Supreme Court panel urged to halt transfer of Assam elephants to Tamil Nadu

Four captive elephants are in the process of being transferred, while a fifth, five-year-old Durga, has been moved to the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple

Published - September 12, 2026 07:12 pm IST - GUWAHATI

Representational image only. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

An eastern Assam-based conservationist has urged the Supreme Court-appointed High-Powered Committee to halt the transfer of four captive elephants from Assam to Tamil Nadu.

In a letter to the committee’s Chairperson on Friday (September 11, 2026), Rohit Choudhury also sought a probe into the circumstances surrounding the transfer of these elephants, as well as a fifth, five-year-old female named Durga, which has already been moved to the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple.

The four elephants being transferred are Hiralal, Shiva, Rupsing, and Bijuli. Mr. Choudhury raised questions over the legality, purpose, and welfare of transporting the elephants out of Assam.

According to official documents, eight-year-old Hiralal and six-year-old Shiva, both males, are being transferred to the Arulmigu Arunachaleshwarar Temple in Tiruvannamalai. While Rupsing, a 13-year-old male, is being transferred to Sri Vaidyanatha Swamy Temple at Vaitheeswaran Koil in Nagapattinam, five-year-old female Bijuli is being transferred to Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Gajashala in Kancheepuram.

Mr. Choudhury said he was unaware of the reasons behind moving the elephants out of Assam, and whether they would be kept in Tamil Nadu permanently or for a specific period.

The High Court of Tripura had empowered the High-Powered Committee to examine the legality and permissibility of elephant transfers across the country. The Supreme Court later expanded the scope of the specific powers.

“The Chief Wildlife Wardens can grant travel permits to elephants only on the recommendation of this Committee. Before making a decision, the Committee is expected to carry out the necessary investigation/inquiries into the proposed transfer,” Mr. Choudhury’s letter to the High-Powered Committee read.

“To the best of my knowledge, the transfer of these five elephants has not been considered by this Committee, and therefore transfers cannot take place,” he wrote.

“Available data show private individuals own 752 elephants in Assam. More than 300 of these lack formal ownership certificates or face document processing issues. Nevertheless, there is an unending stream of elephant transfers from Assam to the rest of the country in the name of transfer of captive elephants,” Mr. Choudhury told The Hindu.

“Whatever may be the grounds stated in the documentation, these transfers are actually sales. It is saddening that the Assam government is not taking any measures at its level to regulate this trade,” he said.

The conservationist reminded the committee of a recent Gauhati High Court directive to consider rehabilitating nine Assam elephants allegedly kept in Tamil Nadu after the permits expired.

He urged the committee to examine the ownership of Durga and the four Tamil Nadu-bound elephants, and ascertain whether their destinations were legally acceptable.

The committee should establish whether the elephants were born in captivity or rescued from the wild, verify the places where they were claimed to have been born in captivity, and examine the status (captive or wild) of their mothers.

“Such young elephants could only have entered into captivity if they were born in captivity or they were rescued,” Mr. Choudhury said.

Published - September 12, 2026 07:12 pm IST

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