The recent sighting of an elephant being made to beg in the hot sun in Navi Mumbai has raised the hackles of animal activists. While elephants have been banned from this city and from Mumbai and Thane, the mahout claims that he has “permissions from the state forest department”.
On Monday, the elephant was spotted ambling along sector 5 in Kharghar. An animal activist said that its handler had told him that the elephant, named Kanishka, is 47 years old.
The activist said that the mahout also claimed that he has come astride his elephant from Nashik to earn money.
Over the last couple of days, the pachyderm has been sighted in Kamothe and Panvel, being forced by its handler to seek alms from passersby.
Calling this “cruelty”, activists said it is illegal to force this protected wildlife species to beg on streets. “Surely, it was made to walk on hot tar and concrete roads on highways. It is cruelty,” said Pawan Sharma of Resqink Association of Wildlife Welfare.
Ganesh Nayak of Animals Matter To Me said Ganpati devotees offer money to elephants. “Mahouts exploit this religious sentiment,”he said.
Activists said that they will send volunteers to trace the elephant and act against its handler.