Tusker dies, activists cry negligence

THRISSUR: A tusker belonging to the Cochin Devaswom Board died on Tuesday after prolonged illness. The Devaswom Board officials said the elephant, Narayanan, was about 70 years of age.
Popularly known as Thampuran Narayanan, the elephant was originally offered to the Poornathrayeesan temple at Thripunithura by a member of the erstwhile royal family of Cochin about 40 years ago. The elephant is known to have killed a woman member of the royal family at the Poornathrayeesan Temple.
The elephant was being kept at the Kokkarni Parambu for the last couple of years, near the Devaswom Board headquarters here.
Dr P B Giridasan, the veterinarian who was treating the elephant said it had died due to age-related ailments. He said the elephant was not being taken out for festivals for the past two years, considering its advanced age.
However, the secretary of the Heritage Animal Task Force (HATF) V K Venkitachalam said the animal died due to the neglect and ill-treatment by the Devaswom officials.
"Narayanan has no teeth and was starving for the past 60 days. The place where it was living was full of filth. There was no provision to supply drinking water for the elephants kept there. Veterinary care was not provided for the elephant for past 60 days,'' V K Venkitachalam alleged.
However, Dr Giridas denied the allegations and said it was being given the required veterinary care and proper feed.