Increase in Tamil Nadu’s elephant population heartening, says Madras High Court Chief Justice

Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava on Wednesday (October 29, 2025) expressed happiness over the growing population of wild elephants in Tamil Nadu, which has increased from 3,063 in 2024 to 3,170 in 2025. He said, the increase by 107 elephants in a year amounts to significant growth.

Presiding over the first Division Bench, along with Justice G. Arul Murugan, the Chief Justice broached the subject during the hearing of a case filed against the proposal to transport an elephant calf from a sanctuary in Uttarakhand to the Nellaiappar temple in Tirunelveli district.

The Chief Justice told Advocate General P.S. Raman that the result of the latest synchronised elephant population estimation exercise carried out in all five elephant reserves of Tamil Nadu “is something very good.” He, however, lamented that it was not the case in other States of the country.

“In my parent State (Chhattisgarh), it is a serious problem,” the Chief Justice said and narrated an incident where about 30 to 40 wild elephants suddenly emerged on a public road just about 60 km from his hometown Bilaspur, creating great amount of anxiety among the people.

“Their habitat had been destroyed in a particular area, which once housed large number of elephants. The forest area, which catered to their needs, had been completely destroyed because of mining activity and many other things. So, they (the pachyderms) had opened their own new corridor in search of food. In that process, they had devasted the village habitation, agriculture, and houses and horrified the people over there,” he said.

The Chief Justice also said, the incident had led to the establishment of an elephant camp near a wildlife sanctuary and said, the camp was operated jointly by the Forest Department as well as reputed non-governmental organisations who were experts in elephant care.

The A-G told the Chief Justice that similar camps were being operated in Tamil Nadu as well, and that the M.R. Palayam camp in Tiruchi houses many elephants.

Uttarakhand elephant calf

People for Cattle in India, a NGO, had filed the present public interest litigation (PIL) petition stating that Gandhimathi, a 55-year-old female elephant of the Nellaiappar temple, died on January 12, 2025, and hence, the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religous and Charitable Endowments department as well as the Forest Department had decided to bring a new elephant calf from Uttarakhand.

Representing the NGP, senior counsel Satish Parasaran contended that the lifespan of the wild elephants gets reduced considerably when they are kept in captivity and hence, the elephant calf should not be separated from its herd in Uttarakhand and transported all the way to Tamil Nadu. “Such forced separation from the herd is not just a moment of pain but ends up causing a lifelong wound on the elephants,” he argued.

On the other hand, the A-G told the court that the proposal was at a preliminary stage and no final decision had been taken yet. He also sought time to get further instructions from the Forest Department. Therefore, the court ordered notices to the Tamil Nadu government as well as the HR&CE department. It, however, refrained from ordering notice to the Uttarakhand Forest Department for the time being.