‘How is govt using genetic data for protection of captive elephants,’ Jairam Ramesh seeks clarity from environment minister

The ministry’s memorandum stated that the ministry has on various occasions received representations and complaints regarding illegal transfer and transport of elephants, sale and procurement of elephants.

The Centre drew the attention of states to a provision in the 2024 Rules which mandates that “no transfer of an elephant shall be permissible unless the genetic profile of the elephant has been entered in the electronic monitoring application of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change”.

“Hence, it is requested to take all necessary action to ensure the compliance of these rules while transfer of transport of elephant from one place to another (sic),” the ministry’s letter to states added.

Ramesh said that the provision prohibiting elephant transfers without genetic profiling raises issues which need clarity. “How exactly is the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change establishing the genetic profile of each elephant? Who is generating this data and maintaining this database? How exactly does the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change intend to use this genetic data for the protection of captive and wild elephants?” Ramesh asked.

“I presume that we have the laboratory infrastructure with the necessary sequencing facilities,” he mentioned in the letter.

The Environment Ministry began the DNA profiling of captive elephants in 2022-23. It had developed ‘Gajah Suchana’, an application for collection of biological samples from captive elephants across India for DNA profiling. As per a reply in the Lok Sabha last year, biological sample collection of captive elephants from Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttarakhand has been completed.

The Indian Express had reported last year that the DNA profiling of 270 of the 2,675 captive elephants was completed.

In June as well, Ramesh had written to Yadav on the captive elephant trade and flagged gaps in the Captive Elephant (Transfer and Transport) Rules, 2024. He had pointed out that the present transfer rules “do not close the route for both wild capture and commercial trade of captive elephants especially from the Northeast to the rest of the country.”

Before that in April, the wildlife protection groups and elephant conservation groups based in the North East and other parts of the country had urged the Environment Ministry for a moratorium on elephant transfers, especially from north-eastern states to other parts of the country, on grounds that using the provisions of non-commercial transfer of captive elephants, wild elephants were being caught from the forests of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules, 2024, were notified on March 14 after Parliament amended the Wildlife Protection Act, which allows transfer of elephants for “religious or any other purpose” by those possessing valid ownership certificates. The transfer and transport rules specify the terms and conditions to be followed for such transfers.