Kathmandu:

The elephant polo tournament was held a few days ago at Chitwan, and the team from Scotland won the 2006 World Cup for the same.

However, controversy surrounds this game, with animal rights activists protesting against it.

The elephant was played for the first time in India in the beginning of 20th Centry by British aristocrats. The present day game, that involves four members from each team, originated in Meghauly, Chitwan of Nepal.

Elephant polo is a variant of polo, played by people riding elephants. It is played mainly in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand where working elephants are still common. In this game two people ride an elephant, one of who is a mahout to steer the elephant. The player tells the mahout which way to go and hits the ball.

The World Elephant Polo Association (WEPA), which organises the elephant polo tournament, was formed at Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge in 1982. The co-founders, James Manclark, a Scottish landowner and former Olympic tobogganer, and Jim Edwards, owner of Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge and chairman of Tiger Mountain Group, came up with the idea in a St Moritz bar in Switzerland.

The WEPA tournament has been hosted by Tiger Tops at Meghauly every December since 1982. The first games were played on a grass airfield in Meghauly, located on the edges of Royal Chitwan National Park.

However, the game has been targeted by animal rights campaigners, led by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The controversy regards the use of a bull-hook to direct the elephants. It is a sharp steel hook used to prod the elephant into obeying its mahout’s instructions. Campaigners believe the hooks cause open wounds, which become infected and cause the elephants great pain and discomfort.

Animal rights activists in India have called for the tournament to be banned due “the pain and suffering it causes the animals”. Many animal activists say “elephants are endangered animals and should be respected rather than exposed to cruel and inhumane treatment and made to play games for other people’s entertainment”.

They say the pachyderms are as such subjected to beatings, and live in confined and squalid conditions, and polo matches would only add to their sufferings.

However, elephant polo organisers say there is no cruelty involved in the event — the elephants are only asked to amble around the field for 10 minutes. In most matches, they are goaded to run fast in the hot sun. Otherwise the elephants would be chained, standing in excrement, lacking exercise and mental stimulation that they need, and they enjoy being out in open field and being able to stretch their legs.

The controversy could be justified if cruelty was involved while training the elephants or playing the game. Some say if sharp metals are not used on the animals, then the tournament could be justified for tourism promotion.

But all these questions can be verified as right or wrong by the court only if it is equipped with a proper Animal Welfare legislation. Ethically, all kinds of cruelty against animals are wrong. Nepal is weak in protecting animal rights due to its social, cultural, religious and economic structure. The government should, thus, immediately bring about appropriate animal welfare legislation to demarcate such controversial issues and create public awareness to stop animal cruelty in the country.