India orders all zoo and circus elephants moved to wildlife parks after animal rights outcry.

NEW DELHI - All elephants living in Indian zoos and circuses will be moved to wildlife parks and game sanctuaries where the animals can graze more freely, officials said Friday.

The decision affects around 140 elephants in 26 zoos and 16 circuses in the country, said B.K. Gupta, an officer at India's Central Zoo Authority.

The order followed complaints from animal rights activists about elephants that are kept in captivity and often chained for long hours, Gupta said.

The elephants currently living in zoos or circuses are to be moved to "elephant camps" run by the government's forest department and located near protected areas and national parks. There they would be able to roam and graze freely, but "mahouts," or traditional elephant trainers, would still keep an eye on them.

By NIRMALA GEORGE , Associated Press

StarTribune.com

November 13, 2009

Some elephant experts, however, were skeptical about moving the elephants to wildlife preserves, many of which are under pressure from encroaching human habitation.

"Special facilities have to be created, perhaps outside the wildlife sanctuaries. It may add to the pressures faced by natural habitats," said Raman Sukumar, a professor of ecology at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Increasingly, research shows that elephants in the wild have longer life spans and better health and reproductive records than those in captivity, Sukumar said.

Zoo elephants often die prematurely and contract diseases or suffer obesity and arthritis more frequently than in their natural habitats, he said.

India has an estimated 28,000 wild elephants living in forest reserves and national parks, mainly in the southern and northeastern parts of the country. Another 3,500 elephants live in captivity, many of them in temples, or working in logging camps where they are used to lift timber. No decision has been made about them.

Don Covington reports: Elephants to be banished from all zoos 12 Nov 2009,

NEW DELHI: Delhi Zoo will soon be bidding farewell to its three elephants. In fact, elephants will no longer be seen in any zoo or circus in the country after the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) issued a notice on Monday to the effect that all of these animals in zoos, numbering about 140, should be sent to national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves as soon as possible. According to sources, the circular states that a zoo environment is not the best place for the large animals and they should be shifted to national parks with immediate effect. "CZA's order is binding on all zoos. Elephants are large animals and require a large area to move about freely. The environment of a zoo can be very restrictive. The animals have great use for departmental work, eco-tourism, patrolling etc and a decision has been taken to send them to national parks and tiger reserves where they can be under the supervision of mahauts," said A N Prasad, director, Project Elephant. According to Dr B K Gupta, evaluation and monitoring officer of CZA, India had 140 elephants in 26 zoos and 16 circuses as on March 31 2009. "Of these, Mysore and Trivandrum have the largest number at 9 and 8 respectively. Delhi and Mysore are the only two zoos that have African elephants. The decision was taken after evaluating conditions of elephants at various zoos and circuses. We found that circuses specially were not following standards set under the Recognition of Zoo Rules, 1992," he said. Delhi Zoo director D N Singh confirmed that they had received the order though he restrained from elaborating on it. Sources said that Delhi Zoo's resident Asiatic pachyderms, Rajlakshmi and Hira, and its sole African member Shankar would be moved to Jim Corbett National Park sometime soon. Shankar had been gifted to former president Shankar Dayal Sharma by the Zimbabwian government. Sources explained that the various zoos would carry out this order in consultation with the chief wildlife wardens of their specific states and the CZA. Environmentalists saw this as a positive move though some had reservations on the shifting of all elephants as that would be contrary to the principal of ex-situ conservation."There is merit in this decision. It is best for them to be as close to their natural habitat as possible. Elephants needs a lot of space to exercise and move about in and they are being deprived that space in zoos and circuses," said Samir Sinha, head of traffic, WWF India.

Courtesy of John Goodall