Can Kerala donate an elephant to Karnataka? Elephant transfer rules explained

The story so far: Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Sivakumar has written to Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan seeking his support to facilitate the donation of a female elephant for the Kollur Mookambika Temple in Udupi, Karnataka, to be used in traditional religious ceremonies and temple rituals. The Kerala Government had earlier turned down a request from the Telangana Chief Minister, who sought a camp elephant from Kerala.

Legal provisions governing the transfer or transport of elephants

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had brought out the Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules, 2024, by invoking Section 63 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which grants the Central Government the statutory authority to make rules for carrying out the provisions of the Act. The Rules cover the transfer and transportation of the elephants, both within the State in which the animals are kept or to other States.

In both cases, the Chief Wildlife Warden is the statutory authority responsible for deciding on applications for the transport or transfer of elephants, which are included in Schedule One of the Act.

What does the Act say?

Section 43 of the Act notes that no person who possesses a captive animal, animal article, trophy or uncured trophy, for which he has a certificate of ownership, shall transfer by way of sale or offer for sale or by any other mode of consideration of commercial nature. If a person intends to transfer or transport an animal or wildlife articles from the State in which he resides to another State or acquires by transfer from outside the State, such transfers or transports shall be reported to the Chief Wildlife Warden, within whose jurisdiction the transfer or transport is effected, within thirty days of the transfer or transport.

Provisions introduced by the Rules

The Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules, 2024, which were published by the Ministry on February 24, 2024, put in place the provisions that govern the transfer and transport of elephants.

The basic premise of the Rules is that only those elephants for which their owner had obtained an ownership certificate before February 24, 2024, the date on which the Ministry published the rules, shall be eligible to be transferred or transported both within the State or outside the State. The Rules further state that only those elephants, whose genetic profile has been entered in the electronic monitoring application of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, shall be permitted to be transferred or transported.

The conditions under which the person possessing the ownership certificate of the elephant can seek the transfer or transport of the animal have also been listed in the Rules.

The Chief Wildlife Warden shall permit the transfer of the animals if the official is satisfied that the owner is no longer in a position to maintain the elephant, or it will have a better upkeep than in the present circumstances if it is transferred. The Chief Wildlife Warden can order the transfer of the animals if the official deems it “fit and proper in the circumstances of the case for better upkeep of the elephant”.

Upon receiving the transfer application, the Deputy Conservator of Forests having jurisdiction over the area where the elephant is registered shall conduct a detailed inquiry and physical verification of the facility where the elephant is currently housed, as well as the facility where the elephant is proposed to be housed, provided that the proposed facility is located within the official’s jurisdiction. The Chief Wildlife Warden shall make a decision on such applications after obtaining the report from the Deputy Conservator of Forests.

For inter-State transport, the Chief Wildlife Wardens of the donor and the recipient States will have to examine and satisfy themselves on the applications.

Once the application is cleared, a permission, which will be valid for three months, will be issued.

The elephant, which has been permitted to be transported, shall be accompanied by a mahout and an elephant assistant. The animal shall be examined by a veterinary practitioner to assess whether it is fit for transport and not showing any sign of musth or infectious or contagious diseases. The animal shall be properly fed and given water before loading, and necessary arrangements for providing food and water to the elephant en route shall be made, notes the Rules.

The Rules also prescribe the use of tranquilisers/sedatives to control nervous or temperamental elephants.

The rules had come under severe criticism from animal rights activists and environmentalists who felt that the provisions could be misused to facilitate the illegal and unauthorised transfer or even sale of animals. They have also taken objection to Section 43(2) that permits the transfer or transport of a captive elephant for religious or any other purposes.