AR-News: (India) Elephants with begging bowl in northeast (FEATURE)

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

3-March-2004 


Mangaldoi (Assam), Unable to feed them because of poverty, owners of 
elephants in India's northeast are using the giant animals to beg. The other day, a 
mammoth bull elephant barricading a highway in Assam brought traffic to a halt, 
with its handler collecting money from bus passengers and truckers. "The 
elephants will die of hunger if we don't beg from people," said 45-year-old Anil 
Rajbonshi, who owns two adult elephants. 
And in no time Rajbonshi managed to collect some 450 rupees, besides some 
fruit for the animals, on the highway near Mangaldoi, 65 km north of Assam's 
principal city of Guwahati. 
"Elephants are worshipped, so people don't mind if their vehicles are 
stopped," said Hari Das, the elephant's handler. 
An estimated 2,500 tamed elephants in India's northeast have gone jobless 
following a ban on timber trade resulting in the animals being used for begging. 





full story:

http://www.keralanext.com/news/index.asp?id=28219 
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