Retire elephants, find new ways of tourist travel to Amer Fort, Rajasthan Govt told

Team L&M

The World Animal Protection India, an animal protection organisation, has requested the Rajasthan Government to end elephant rides in Jaipur’s Amer Fort and retire the elephants to a wildlife sanctuary.

“Elephants live in herds in the forest and do not belong in Amer Fort in Jaipur. Many of them are stressed, representing a threat to human safety in the premises. The riding elephants of Jaipur deserve better than to provide entertainment to tourists. We are calling upon the government of Rajasthan and the Ministry of Environment and Forests to end this cruel spectacle of elephant rides and retire the elephants to a wildlife friendly sanctuary. World Animal Protection is willing to facilitate this process in whatever capacity we can,” says Gajender Kumar Sharma, Country Director, World Animal Protection India.

“The government must retire old and sick elephants and find out some other ways of getting to Amer Fort like jeeps and electric and battery powered vehicles,” adds Shubhobroto Ghosh, the Wildlife Campaigns Manager of the organisation.

Over 80 elephants are being used to take visitors to Amer Fort. A 2018 survey conducted by Animal Welfare Board of India and the one conducted by the Project Elephant, Ministry of Environment and Forests, in 2020, state that these elephants are in a pitiable condition, and must be moved out in a phased manner.

Many of these elephants display signs of mental stress like repetitive swaying and head-bobbing. A number of these animals are blind, lame and unfit to give rides.