{"id":131653,"date":"2026-08-21T21:25:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T16:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=131653"},"modified":"2026-08-21T21:25:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T16:25:14","slug":"top-india-court-orders-new-steps-to-protect-threatened-elephants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131653\/","title":{"rendered":"Top India court orders new steps to protect threatened elephants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New Delhi(National Times)- India\u2019s top court has ordered tough new steps to protect wild elephant herds as habitat loss and human-elephant conflict intensify, a move welcomed by campaigners on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The world\u2019s most populous nation is also home to the majority of Asian elephants, a species listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and whose habitat is increasingly being sliced up by highways and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1962386\">railways<\/a>&nbsp;or clawed up by mines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Supreme Court has directed states to prevent the blockage of elephant corridors \u2014 routes used by herds to move between rapidly shrinking habitats \u2014 and ordered a survey to identify obstructions along those routes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That must include steps to end the use of any \u201ccoercive measure to divert the natural movement of the elephants\u201d, it read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A ban on \u201chulla parties\u201d \u2014 groups deployed to drive elephants away using \u201cfireballs\u201d and burning stakes \u2014 is required, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The court ruling, issued on Monday, said ministry guidelines were already in place to ensure \u201cunobstructed\u201d elephant corridors, but those routes have often been impeded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wildlife conservationist Prerna Singh Bindra, who led the pro bono public interest case, told&nbsp;<em>AFP<\/em>&nbsp;her petition had challenged state governments \u201csupporting horrifically cruel practices\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt becomes a mob situation with thousands of people chasing the elephants using burning spears,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat does nothing to resolve conflict; science shows it only exacerbates the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund \u2014 most in India, with others in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elephants are protected by law, are named as India\u2019s \u201cnational heritage animal\u201d, and many followers of the elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesh see the animals as sacred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But they face mounting pressure from habitat loss, fragmentation, and increasing human-elephant conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bindra, a former member of India\u2019s top governing body for wildlife conservation and policy, the National Board for Wildlife, said the court\u2019s order was needed to ensure the survival of elephants in one of the most densely populated areas in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe know where elephant corridors and habitats are \u2014 and they are being destroyed and fragmented at an unprecedented pace,\u201d Bindra said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe will to protect and preserve is markedly absent. We hope with this Supreme Court order, this survey must lead to action.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Delhi(National Times)- India\u2019s top court has ordered tough new steps to protect wild elephant herds as habitat loss and human-elephant conflict intensify, a move welcomed by campaigners on Friday. The world\u2019s most populous nation is also home to the majority of Asian elephants, a species listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Top India court orders new steps to protect threatened elephants - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131653\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top India court orders new steps to protect threatened elephants - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New Delhi(National Times)- India\u2019s top court has ordered tough new steps to protect wild elephant herds as habitat loss and human-elephant conflict intensify, a move welcomed by campaigners on Friday. 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