Wildlife activists in India are outraged after Assam government decided to send 4 elephants by train on a stressful 3-day journey for a festival in Ahmedabad

• The Assam forest department is preparing to send four elephants across the country in Ahmedabad through a ‘stressful” train journey of 3100 kilometers for a Hindu ritual.
  
• The wildlife activists are planning to approach the Supreme Court of India to file a petition against the move made by Assam government.

The Assam forest department is preparing to send four elephants across the country to Ahmedabad through a ‘stressful” train journey of 3100 kilometres, according to BBC, sparking outrage among the wildlife activists in the country.

Rupsingh and Rani, who are among the four elephants are supposed to move from Tinsukia town in the northeastern state of Assam to the Ahmedabad — which is located in the western-most state, Gujarat, to participate in the annual Rath Yatra (chariot procession) at the Jagannath temple.

Reportedly, the railway authorities are looking for a coach to take the elephants on a three to four-day long journey. The decision came after three elephants in Jagannath temple died last year and the trustees decided to “borrow” the tuskers from Assam, the BBC reported.

The wildlife activists across the country and in the state are planning to knock the doors of the Supreme Court to file a petition against the move made by Assam government. The activists reportedly believes that it is “cruel and completely inhuman’ to make the elephants travel when temperatures are soaring above 40 degree celsius in northern parts of the country.





As per the rules, it is illegal to make the elephants walk for more than 18 miles at a stretch or make them travel for more than six hours.