The environment ministry has asked zoo authorities of states to shift nearly all elephants out of zoos to elephant camps and rehabilitation camps, national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves so that they get space to move around.
Senior ministry officials have also told states that managements of zoos were not being able to afford the costs of maintaining these animals. According to central zoo authority (CZA) officials, elephants don’t breed in zoos because there are very few zoos that actually give them enough space to move.
Their movement is further restricted because they are mostly chained. When elephants become mast during certain months of a year, they become a threat to visitors, said a CZA official.
“Many a time these elephants would injure themselves while trying to free themselves from chains. Zoo authorities have been demanding for a long time that elephants be moved out and finally we have decided to implement it,” the officer said.
The government has identified 140 elephants in 26 zoos across the country which will be moved out of enclosures. They will be shifted to habitats with better living conditions where the animal will be more comfortable. The CZA will bear the cost of transporting these elephants.
India is home to more than 27,000 elephants that live in reserves in the northern and northeastern parts of the country. Elephant population has gone up from 15,000 to 27,000 in the past three decades.
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