UPDATE #16: New Delhi, January 3, 2022- Youth For Animals (YFA), through its 16-year old founder Nikita Dhawan, has filed a petition in the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi seeking the release and rehabilitation of Shankar, the lone African elephant in the National Zoological Park (NZP).
The petition was admitted by the Hon’ble Delhi High Court who issued a notice directing the respondents including the Central Government, NZP and Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to respond to the petition.
The petition cites CZA’s 2009 circular which had banned the exhibition of elephants in zoos. The petition also asks the CZA to submit a rehabilitation and translocation plan for all captive elephants held in zoos across India to comply with the aforesaid circular. The Hon’ble Court directed the Respondents to propose an appropriate plan while considering the petitioner’s representation. The next hearing has been set as March 9, 2022.
Since its launch in October 2021, YFA’s campaign to free Shankar has gained widespread support across civil society (50,000+ signatures on Change.org), domestic and international NGOs (FIAPO, Aspinall Foundation, Blue Cross India, World Animal Protection, PREN, ESAI, VAFES and ELSA Foundation) and Bollywood celebrities (John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee, Pooja Bhatt, Rahul Khanna).
The petition was filed through advocates Ishma Randhawa and Dhananjay Grover and argued by India’s leading environmental lawyer, Senior Advocate Raj Panjwani.
The PIL filed by YFA and its admittance for hearing by Hon’ble Delhi High Court has been covered by India’s leading news publications like Times of India and Hindustan Times. Here is the link to all the media coverage.
About Youth For Animals (YFA): Youth for Animals (YFA) is a student-run initiative advocating for animal welfare which started in March 2020. YFA works to raise awareness through social media, interviews with environmental experts, collective videos, articles, artwork, and activism. The initiative was started by two high school students in New Delhi, Nikita Dhawan and Nandika Karunakaram.
Website: https://youthforanimals.org