Elephant owners write to forest minister for help

NEW DELHI: Anxious about the future of their elephants and uncertain whether they would be seized by the government, the owners of Delhi’s six domestic elephants have written to the state forest minister to save them from the ordeal.

In an 18-page letter, the owners said they fear the animals could be seized and sent to sanctuaries, as the deadline given to them by the state forest department to shift them out of Delhi has been long over.

“The forest department had given us a deadline to inform them by December 25 where we would like to shift our elephants. We had identified two places — Jagatpur in north Delhi and Bagpat in UP. But since then we haven’t heard from them. We are still not certain what would happen to the elephants and whether they would be seized,” said Mehboob Ali, son of Yakub Ali, who owns two elephants named Laxmi and Hira Gaj.

The owners said they tried to meet the minister at his residence and office, earlier this week, but failed.

Hindustan Times tried to contact Imran Hussain, state environment and forest minister. But repeated calls went answered; the minister also didn’t respond to messages.

“Hence we decided to send him a letter on Friday with details of the case to date. We have also moved the Delhi high court and the matter would be heard on May 18,” said Yusuf Ali, who owns an elephant named Dhonmoti.

Acting on the orders of the Delhi High Court, the forest department had set up a committee in 2017, which had inspected all the seven domestic elephants in Delhi. The committee had given an adverse report.

“The main allegations against the owners of the six elephants are that the animals were kept in a very crowded place in unhygienic conditions and they are not maintained properly. Their proximity to humans could lead to conflicts and zoonotic diseases,” said a senior forest official, who is not authorised to comment officially.