For Immediate Release:
20 November 2024
Contact:
Sanskriti Bansore; SanskritiB@petaindia.org
Hiraj Laljani; HirajL@petaindia.org
Thoothukudi – After a horrific but predictable incident on Monday in which an upset elephant, Deivanai, crushed a mahout and his relative to death at Subramania Swamy Temple in Tiruchendur, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India fired off a letter to the Tamil Nadu Forest and Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Departments requesting the rehabilitation of the elephant at a sanctuary where she can live without weapons and chains and in the company of other elephants, to heal from the trauma of decades of loneliness and captivity. To help facilitate her transfer, PETA India has offered the gift of a mechanical elephant to the Subramanya Swamy Temple.
In the letter, PETA India Director of Advocacy Khushboo Gupta, writes, “Various videos posted online by devotees show that Deivanai exhibits stereotypic behaviours through repeated head bobbing and trunk swaying which are signs well-recognized by veterinarians of severe mental anguish and distress. This very behaviour, which is only seen in distressed captive elephants and never in elephants in the wild, is a warning sign that the elephant is upset and may attack.” Ms Gupta goes on to state, “Elephants in captivity, especially in temples, are commonly distressed, anxious, unwell, unpredictable and excruciatingly lonely. In nature, female elephants spend their entire lives with a family herd, but in temples, they are often forced to endure solitary confinement, with almost no regular interaction with others of their own species. Extremely frustrated, they pose a continued threat to the safety of mahouts, devotees, and even other elephants.”
In the letter, PETA India also noted Deivanai is controlled with an ankush (hooked spear often made of iron), is reportedly suffering from skin infection, and that she’s kept chained to a concrete floor. PETA India also raised concerns that Deivanai is forced to bless devotees and take part in rituals, putting devotees’ lives at risk.
There have been numerous dangerous incidents involving captive elephants in Tamil Nadu. In recent years, an elephant held at Thiruparankundram Subramaniya Swamy temple trampled a mahout to death; an elephant at Samayapuram Mariamman temple, crushed and killed a mahout; an elephant attacked and killed a 35-year-old woman who tried to touch the animal during worship at a temple festival in Tirunelveli, and more. Last year, a mahout was killed by elephant Masini at Theppakadu elephant camp. This was after she already killed her mahout at Samayapuram temple in Tiruchy.
Mechanical elephants are already used by at least eight temples and are loved by devotees and local politicians. Out of these, six have been donated by PETA India. This includes Irinjadappilly Raman at Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur, Mahadevan at Thrikkayil Mahadeva Temple in Kochi, Baladhasan at Sree Pournamikavu Temple in Thiruvanthapuram, Vadakkumbad Sankaranarayanan at Edayar Sree Vadakkumbad Shiva Vishnu Temple in Kannur, Shiva at Jagadguru Sri Veerasimhasana Mahasamsthana Math in Karnataka and Niranjana at Yedeyur Sri Siddalingeshwara Swamy Temple in Karnataka.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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