Circle in the Forest Department, but this was abolished long ago and now it is the responsibility (at least in theory) of the divisional forest officers to look after wildlife matters.

The government does not have the means to provide adequate manpower and budget for managing the wildlife in the country. No government or NGO is actively working in the field of wildlife conservation, nor is there any public participation. Moreover, there exists no effective awareness campaign in the country. There is no communication between the government and the researchers who are working in the field of wildlife conservation.

Recommendations

1. There should be a compulsory nationwide, central elephant registry. Information on births, deaths, and transfers (including trading) of all domesticated elephants should be properly maintained.

2. All the mahouts and the owners of the elephants should also be registered.

3. An elephant managers association should be established to facilitate the sharing of experiences.

4. Education and training materials should be prepared for the managers of the captive elephants.

5. As Bangladesh's forest areas continue to diminish, there are fewer opportunities for elephants to be employed in the timber industry. Thus many owners are now prepared to stop keeping elephants. These elephants could be used in tourism, ceremonial processions, etc. But a management plan for their care is essential.

References

Islam, M.A. & Al-Zabed, A. 1992. Man-elephant interaction at Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary in Bangladesh. Proc. Asian Elephant Conservation Centre, Bangalore, India, pp. 60-67.

Islam, M.A., Khan, M..M.H., Kabir, M.M., Das, A.K., Chowdhury, M.M., Feeroz, M.M. & Begum, S. 1999. Man-elephant interactions in Bangladesh in 1997. Bangladesh J. Life Sc. 11(1&2): 31-36.

Gittins, S.P. & Akonda, A.W. 1982. What survives in Bangladesh? Tiger Paper 9(4): 5-11.

Hunter, W.W. 1876. Statistical Account of Bengal. First reprinted in India in 1974 by D.K. Publishing House, Delhi, India. VII: 195-197.

Khan, M.A.R. 1980. On the distribution and population status of the Asian elephant in Bangladesh. In: J.C. Daniel, ed. The status of the Asian elephant in the Indian sub-continent. IUCN/SSC Report, pp. 63-72.

Olivier, R. 1978. Distribution and status of the Asian elephant. Oryx 14: 379-424.

Ranjitsingh, M.K. 1978. IUCN/SCC Asian Elephant Group News 3, Bangladesh. Tiger Paper 5(2): 28-33.

Table 1. Partial record of elephants captured in Bangladesh during the 19th and 20th centuries

Table 2. Captive elephants of Bangladesh

Note:

1) Total 93 (55 females, 38 males) elephants.
2) Elephant No. 3 and No. 25 is the same elephant.

Table 3. Age and sex groups of the captive elephants of Bangladesh

(Age of six males and eight females could not be ascertained)

Question and answer session

Q1: You mentioned that some elephant owners were reluctant to show their animals' registration papers, why was this?

A1: They are supposed to register their animals with the Forest Department, but if they haven't done so they just tell the local government officers that they have registered their animals but don't have the registration certificates with them.

Q2: In general what is the Bangladeshi people's attitude towards elephant conservation?

A2: Well, they are not against it but in such a poor country poverty reduction is a clear priority. And anyway with such poverty it's difficult for the government to find money to spend on animal conservation.

Q3: Are traditional mahout skills still alive?

A3: No.

Q4: Does this explain why there are so many females and so few males amongst the domesticated elephant population?

A4: Yes, females are easier to train.

Q5: What is the Islamic attitude towards animals?

A5: It is positive but not the same as in Hinduism or Buddhism. But it should be noted that the attitude of some of the tribal people who are non-Muslim is changing and some of the taboos are breaking down. For example, some of them now eat elephant meat that in former times they never did.

Q6: Are elephants captured from the wild?

A6: No, this hasn't been done for some time.

Q7: Do you know how many wild and domesticated elephants there are in Bangladesh?

A7: No, the data we have are not reliable. We are hoping to get funding to undertake a proper survey.

An elephant show at a tourist spot in northern Thailand