The Union Ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) has notified Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules, 2024.
Key points
- It lays down the procedure to be followed for transfer of captive elephants within a state or between two states.
- It authorises the chief wildlife warden of states and UTs to permit or reject the transfer of captive elephants.
- The chief wildlife warden shall permit the transfer where the ownership certificate in respect of the elephant proposed for transfer existed prior to coming into force of the new rules except in the case of a calf borne from such captive elephants.
- The transfer of the elephants may also be permitted in case the owner is no longer able to maintain the elephant, the notification states.
- The transfer of captive elephants won’t be permissible unless the genetic profile of the animal has been entered in the electronic monitoring application of the MoEFCC.
- The application for transfer of captive elephants should be made to the deputy conservator of forests (DCF) having jurisdiction over the area where the elephant is registered.
- The DCF will conduct an inquiry and physical verification of the facility where the elephant is presently housed and also the facility where the elephant is proposed to be housed .He will also obtain a certificate of a veterinary practitioner and then forward the details to the wildlife warden who within seven days will accept or reject the transfer, the notification states.
- Until August 2022, the Wildlife Protection Act explicitly prohibited the trade in wildlife including both wild and captive elephants. However amendments to the Act brought in an exemption that for the first time allowed captive elephants to be transferred.
