Elephants are graceful and exotic animal facing the threat of extinction.
Sri Lanka has over 200 captive elephant population. Most of the captive elephants are owned by Buddhist temples and are used in temple pageants. During the festivals the elephants are forced to parade before hundreds of thousands of spectators, from evening till dawn with little or no access to food or water.
The legs of the parading Tuskers are shackled, so that they will take short and measured steps and will not run amok among the spectators. Their handlers walk close by with a bull hook, an instrument which used to jab at elephant’s sensitive points to better control them during the pageant. Most captive elephants carry chain cut injuries of various clinical stages.
The elephant owners are bound to manage the captive elephants at ‘optimum conditions’ and under ‘state supervision.’ Apart from the lack of supervision, Sri Lanka is also known for its almost nonexistent animal protection laws.
This petition demands an end to animal captivity by temples and private individuals and to ban the use of elephants in pageants and in the entertainment industry.
