PETA sends legal notice to Kerala government on illegally held captive elephants

There are 289 illegally captive elephants in Kerala and PETA has sent a legal notice to Kerala government seeking withdrawal of its order on illegally captive elephants which allows the state's Chief Wildlife Warden to give ownership certificates to owners of these illegally captive elephants.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 29 March 2016.

PETA feels the orders of the government contradicts the spirit of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which prohibits illegal capture, trade and custody of wild animals such as elephants, and the purpose of the August 18, 2015 interim order of the Supreme Court. PETA feels that the February 26 order goes in favor of illegal owners of elephants. Hence, the state government must withdraw it and also the ownership certificates issued as per the order.
Moreover, PETA wants that the state should penalize owners of the 289 elephants in Kerala who do not have valid ownership certificate.
As per PETA, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, had allowed the declaration of captive elephants either within 30 days of its enactment or during the period of an amnesty scheme notified by the central government in 2003. This amnesty scheme was offered through Declaration of Wildlife Stock Rules, 2003, which required wildlife articles to be declared within 180 days from the date of notification of the Rules (ie, 18 April to 18 October 2003).
The Kerala government had on February 3, 2012 asked the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change for an extension of the amnesty period but the request was denied. By giving amnesty to owners of ill-gotten elephants, Kerala is supporting the cruel and illegal elephant trade and making a mockery of the Wildlife Protection Act. Incidentally, capturing an elephant is prohibited under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is believed that many of the captive elephants have been captured illegally from the wild, separated from their mothers as babies,beaten into submission and transported to Kerala for use as tourist attractions and in temples.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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