A test run of the reflectors being conducted before induction.

New Delhi: Captive elephants, threatened by car-hits on busy Delhi roads, are being provided with reflectors and reflective tapes to ensure that motorists see them in the dark.

The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI-www.wti.org.in) in partnership with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW-www.ifaw.org) will soon provide these reflectors and reflective tapes to the elephant owners who want to attach these to the ‘howdah,’ and the ropes which tie this contraption to the elephant’s back.

In the last two years, Wildlife Trust of India’s Wild Rescue team has attended to three cases of road accidents involving four elephants. The most recent case was in December 2002 when a female elephant was hit by a speeding truck in the early hours of dawn. The elephant was severely wounded with little scope of recovery and ultimately had to be euthanised.

Delhi, the capital city of India is home to 30 privately owned captive elephants. Living in a polluted overcrowded city, these elephants are beset with various problems arising out of improper management and welfare conditions.

In addition to being prone to various ailments and nutritional deficiencies, the elephants, who are made to work commercially, are also made to walk amidst vehicular traffic on crowded city roads for long distances at odd hours and in extreme weather conditions.

Due to this, speeding vehicles often hit elephants resulting in road accidents and injuries to elephants as well as humans. Lack of visibility due to the elephants’ dark color compounds the problem at night in a city where most roads remain unlit.

WTI-IFAW’s Captive Elephant Care project is already experimenting with the reflectors to create an optimum model acceptable to the elephants and their owners. “Hopefully, these safety measures will help reduce the accidents,” Dr Anand Ramanathan, WTI Emergency Rescue manager, said.