Famed temples in south India such as Kerala's Guruvayoor, which parade richly-decorated jumbos during festivals like Pooram, may lose them forever.

Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has written to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) asking for such religious institutions 'Which keep wild animals in captivity' be categorised as zoos.

In effect, they will follow all protocols mandated by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA). Apparently, these rules are so exhaustive and prohibitive - involving giving the elephants a 'naturalised environment', sufficient land for recreation, food, bathing facilities, no undue visitor disturbance, curator, veterinarian, biologist, education officer, etc. - that many may have to give up on their jumbo possessions.

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"That was also the idea behind the move," said an officer in Gandhi's team. A technical committee of the Ministry of Environment has already passed the proposal. Now, it only awaits the nod of the minister, Anil Madhav Dave, the officer said.

NOT THE FIRST TIME

Over the past few years, there have been much hue and cry over 'extreme cruelty' meted out to elephants in the temples of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. They are led in huge processions in festivals such as Thrissur Pooram, Ezhunallathu, etc.

Often, they are poached from the forests of North-East from wild herds at a young age and sold to private buyers who hand them over to the temples. As per Project Elephant, in the year 2000, India had over 3,400 domesticated Asian elephants, 190 of which were owned by temples. By 2015, the total number of temple elephants went up to 3,500, with Kerala having the largest number of such elephants.

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THEY ARE BEATEN WITH RODS

The Guruvayoor temple itself has close to 60 elephants. An industry on its own, an elephant is hired at a minimum cost of Rs 25,000 for 12 hours. Often, these are made to walk in religious carnivals for hours in the sun without food and water. Elderly and blind elephants are no exceptions. The huge rush of devotees, loudspeakers and firecrackers compound their trouble.

They are beaten up with rods and develop tumours and blisters all over their bodies. The letter written by Gandhi to Dave reads: "Hundreds of elephants in temples and tourist spots such as Amer Fort are exhibited to the public without having been recognised by CZA. This is gross violation of (related) Acts, and CZA turns a blind eye. Further, there are no valid (elephant) ownership certificates as under Section 42 of the Act read with the Wildlife (Stock Declaration) Rules 1973." "I, therefore, request you to issue directions to the CZA to ensure that captive elephants are exhibited only in places duly recognised by it. In places where they are already being exhibited, an opportunity may be provided to upgrade the facility in accordance with the standards set by the Recognition of Zoo Rules, 2009, within a stipulated time period. Failure to adhere to these must warrant appropriate action."

