No takers for two ageing elephants at Byculla zoo

A year after the central zoo authority had asked all 26 zoos in the country to relocate their elephants to national parks or sanctuaries, the two female elephants at Byculla zoo are still waiting for a new home.

A year after the central zoo authority had asked all 26 zoos in the country to relocate their elephants to national parks or sanctuaries, the two female elephants at Byculla zoo are still waiting for a new home.

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Following the circular, teams from Solapur and Chhattisgarh forest reserves had visited the Byculla zoo but rejected Laxmi, 53, and Anarkali, 46, because they are too old to patrol the jungles.

The situation is similar across most zoos in the country. Only 10 elephants have been shifted from six of the 26 zoos in the country.

Officials from the central zoo authority confirmed that compliance of this directive has been low and several zoos have written to them asking them to exempt their pachyderms from being relocated.

The administration of the Byculla zoo too had written to the authority asking to exempt Laxmi and Anarkali because they are old and will neither be able to adapt to the new surroundings in the wild nor fend for themselves.

“We are waiting for the committee to visit us so that we can explain to them why we could not shift the two elephants,” said Anil Anjankar, director of the Byculla zoo.