Elephantine Strides with RC Books

THRISSUR: Toeing the line of motor vehicle owners in the state, captive elephants in the state will ostentatiously display their photo-affixed registration certificate (RC) books from March 15 without the fear of being fined by cops if they flout traffic rules or not carry documents!The Forest Department’s move to provide RC books to elephants in the state gained momentum with the authorities scheduled to hold a verification parade of elephants in Thrissur on March 15 and 16. In the verification parade, the vital statistics of the elephants will be recorded in the RC books, a copy of which will be given to the elephant owner and the original would be kept with the Forest Department.The department has already given the RC books to elephant owners for affixing the photographs of the elephant, four different sizes from four different angles, owners and mahouts.A pro forma of the elephants would be filled by the Forest Department staff on the verification day with details such as its age, sex, name, owners’ name, measurement, identification mark, ten-digit microchip implant, medical history, the time when it usually comes into musth and earlier occurrences of musth.Thrissur DFO A R Sasikumar told Express that this would enable the government to take stock of the situation in the sector and it could also effectively rein in the existing unhealthy practice in the sector. “Once we get the medical history of the elephants we could properly check elephants in musth or showing symptoms of musth during the season from being paraded in the festivals,” he added.“As per the information we received, the data in the record book will be updated periodically and the owners will have to furnish these every year. This would help the festival committees to choose the big elephants for their respective sides without making much furore,” said P Sasikumar, general secretary of the Kerala Elephant Owners’ Federation. To some extent it will adversely affect the elephant owners in the state, but for the survival of this sector it is very essential, he added.