The Central Zoo Authority on Thursday said it has issued notices to zoos and state wildlife departments across India to relocate captive elephants to sanctuaries, camps or animal reserves. However, the state wildlife warden and Mumbai zoo officials have said they are still awaiting the notice. “We have heard about the CZA ruling but haven’t seen it yet. We will work according to its advice after we receive the notification.”

According to Brij Kishore Gupta, scientist and CZA official, the CZA had released the notice on November 7 urging the state wildlife wardens to oversee the shifting of all captive elephants in zoos and circuses. “We have also broadly identified sanctuaries in different regions where the animals could be sent,” he said.

The Byculla Zoo in Mumbai houses two elephants - a 70-year-old female, Lakshmi, and another female, aged about 50, Anarkali.

Yuvraj Kaginkar, consulting doctor at the zoo, said, “The elephant enclosure here is around 1.5 acres. However, considering the size of an elephant and its highly communicative nature, the size is small.”

Kaginkar pointed out that while it is a good idea to relocate elephants to sanctuaries, it may not be an easy task. “These elephants have been captives for a long time and there will be major management, infrastructure and human resource issues involved in their relocation. The animals will have to be rehabilitated to live in the open. Problems like poaching, maintenance of electric boundaries will have to be regulated. I hope the CZA has organised all these aspects while issuing the notice,” he said.

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