Aware of torture on elephant taken from Assam to Tamil Nadu: Assam Forest min in assembly

Guwahati: The Assam government on Wednesday said that it had learnt through media reports that an elephant taken from here to Tamil Nadu, more than a decade ago, had been subjected to “torture” in the southern state.

While a high-level team of the state government has been camping in Tamil Nadu since earlier this month concerning the elephant, the pachyderm, Joymala, is now in a healthy condition, as per media reports, it said.

Replying to a question by AIUDF legislator Ashraful Hussain in the Assembly, Environment and Forest minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said the elephant was taken to Tamil Nadu in 2011 with the consent of both the states.

The elephant is yet to be brought back to the Northeastern state, the minister said.

After learning of the “torture” on Joymala through media reports, Patowary said his department sent a letter to the Tamil Nadu government in this regard on March 8. However, he did not specify if any response had been received.

A high-level team of the Assam government has been camping in Tamil Nadu since September 2, Patowary said.

In the same reply, the minister also said 69 animals have been transferred to other states in the last 10 years, while 77 have been acquired by Assam during the same period.

The Northeastern state acquired four white-winged wood ducks from the Czech Republic in 2022.

Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change has endorsed Tamil Nadu’s claim that Joymala (Jaymalyatha) is in good spirits. “Our beloved Joymala is now all hale and hearty. The present team is taking good care of the jumbo!” it tweeted and shared the video of the pachyderm having fun.

 

(With PTI inputs)