In September, the Madras High Court passed two remarkable orders to protect captive elephants. On September 23, in a petition filed to rec...
In September, the Madras High Court passed two remarkable orders to protect captive elephants.
On September 23, in a petition filed to recapture Rivaldo, who has already been released back in the wild after having been captured once by the forest department, the Court led by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee affirmed that wild “animals are best left in the wild”. And a day later, on September 24, in an ongoing case to determine the best future for all existing private and temple elephants in the state of Tamil Nadu, the same court stopped any further elephants coming into captivity or private ownership.
Both these decisions are unprecedented and must be celebrated. But the news across the Nilgiris in Kerala is disheartening, to say the least. Last month also marked the inaugural launch of the Pooram season with the Thiruvilwamala Nirmala Festival in Thrissur, where the highlight is a parade of caparisoned elephants.
Abuse continues
On the same day as Justice Banerjee dictated an order to retain Rivaldo as a free animal in the wild, a 26-year-old elephant Parmeswaran, was chained, beaten and dragged to the Thiruvilwamala Temple in Kerala.
Like many before him, Parmeswaran had had enough of the beating, the chained confinement, the forced load of the nettipattam (headdress). Stressed and exhausted, Parmeswaran shook his...
