PIL challenging permanent confinement of six elephants filed

The Madras High Court today issued notice to the Centre and Tamil Nadu government on a PIL challenging permanent confinement of six elephants in two camps after their captured.
A division bench comprising justices Chitra Venkatraman and K B K Vasuki ordered issuing of notice to the central and state forest department officials returnable by September 10.
The PIL was filed by wildlife photographer E Seshan, who had worked for 36 years with Zoological Survey of India.
Six elephants in Jawadu Hills of Tiruvannamalai and Vellore districts were captured by the state forest officials yesterday as they destroyed crops.
The state government intervened in the matter as it caused hardships to farmers and by an order dated August 19, it directed forest officials to capture all the animals. The officials were further directed to put them in jumbo cages and to send them to Mudumalai and Nilgiri elephant camps.

Seshan challenged the decision to capture the elephants and leave them in the camps, contending that the herd must be kept intact and released not another location, instead of being confined in a camp meant for orphaned elephants.

He also contended that when there was every possibility to leave them in the wild, where there was no conflict with humans, the authorities should not resort to the extreme step of confining them in the camps.
As their movement were restricted due to the laying of NH-46, the elephants were restricted to pass through human settlements in the area.
Seshan also said the population of elephants in south India has dwindled due to deforestation and loss of habitat and poaching of male elephants and this apparently had affected sex ratio of wild elephants disproportionately in the wild.

Under these circumstances, capturing four male elephants from a herd would have adverse consequences, the PIL said.