Bangladesh’s critically endangered wild elephants have received a court order banning their adoption.
Gatekeepers News reports that animal rights groups welcomed the High Court suspension of all licences as this will protect the elephants from exploitation.
With this ruling, young Asian elephants can no longer be captured and taken into captivity or used for begging, circuses or street shows.
There are now only about 200 of the elephants in the country, with about half of those living in captivity.
Bangladesh used to be one of the major homes for the Asian elephant but poaching and habitat loss has caused a marked decrease in their numbers.
Head of animal rights group People for Animal Welfare (PAW) Foundation in Bangladesh, Rakibul Haque Emil, while reacting to the court ruling said it was a “landmark order”.
“In this name of training elephants, private licensees including circus parties brutally separate elephant calves from their mother, shackle them for months and then torture them to teach tricks,” Emil said.
He said it was now hoped that captive elephants could be rehabilitated.
