Deccan Herald, India
April 28 2005

Baby jumbo to stay put

DH News Service Bangalore:

India’s gift to Armenia, a four-year-old elephant, will not be
delivered, thanks to sustained agitation by animal rights activists
and the timely intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on
Wednesday.

But perhaps the happiest are the caretakers of Veda, the female
elephant, at Bannerghatta Biological Park on Thursday. The
announcement that Veda will be sent to the Yerevan Zoo to mate with a
sole male elephant housed there had created an uproar in December
2004. Animal rights activists, globally, protested against the move,
as they feared that Veda’s life will be put in danger due to sub-zero
temperatures prevailing there.

`Veda is not going anywhere. We received official confirmation from
New Delhi through a fax on Thursday. As these agreements were
happening in diplomatic levels, we had very little say. But now we
are happy that Veda will continue to live in the familiar environs of
the Park,’ said Deputy Conservator of Forests, BBP, Mr Markandaiah.