Questions over the hurried transfer of five elephants from Assam to Tamil Nadu temples

The transfer of five elephants from Assam to temples in Tamil Nadu has raised questions about how captive elephants are moved between States, and whether the rules meant to protect them work. A detailed examination by The Hindu describes the transfers as carried out with unseemly haste.

The background

Elephants are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, the highest level of protection. Until 2022, the law barred the commercial trade in captive elephants. That year Parliament amended the Act to allow captive elephants to be transferred for “religious or any other purpose”, and in 2024 the Centre notified rules setting out how: a veterinarian’s certificate of the elephant’s health, checks on the place it is going to, and approval from the chief wildlife wardens of both States.

Animal welfare groups opposed the change, warning that it could revive a trade in elephants under the cover of temple use, and that many temple elephants live chained on hard floors, far from the forest conditions they need.

Why it matters

Tamil Nadu’s temples have a long tradition of keeping elephants for rituals and festivals, but the State has also seen deaths and attacks involving stressed temple elephants. The Madras High Court has repeatedly heard cases over their care.

What’s next

Wildlife officials in both States will be expected to show that every step of the transfer rules was followed. Elephant-welfare groups have called for the transfers to be reviewed.