Practical hurdles in bringing captive elephants to Keralam from outside, says Forest Minister

Keralam Forest Minister Shibu Baby John on Tuesday said the government was facing heavy pressure from the public and temple committees to allow captive elephants to be brought into the State from outside, but there were practical difficulties in doing so.

The Minister was replying to a submission in the Assembly by Congress MLA Rajan J. Pallan, who urged the government to take steps to bring captive elephants from other States to Keralam, which is facing a shortage of elephants, particularly for temple festivals.

“While I agree with the issue raised by him (Pallan), there are practical difficulties associated with bringing elephants to the State from outside,” Mr. John said.

He added that bringing elephants from other States involved “several complicated procedures, which were not always easy to comply with.”

Cultural heritage

Mr. John said the government wanted to protect the State’s cultural heritage but was not in favour of allowing people to bring elephants from outside at their discretion. “We are trying to protect the cultural heritage of the State, but within the confines of the law,” he said.

The Minister said the State currently had 324 captive elephants owned by private individuals and that the government was examining possible measures to increase their numbers.

He said elephants brought to other States, such as Tamil Nadu, in recent times had been brought on a temporary basis.

Mr. Pallan, in his submission, urged the State government to hold discussions with the Centre to seek the necessary changes in the law to simplify the process of bringing captive elephants from other States to Keralam.