The Heritage Animal Task Force (HATF) has welcomed the recent judgement of the Division Bench of Kerala High Court upholding the provisions in the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 with regard to the Chief Wildlife Warden’s right to deny permission to bring elephants from other States.
In a statement issued here on Saturday, HATF secretary V.K. Venkitachalam said that the judgement of the Division Bench would clip the wings of agents who had been smuggling elephants from States such as Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, and Orissa.
Unlawful means
Mr. Venkitachalam said that many of the elephants brought to Kerala had been caught from the wild through unlawful means and transferred through secret channels.
He said the judgement would help reduce the trend of smuggling elephants to the State.