The Saddle project...the beginnings

Over the past week and a half, Dr. Madhu and I have surveyed 81 elephants for saddle injuries. All elephants have the same work schedule and saddle composition. The elephants previously worked endlessly and carried up to 4 tourists to and from Amber Fort. Now they are only allowed a maximum of 2 people and a work day no longer than 4 hours. Dr. Madhu and Elephant Family/ Help in Suffering deserve tremendous praise for implementing these changes. When Dr. Madhu arrived in 2005, he said the saddle sores were horrendous. It seems that the management changes have been responsible for minimizing the back lesions. The photo on the left is of an old back sore.

Our observations revealed mainly chest wounds where the girth strap lies, tail ulcers and abscesses from the supporting rope.

The saddle itself however has not changed since the kings were riding elephants centuries ago. It is made of iron ore and weighs 50 kg, the enormous straw bed that it sits on weighs 30 kg and the proceeding thick saddle pads weigh another 20 kg. A minimum of 2 people are required to don the saddle and it takes about 20 minutes. Thus as you can imagine, removing the saddle for rest during the day is not feasible as it is so labour intensive to manipulate.

A different possibility?

The new saddle was designed by Mr. Charlie Gray and his team at African Lion Safari in Canada, the photos above are gratefully appreciated! When I first saw this saddle in February, I thought it was the perfect solution. Weighing no more than 15 kg, it is made of thin metal with rubber paint for coating. The entire purpose of the saddle is to provide a bar for tourists to grip onto while sitting directly on a pad resting on the elephant's back. The simplicity of this design is what makes it so aimable.

I have provided a photo of Dr. Madhu showing an elephant owner a photo of the saddle to the left, his expression is priceless.

The photo below is of the engineers and metal smiths with Munna and Madhu explaining the design.

The majority of the community who sees the photos are sold on the design. Of course there will always be a couple bad apples in the bunch full of skepticism but one must look past them.
The most rewarding moment since I have been here, was when Mr. Abdul Aziz an elephant owner decided that after seeing the photo of the new saddle, he would personally finance building one himself! The amazing thing here is that change is difficult to implement, this man has not even seen the saddle in person, only understands that it is working in another country. Munna has also been extremely supportive in advocating the saddle to the elephant community. As a token of his appreciation, he invited Dr. Madhu, Mr. Aziz and I for lunch today in his home. It was a special time for me as I was feeling most welcomed and part of the team here in Jaipur.

We started building the saddle on Monday. Our first model, Rangmala (above and to the left) was more than ready to stand pretty for measurements to get her new saddle. Each elephant is a different size and shape thus every saddle must be custom made.

We then went to a local leather smith who was a bit surprised by our request to make 2 belts 290 and 310 cm long! He warned us that the straps would have to be adjoined to accommodate the length, we agreed and 2 days later the girths were ready.

The new saddle will be ready tomorrow, stay tuned...here is a preview (rough copy)!

Road trip to Agra May 10

I forgot to post this last week!

Dr. Madhu, myself and Munna at the Taj Mahal

The weekend was fantastic...even though our mission was not accomplished. We were called to help rescue an elephant that was in rough shape from a hotel near Agra Saturday morning. The Wildlife S.O.S and Help In Suffering coordinated efforts to meet in Delhi headquarters in the early morning on Saturday, which meant that Dr. Madhu, Munna and I had to take the overnight bus. If you aren't into steel arm rests, I would highly recommend not taking the bus as they are fixed to the chair, thus no matter what position you are in the steel digs into your body....take the train where you can fully lie down with a pillow and blanket! Anyhow, we drove up to this hotel and to our surprise, the elephant was not there. This was highly disappointing. Before I forget, I have to introduce Munna, he is one of the greatest mahouts (elephant keepers) in India and knows almost every mahout in the country. Munna has a magical way of interacting with elephants. His voice is calm, gentle but firm and the elephants listen to him. We brought him along because of all of us, he would have the greatest chance at convincing the mahout and elephant owner to relocate the elephant to a sanctuary and provide a better life for both the mahout and elephant. Most organizations I have observed in Asia thankfully adopt the policy of sustainability for both elephant and mahout, thereby allowing the elephant to maintain the bond with its keeper, and the mahout to feed his family. Since we were so close to the Taj Mahal, we decided we would go see it. Munna has never been, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. But before the Taj, I have to tell you about Wildlife S.O.S's Agra Bear Rescue Facility which was on the way. Dancing Bears are Indian Sloth Bears used for street entertainment purposes by a nomadic gypsy tribe called Kalahandars. Sloth bears are caught from the wild when they are only a few months old with their mother killed to facilitate capture of the cubs. A hot iron rod is then placed though their delicate muzzle to allow for easy handling with a coarse rope. Their canines are then broken with stones or iron chisels and male bears castrated without anaesthesia. They then live their lives on a four foot rope and perform petty dances for our entertainment. The photo to your left illustrates the equipment used and if you look closely at the bear's muzzle in the following photo, you will noticed it is permanently severed. If you ever see dancing bears, please do not fuel the industry by watching, let the community know there are other alternatives by contacting Wildlife S.O.S. They will seize the bear, offer a substantial amount of money to the family and provide training for men and women to earn a living through other means. So far over 450 bears have been rescued. We met with the head vet of the facility who gave us a tour of the bear hospital. I was thoroughly impressed to see an ultrasound, dental x-ray, and x-ray machine as well as a fully equipped dental unit, incubator for growing cultures and a well stocked lab! If you are into bear medicine, this is definitely the place to be! The rescue centre itself was wonderful with the bears living in a natural enclosure with all sorts of enrichment that changes daily. We said our farewells to the bear rescue team and headed to see the Taj. The drive up to it was anything but exciting, the state of Uttar Pradesh, known as "UP" is one of the poorer run states thus there is little if any updated infrastructure. Anyhow, once we finally managed to weave through kilometers of dirty chaos we made it to the gates of the Taj. This is a time when I would recommend having seen "Slumdog Millionaire" in advance so you don't get scammed by street kids trying to sell you a high value tour. There are actual government guides once you get in, so don't waste your time trying to find the best one before you enter! The Taj is simply, the most beautiful building in the world. Taking only 22 years to build, with 20 000 artisans working daily, and let's not forget to mention the more than 1000 elephants bringing building materials from all over Asia! It was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1653 in loving memory of his third wife, with whom he had 14 children with. If you are in India it is a site you must visit.There is a good summary of the Taj on wikipedia if you are interested to learn more. Munna made a cute comment which was that he thinks he should make something similar for his wife!

