HC seeks Centre, Kerala govt's response on PIL alleging illegal capture of captive elephants

Kochi, Apr 6 (PTI) The Kerala High Court here has sought the Centre and state government's stand on a PIL alleging that the elephants in captivity in Kerala were illegally captured and seeking a ban on their training, trading, parading and possession.

A bench of Chief Justice A J Desai and Justice V G Arun issued notice to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and the Kerala government, seeking their response to the PIL by animal rights activist Angels Nair.

The High Court has listed the matter to be taken up next on June 13.

Nair, in his petition, has also sought release of the captive elephants into the wild in accordance with guidelines issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Central Zoo Authority of India.

In addition, he has sought a probe by the CBI or any other external agency into the illegal training, trading, transportation and possession of captive elephants and the quashing of the Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules, 2024 framed by the central government.

Nair, in his plea, has claimed that it has always been illegal to capture wild elephants for private use in captivity, but there was no law or rules in place prohibiting it prior to 1977.

In 1977, elephants were added to schedule-1 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and therefore, it became illegal to capture or tame them, the petition has said.

It has also claimed that more than 54 per cent of the elephants in captivity presently were born after 1977 and therefore, their capture and taming was illegal.

This does not include elephants in rehabilitation centres, hospitals and zoos, the plea has said.

Nair has alleged that captive elephants suffer horrendous torture by their owners who often deprive them of food and water as part of the training process.

Citing figures he has claimed to have received under the Right to Information Act, Nair has contended that the captive elephant population in Kerala in December 2010 was 702 and this number came down by 41 per cent to 410 in December 2023.

Very few of these deaths are due to old age, he has claimed. PTI