
Elephants are protected under law in India, but a loophole in the law is being used to exploit these elephants. Do you want to protect these elephants? Sign the petition!
Elephants are protected under law in India, but a loophole in the law is being used to exploit these elephants. Do you want to protect these elephants? Sign the petition!
Elephant has the same status as that of the tiger, and was declared the National Heritage Animal in 2010. Despite being protected under law and also being a revered animal, elephant is exploited, mostly by the tourism industry. The Wildlife Protection Act 1972, which was amended in 2002, banned the sale of captive elephants which were not registered with the forest department. However, the exemption under Section 40 giving special status to elephants regarding possession, inheritance or acquisition, has enabled the elephant traders to defy the ban and continue with the illegal trade of these elephants. The trend is people are ‘gifting’ elephants using a loophole in the law and the trade flourishes.
Provided that nothing in sub-sections (2A) and(2B) shall apply to the live elephant.
In India tourists ride on elephants in Amer fort in Jaipur, captive elephant displays in Kerela and elephant safaris in national parks. There are around 3500 captive elephants in the country. Tourist rides cause suffering in addition to harsh treatment and inappropriate management. When not giving rides or performing, elephants are typically chained day and night, most of the time to chains less than 3m long. They are also fed poor diets, given limited veterinary care and are frequently kept on concrete floors in stressful locations near loud music, roads or visitor groups. Our earlier investigation revealed that almost 77% of the elephants in tourist entertainment venues across India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Laos and Cambodia, were treated appallingly. We are working with tour companies and travel operators to stop promoting these elephant rides.
We recommend and urge that the exemption to live elephants given in Section 40 of the Wildlife Protection Act be withdrawn and all live elephant trade be stopped immediately. This will help stop the illegal trade of wild elephants.
World Animal Protection India D-21, 2nd Floor, Corporate Park, Near Sector-8 Metro Station, Sector-21, Dwarka, New Delhi – 110075 India