First Days in India

Day 1
“Unity through Diversity” was the slogan India chose to mark the 50th anniversary of its independence from Britain in 1997. Having spent 2 days in Delhi I could not think of a more appropriate statement myself. I spent most of my time visiting main sites such as Raj Ghat, a lovely park where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated. The Mahatma or “great soul” was one of the world’s greatest humanitarians who was cruelly assassinated on January 30 1948 for attempting to create peace between the Muslims and Hindus after India gained its independence.
One of my most memorable experiences was visiting India Gate. It is a place you must visit while in Delhi, particularly in the early evening. A large arc devoted to the freedom fighters sits in a vast park visited by hundreds of families who sit in the grass playing together and eating various foods. The peace and harmony you will experience here is striking.

I was invited to have dinner with a lovely Hindi family who prepared some traditional dishes, all of which I ate with great vigor. I learned like in much of the world, western culture is invading more and more with each waking day. Near the big cities, traditional dress is slowly being replaced with jeans and t-shirts and teenagers are becoming mall rats in the mega malls thrown up overnight.
Although India’s middle class is expanding rapidly, it is important to note that only 48% of females and 73% of males are literate, and the world’s greatest proportion of malnourished children are not in Sub-Saharan Africa, but in India.

Day 2
I took an afternoon train from Delhi’s old railway station to Jaipur. Finding my seat was no ordinary matter. There were thousands of people sitting on the ground for as far as the eye could see waiting for their bus. Being the off-season, I was the only foreigner in site, thus making it anything but simple to blend in. I nevertheless made it to my cart which was about a 6 minute walk from the back of the train! I was impressed to see my name [rinted on the side of the cart with the exact location I was to sit. My trip to Jaipur was peaceful except for the Chai-bearer (Chai = tea made with a milk rather than water base) who would yell “Chai” loud enough to make your ear drums vibrate every 20 minutes. If you take the air-conditioned cabin I would recommend taking a sweater with you as the temperature can make it feel like winter in Canada (well, almost)!

Day 3
My living quarters in Jaipur are great. I am staying at Help in Suffering, an animal shelter founded in 1980 to rescue and care for all animals. The 2- acre site is full of exotic trees and birds with all sorts of animals being cared for. I haven’t had a chance to help out in the hospital but I hope to look after a few small animal cases while I am here.

Our study population is a beautiful group of 115 Asian elephants residing in Amber, 11 km north of Jaipur. The elephants walk to work to Amber Fort, which is a spectacular succession of palace buildings perched high up on a narrow rocky ridge overlooking the surrounding countryside. Amber was the Rajput (“sons of princes”) stronghold from 1037 until 1727 when the new capital was moved to Jaipur.

The elephants wait in a shaded area which used to be where prisoners were held and wait for tourists to ride them up to the top of the fort. Dr. Madhu, the group’s veterinarian and my colleague on the saddle project introduced me to some of the elephant owners and their mahouts. I had a wonderful time getting to know them and becoming acquainted with Jaipur’s elephants.

The ride to and from Amber is spectacular. There is an abandoned palace which sits in a lake that is now inhabited by ghosts (so it is written). I was quite the celebrity here being the only foreigner, men were waiting in line to take a photo with me, and every time I tried to leave they would say “please just one more”. It was great fun, until I had enough and went to say hello to a beautiful group of Indian ladies staring at the palace.