Elephants, mahouts struggle for survival during lockdown in Kerala's Kozhikode

The elephant owners are finding it difficult to feed the pachyderms as temples are closed due to the lockdown and all advance bookings for festivals and religious occasions have been cancelled.

The elephant owners are finding it difficult to feed the pachyderms as temples are closed due to the lockdown and all advance bookings for festivals and religious occasions have been cancelled. Usually, the temples during this time of the year are crowded with devotees, however, with the cancellation of many events at temples, they bore a deserted look and has rendered the elephant owners penniless and with no work.

"The December-May season is very important for us as it is the time of different temple festivals. My elephant Ganesan carries Thidamb (a symbolic representation of the idol) at festivals," said Muhammad Nazeel. He added: "But this time as a large number of festivals have been cancelled after lockdown, elephants were staying back at their owner's homes as jobless. So, it is a hard time to feed the animals during this season."

The co-owner of the elephant echoed a similar sentiment and said: "Normally our schedule remains very tight due to festivals one after another. But, this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we had not any work after February." As of Wednesday, a total of 524 positive coronavirus cases were reported in the state of which, 489 patients have been cured/discharged while four patients have succumbed due to the deadly virus. (ANI)

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