"We highly condemn the callous treatment of our national heritage, schedule 1 protected (under The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972) animal and expect the MoEF to take a very strict action to safeguard elephants in abusive and exploitative captive situations," FIAPO CEO Arpan Sharma said in a statement.
In a letter to Minister of Environment and Forest (MoEF) Jayanti Natarajan, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) demanded that all captive elephants that were housed and used under the most hideous conditions be rescued.
"These animals undergo terrible abuse. They are transacted commercially, transferred or donated at will to totally inappropriate destinations, and were in possession without valid documents of ownership and forged papers," it said.
On Friday last, a speeding truck rammed into two captive elephants in the wee hours near the Mahamaya flyover in Noida. One of the two elephants succumbed to injuries while the other was left with multiple lacerations, broken tusk and bruises.
The FIAPO is an umbrella body of animal protection groups from across the country.