Increase in Tamil Nadu’s elephant population heartening, says Madras High Court Chief Justice

Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava connected Wednesday (October 29, 2025) expressed happiness implicit the increasing colonisation of chaotic elephants successful Tamil Nadu, which has accrued from 3,063 successful 2024 to 3,170 successful 2025. He said, the summation by 107 elephants successful a twelvemonth amounts to important growth.

Presiding implicit the archetypal Division Bench, on with Justice G. Arul Murugan, the Chief Justice broached the taxable during the proceeding of a lawsuit filed against the connection to transport an elephant calf from a sanctuary successful Uttarakhand to the Nellaiappar temple successful Tirunelveli district.

The Chief Justice told Advocate General P.S. Raman that the effect of the latest synchronised elephant colonisation estimation workout carried retired successful each 5 elephant reserves of Tamil Nadu “is thing precise good.” He, however, lamented that it was not the lawsuit successful different States of the country.

“In my genitor State (Chhattisgarh), it is simply a superior problem,” the Chief Justice said and narrated an incidental wherever astir 30 to 40 chaotic elephants abruptly emerged connected a nationalist roadworthy conscionable astir 60 km from his hometown Bilaspur, creating large magnitude of anxiousness among the people.

“Their situation had been destroyed successful a peculiar area, which erstwhile housed ample fig of elephants. The wood area, which catered to their needs, had been wholly destroyed due to the fact that of mining enactment and galore different things. So, they (the pachyderms) had opened their ain caller corridor successful hunt of food. In that process, they had devasted the colony habitation, agriculture, and houses and horrified the radical implicit there,” helium said.

The Chief Justice besides said, the incidental had led to the constitution of an elephant campy adjacent a wildlife sanctuary and said, the campy was operated jointly by the Forest Department arsenic good arsenic reputed non-governmental organisations who were experts successful elephant care.

The A-G told the Chief Justice that akin camps were being operated successful Tamil Nadu arsenic well, and that the M.R. Palayam campy successful Tiruchi houses galore elephants.

Uttarakhand elephant calf

People for Cattle successful India, a NGO, had filed the contiguous nationalist involvement litigation (PIL) petition stating that Gandhimathi, a 55-year-old pistillate elephant of the Nellaiappar temple, died connected January 12, 2025, and hence, the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religous and Charitable Endowments section arsenic good arsenic the Forest Department had decided to bring a caller elephant calf from Uttarakhand.

Representing the NGP, elder counsel Satish Parasaran contended that the lifespan of the chaotic elephants gets reduced considerably erstwhile they are kept successful captivity and hence, the elephant calf should not beryllium separated from its herd successful Uttarakhand and transported each the mode to Tamil Nadu. “Such forced separation from the herd is not conscionable a infinitesimal of symptom but ends up causing a lifelong coiled connected the elephants,” helium argued.

On the different hand, the A-G told the tribunal that the connection was astatine a preliminary signifier and nary last determination had been taken yet. He besides sought clip to get further instructions from the Forest Department. Therefore, the tribunal ordered notices to the Tamil Nadu authorities arsenic good arsenic the HR&CE department. It, however, refrained from ordering announcement to the Uttarakhand Forest Department for the clip being.