Microchips of dead captive elephants are transplanted into illegally captured and transported elephants in Kerala. Everyone knows such a modus operandi was carried out in the state with the support of the forest department.
We have discovered the practice by analyzing the deaths and alive status of 369 captive elephants in the state. The result was stunning. We have found that 13 elephants that were reported to be dead were alive according to the data submitted by the forest department to the High Court of Kerala.
A 12-year-old elephant named Lakshmi trampled to death its mahout in a private elephant safari park at Adimali, Kerala, in 2023. But the forest department’s record shows the elephant is 63 years old. This was ample evidence for the illegal microchip transplantation.
The case is pending in the High Court of Kerala.
