NEW DELHI: In a country where primary healthcare eludes a large rural population, the Supreme Court has directed the Centre to frame guidelines for states mandating them to set up elephant clinics to provide periodic health checkups of captive elephants with individuals, temples, circuses and forest departments.Appearing for NGO ‘Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre’, senior advocate Aparna Bhat on Tuesday complained to a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Justices Joymlaya Bagchi and V Mohana that though the Wildlife Protection Act bars elephants in captivity, a large number are held illegally by individuals, temples and others who neither have the space for the large animals nor the healthcare facilities.Bhat said individuals in Assam and Kerala have kept elephants and there are many temples in Kerala who also have elephants which is legally impermissible. For temples and private individuals, senior advocate K Parameswaran said that the NGO always targets temples ahead of festivities and without understanding the importance of elephants for the rituals.The bench said, “We understand the importance of elephants for temples as these animals are regarded as incarnations of God. We are not dealing with the legality of temples having elephants, we are concerned about their wellbeing and health. We also want that the entire captive elephant population must be DNA mapped so that there are no illegal trade or commercial activities using them.”For the ministry of environment and forest, additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati informed that the SC’s concern was substantially addressed in the Feb 20 meeting of Captive Elephant Healthcare and Welfare Committee (CEHWC). It was found that DNA profiling has been completed for 2,075 captive elephants, of which 41% were of unknown origin, 34% were born in captivity and 25% were caught from the wild. Majority of the captive elephants (63%) are females.MoEF said there are 2,725 captive elephants, of which 1,678 were with private individuals; 47 in circuses; 96 with temples, 768 with forest departments, 63 in zoos while Rehabilitation Centres take care for 332 elephants.
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The bench in its order said, “Our concern is about the upkeep, health and wellbeing of captive animals, especially those held by private individuals. We direct the Union govt to issue mandatory guidelines to the states to introduce an effective and transparent system for establishment of elephant clinics and availability of specialised services which shall be mandatorily availed by captive elephant owners for periodic health checkups.”“These clinics should maintain the record of treatment given to captive elephants. The Union govt will also lay down minimum standards for keeping elephants by individuals,” it said and asked the states to complete the DNA profiling of the captive elephants to prevent their illegal use for commercial activities or their sale and transfers .
