The Kerala High Court has directed all district collectors to prepare a state-wide record of captive elephants within two weeks, after petitions alleged gross abuse, torture and mismanagement of the animals. The exercise will cover elephants owned by devaswoms, other religious institutions and private individuals, whether or not they are currently registered.
A bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and Basant Balaji ordered district collectors to collect the information through village officers in their respective jurisdictions. The collectors must submit the details to the chief wildlife warden within one week after completing the collection process.
The chief wildlife warden has then been directed to compile the information and place the report before the court within a further week. The petitions have been adjourned to December 4, when the court is expected to consider the status of the report and the broader issues raised before it.
The information to be collected must include the name of each elephant, its registration number where applicable, the owner’s name, details of the ownership certificate and the name of the person in possession of the animal. Officials must also record other identifying details, including whether the elephant has an embedded microchip and the registration number associated with it.
The court specifically stated that its directions would apply to all captive elephants in Kerala, regardless of whether they are held by devaswoms, other religious bodies or private owners. The order therefore places responsibility for identifying the animals with the district administration rather than relying only on existing departmental records or individual complaints.
During the hearing, the bench said the wildlife department’s existing list might not be up to date and that the court could not wait for it to be updated. It said a complete list was necessary before statutory requirements governing captive animals could be effectively enforced.
The court also linked the need for humane treatment to both legal obligations and broader standards of public responsibility. It observed that captive elephants must be maintained with dignity and kindness, and said the responsibility for ensuring their care could not be left to individual citizens who would otherwise have to file complaints or pursue litigation.
“A community that does not take care of its captive animals can never be called civilised, and no amount of excuses can justify actions to the contrary,” the bench observed. It added that the system had a responsibility to ensure that captive animals were treated with care and compassion.
The state-wide inventory is intended to establish the basic administrative facts required for oversight: how many captive elephants are present, who owns or possesses them, whether the animals have the necessary documentation and whether their identifying records are current. The court’s next review is scheduled for December 4, after the collectors, chief wildlife warden and other authorities complete the reporting sequence.
