New Delhi, August 4: Much to the disappointment of tourists visiting the Jim Corbett and Rajaji Tiger reserves in hill state Uttarakhand, the state government has banned the commercial use of elephants for joy rides and commercial safaris. The Jim Corbett National Park is the country’s very first wildlife reserve established way back in 1936. This national reserve is famous for its huge diversity of wildlife, and also as the birthplace of ‘Project Tiger’.

A division bench of Justice Rajiv Sharma and Lok Pal Singh issued an order saying, “banning commercial use of elephants in the entire Uttarakhand till further orders.” The Uttarakhand High Court has banned the commercial use of elephants for joy rides and commercial safaris citing the breach of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

The Court said that during these rides, the elephants get hurt which results in their exploitation. According to a report by Hindustan Times, the government has also reduced the number of gypsies to not more than 100 per day inside the parks.  Environmentalists and wildlife activists have, however, welcomed the move.

On Thursday, the Uttarakhand high court said that the state government cannot be a mute spectator and emphasized the need that the “criminal tribes are kept at bay from the vicinity of national parks to protect the wildlife”. The HT report further informs that the High Court said that steps are needed to be taken to save the wildlife from poachers and relocate/shift the Van Gujjars from the forest areas.

Reports inform that the Chief Wildlife warden has been directed to issue proper receipts to the owners of the elephants and take over them for medical examination and routine checks. It must be noted that India shelters a rich variety of wildlife species and is home to 70% of India’s tiger population.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 04, 2018 03:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).