Stop Sending FIVE Live ELEPHANTs From Assam To Tamil Nadu Temples
The Issue
URGENT REPRESENTATION WITH A REQUEST TO STOP THE PROPOSED TRANSFER OF FIVE ELEPHANTS FROM ASSAM TO TAMIL NADU TEMPLES:
To:
Dr. Vinay Gupta, IFS
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) & Chief Wildlife Warden
Government of Assam, Aranya Bhawan, Panjabari
Guwahati – 781037. Email: pccf.wl.assam@gmail.com
To:
Thiru Rakesh Kumar Dogra, IFS
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Chief Wildlife Warden
Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Forest Headquarters
Guindy–Velachery Main Road, Chennai – 600032. Email: tnforest@nic.in
To:
Dr. T.G. Vinay, IAS
Commissioner
Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department
Government of Tamil Nadu. No. 119, Uthamar Gandhi Salai,
Chennai – 600034. Email: commr.hrce@tn.gov.in
We respectfully seek your immediate intervention to prevent any further movement, ownership transfer, transportation, receipt or placement in temple custody of the five elephants reportedly proposed to be transferred from Assam to Tamil Nadu – Durga, Rupsing, Shiva, Hiralal, and Bijuli.
There are serious outstanding questions concerning their ownership, provenance, documentation, transfer approvals, welfare, purpose of transfer and the circumstances of the proposed “gift/donation”. Reports also indicate that Durga may already have been moved from the Manas National Park area and transported towards Tamil Nadu, requiring urgent verification of her present location and legal status. These matters are set out in our detailed representation and annexures.
The matter requires particular caution in view of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s directions concerning captive elephants and the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court-appointed High-Powered Committee, including scrutiny of matters relating to transfer, ownership, provenance, welfare and inter-State movement. The Supreme Court’s proceedings in W.P.(C) No. 743/2014, also remain directly relevant to the regulatory and welfare framework governing captive elephants.
We therefore respectfully request that:
1. No further movement or transportation of these five elephants be permitted until all applicable statutory and judicial requirements are verified.
2. The Assam authorities withhold any further NOC, transfer approval or ownership-change approval, pending examination by the competent authorities/High-Powered Committee as applicable.
3. Tamil Nadu authorities do not receive, register, take custody of or permit temple placement of these elephants until the required verification and approvals are complete.
4. The authorities independently verify the elephants’ ownership certificates, provenance, DNA identity, Gajah Suchana records, veterinary/medical history, transfer documents, purpose of transfer and proposed conditions of lifetime care.
5. The reported “gift/donation” arrangements be examined to ensure that they are not being used to circumvent any statutory restriction on sale, transfer or commercial dealing in elephants. Any allegation of brokers, intermediaries or consideration changing hands should be independently investigated rather than presumed established.
6. Most importantly, authorities should adopt a clear policy against sending elephants from their natural/home ranges or other unsuitable captive settings into temple captivity, except where a legally authorised, independently assessed and demonstrably welfare-compliant arrangement is established. Temple custody should not be treated as an automatic or inherently suitable destination for an elephant.
The experience of Elephant Joymala and other elephants transferred from Assam to Tamil Nadu demonstrates why further transfers should not proceed while existing legal and welfare concerns remain unresolved.
We urge the authorities to place the welfare, dignity and long-term interests of the elephants above administrative or institutional considerations, and to ensure that no irreversible step is taken until the legality, provenance, ownership, financial arrangements, documentation and welfare safeguards have been fully verified.
We request urgent confirmation of the action taken, particularly regarding the present location and legal status of Durga and the proposed transfer of the remaining four elephants.
With respect,
437
The Issue
URGENT REPRESENTATION WITH A REQUEST TO STOP THE PROPOSED TRANSFER OF FIVE ELEPHANTS FROM ASSAM TO TAMIL NADU TEMPLES:
To:
Dr. Vinay Gupta, IFS
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) & Chief Wildlife Warden
Government of Assam, Aranya Bhawan, Panjabari
Guwahati – 781037. Email: pccf.wl.assam@gmail.com
To:
Thiru Rakesh Kumar Dogra, IFS
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Chief Wildlife Warden
Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Forest Headquarters
Guindy–Velachery Main Road, Chennai – 600032. Email: tnforest@nic.in
To:
Dr. T.G. Vinay, IAS
Commissioner
Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department
Government of Tamil Nadu. No. 119, Uthamar Gandhi Salai,
Chennai – 600034. Email: commr.hrce@tn.gov.in
We respectfully seek your immediate intervention to prevent any further movement, ownership transfer, transportation, receipt or placement in temple custody of the five elephants reportedly proposed to be transferred from Assam to Tamil Nadu – Durga, Rupsing, Shiva, Hiralal, and Bijuli.
There are serious outstanding questions concerning their ownership, provenance, documentation, transfer approvals, welfare, purpose of transfer and the circumstances of the proposed “gift/donation”. Reports also indicate that Durga may already have been moved from the Manas National Park area and transported towards Tamil Nadu, requiring urgent verification of her present location and legal status. These matters are set out in our detailed representation and annexures.
The matter requires particular caution in view of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s directions concerning captive elephants and the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court-appointed High-Powered Committee, including scrutiny of matters relating to transfer, ownership, provenance, welfare and inter-State movement. The Supreme Court’s proceedings in W.P.(C) No. 743/2014, also remain directly relevant to the regulatory and welfare framework governing captive elephants.
We therefore respectfully request that:
1. No further movement or transportation of these five elephants be permitted until all applicable statutory and judicial requirements are verified.
2. The Assam authorities withhold any further NOC, transfer approval or ownership-change approval, pending examination by the competent authorities/High-Powered Committee as applicable.
3. Tamil Nadu authorities do not receive, register, take custody of or permit temple placement of these elephants until the required verification and approvals are complete.
4. The authorities independently verify the elephants’ ownership certificates, provenance, DNA identity, Gajah Suchana records, veterinary/medical history, transfer documents, purpose of transfer and proposed conditions of lifetime care.
5. The reported “gift/donation” arrangements be examined to ensure that they are not being used to circumvent any statutory restriction on sale, transfer or commercial dealing in elephants. Any allegation of brokers, intermediaries or consideration changing hands should be independently investigated rather than presumed established.
6. Most importantly, authorities should adopt a clear policy against sending elephants from their natural/home ranges or other unsuitable captive settings into temple captivity, except where a legally authorised, independently assessed and demonstrably welfare-compliant arrangement is established. Temple custody should not be treated as an automatic or inherently suitable destination for an elephant.
The experience of Elephant Joymala and other elephants transferred from Assam to Tamil Nadu demonstrates why further transfers should not proceed while existing legal and welfare concerns remain unresolved.
We urge the authorities to place the welfare, dignity and long-term interests of the elephants above administrative or institutional considerations, and to ensure that no irreversible step is taken until the legality, provenance, ownership, financial arrangements, documentation and welfare safeguards have been fully verified.
We request urgent confirmation of the action taken, particularly regarding the present location and legal status of Durga and the proposed transfer of the remaining four elephants.
With respect,
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on 10 September 2026