The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) hopes that the government’s proposed elephant-management regulations will lead to elephant-back safaris being abolished.
The draft rules, released for comment last week, propose stopping the capture from the wild of anything other than genuine orphan elephant calves.
”The NSPCA opposes elephant-back safaris and would like to see these practices abolished,” said NSPCA executive director Marcelle Meredith in a statement on Tuesday.
”This development is applauded as a step in the right direction. It will limit growth of the elephant-back safari industry. Concerns remain regarding the over 100 elephants currently undergoing the rigours of domestication and taming for introduction into this industry.”
Meredith said the management of captive elephants and their training methods are primary concerns.
”The NSPCA has repeatedly called for a halt to elephants being captured in the wild, removed and taken into captive situations to be ”trained” as working animals. The practice is abhorrent and inhumane,” she said. — Sapa