Kerala Captive Elephants

There may be a thousand issues meriting attention but everything cannot be entertained to make the Supreme Court dysfunctional, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said on Tuesday.

An elephant believed to be the oldest ever in captivity has died at the age of 88 in the Kerala, officials said Thursday.

For the first time in the country, captive elephants in Kerala have now got their own genetic IDs, thanks to an unique DNA database initiative of the state government.

Noted animal rights body Heritage Animal Task Force (HATF) has criticised Travancore Devaswom Board for trying to register an 86-year-old "retired" elephant as the oldest living captive jumbo in the Guinness Book of World records.

86-year-old female elephant Dakshayani is a symbol of pride for Kerala's Travancore Davasom Board - one of the richest temple boards of the country. On Tuesday, the 86-year-old pachyderm was at the centre of a lot of festivities. It was the temple board's attempt to enter her into the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest alive captive elephant.

Union Women and Child Development Minister and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi is moved by the appalling evidence of elephant torture and trauma brought out by "God in Shackles", a critically acclaimed documentary exposing the abuse of Kerala's captive elephants. She says elephant rescue centres were the need of the hour.

PETA India has sent a legal notice to the Kerala government seeking withdrawal of its February 26 order allowing the state Chief Wildlife Warden to give ownership certificates for 289 illegally held captive elephants.

The Supreme Court today directed temple management boards in Kerala to register elephants kept captive with the state's chief wildlife warden within six weeks.

As 30 caparisoned elephants gracefully made their way down a festive Thrissur street in Kerala yesterday, few could doubt the stunning beauty of the parade that has come under a cloud lately for its use of captive elephants.

A parade of elephants caparisoned in gold has been an enduring image for Kerala Tourism over the decades. The resplendent parade, featuring 30 elephants with decorated umbrellas over them, occurs during the state's annual, week-long Thrissur Pooram. This year the elephants' parade is scheduled for Wednesday.

The century-old zoological park here is getting ready to retrieve and display the bones of a dead elephant, claimed to be the oldest captive jumbo in Asia.

A 27-year-old woman from Gujarat, part of a tourist group, was trampleded to death by a captive elephant at Iruttukanam near Munnar in Kerala's Idukki district today.

Noted animal rights group Heritage Task Force has criticised the Kerala Forest Department's move to renew the ownership certificate for captive elephants, holding that the move will lead to the regularisation of illegal ownership of many jumbos.

A 74-year-old man was beaten to death by a captive elephant by its trunk at Pannithadam in Thrissur, causing concern over increasing incidents of jumbos turning irate with summer festival season getting underway in Kerala.

There may be a thousand issues meriting attention but everything cannot be entertained to make the Supreme Court dysfunctional, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said on Tuesday.

An elephant believed to be the oldest ever in captivity has died at the age of 88 in the Kerala, officials said Thursday.

For the first time in the country, captive elephants in Kerala have now got their own genetic IDs, thanks to an unique DNA database initiative of the state government.

Noted animal rights body Heritage Animal Task Force (HATF) has criticised Travancore Devaswom Board for trying to register an 86-year-old "retired" elephant as the oldest living captive jumbo in the Guinness Book of World records.

86-year-old female elephant Dakshayani is a symbol of pride for Kerala's Travancore Davasom Board - one of the richest temple boards of the country. On Tuesday, the 86-year-old pachyderm was at the centre of a lot of festivities. It was the temple board's attempt to enter her into the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest alive captive elephant.

Union Women and Child Development Minister and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi is moved by the appalling evidence of elephant torture and trauma brought out by "God in Shackles", a critically acclaimed documentary exposing the abuse of Kerala's captive elephants. She says elephant rescue centres were the need of the hour.

PETA India has sent a legal notice to the Kerala government seeking withdrawal of its February 26 order allowing the state Chief Wildlife Warden to give ownership certificates for 289 illegally held captive elephants.

The Supreme Court today directed temple management boards in Kerala to register elephants kept captive with the state's chief wildlife warden within six weeks.

As 30 caparisoned elephants gracefully made their way down a festive Thrissur street in Kerala yesterday, few could doubt the stunning beauty of the parade that has come under a cloud lately for its use of captive elephants.

A parade of elephants caparisoned in gold has been an enduring image for Kerala Tourism over the decades. The resplendent parade, featuring 30 elephants with decorated umbrellas over them, occurs during the state's annual, week-long Thrissur Pooram. This year the elephants' parade is scheduled for Wednesday.

The century-old zoological park here is getting ready to retrieve and display the bones of a dead elephant, claimed to be the oldest captive jumbo in Asia.

A 27-year-old woman from Gujarat, part of a tourist group, was trampleded to death by a captive elephant at Iruttukanam near Munnar in Kerala's Idukki district today.

Noted animal rights group Heritage Task Force has criticised the Kerala Forest Department's move to renew the ownership certificate for captive elephants, holding that the move will lead to the regularisation of illegal ownership of many jumbos.

A 74-year-old man was beaten to death by a captive elephant by its trunk at Pannithadam in Thrissur, causing concern over increasing incidents of jumbos turning irate with summer festival season getting underway in Kerala.