Heritage Animal Task Force/FB
The government of India was called upon today to conduct an intensive investigation into the alleged inhumane and unlawful methods that elephants are subjected to in private shelters in the state.
As per a DNA India report, an urgent appeal has been sent to the director of Project Elephant under the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF). A centrally sponsored program launched by the government in 1992, Project Elephant was tasked with protecting protect elephants, their habitats, and corridors; addressing issues of man-animal conflict; and ensuring the welfare domesticated elephants.
Written by V K Venkitachalam of the Thrissur-based environmental conservation non-profit organization Heritage Animal Task Force, the letter claimed that more than 560 elephants were suffering from a variety of ailments due to being held in captivity at unauthorized shelters which lacked mandatory sheds.
Heritage Animal Task Force
A heartbreaking photo of a sick baby elephant named “Pinchu” suffering on the ground at a private shelter in the state was sent along with the letter.
“It is high time the central government constituted a high-level inquiry committee to deal with various ailments of elephants in captivity at unauthorized private shelters,” Venkitachalam said in the letter which claimed that the imprisonment of these elephants was in violation of the Elephants Preservation Act. “Unless the Centre initiates urgent action in this regard, more elephants in captivity will die under suspicious circumstances at various places in Kerala during the monsoon season.”
Heritage Animal Task Force/FB
