Kolkata: Suman, a young female elephant formerly belonging to Nataraj Circus and one of three elephants involved in long-pending proceedings before the Calcutta High Court over their alleged illegal transfer from Bengal to Bihar, died recently.“Publicly available footage from recent days appeared to show Suman being used in rented commercial activity in Siwan, Bihar, where she was visibly unwell and in no condition to work. She subsequently collapsed and died,” said Radhika Bose of CAPE Foundation, the organisation that has led the legal efforts for the rescue and lawful rehabilitation of these elephants.CAPE Foundation’s lawsuit challenged the transfer of the animals to a mahant in Bihar and questioned their continued possession and commercial use.The Calcutta HC passed multiple orders directing the concerned authorities to seize the elephants and return them to the custody of the Bengal forest department, under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and other applicable legal safeguards governing captive elephants.Despite these judicial directions, the elephants reportedly remained in commercial circulation and under the day-to-day control of persons whose care and management were described as gravely inadequate.According to the foundation, the condition of the deceased elephant suggested serious failures of basic veterinary care, husbandry and on-ground decision-making.The captive elephants were long-lived, socially-complex and highly-sentient beings requiring specialised veterinary oversight, stable environments and freedom from exploitative use, the foundation said in a statement.It further said Suman’s death illustrated how delay in enforcing court orders translated into irreversible harm and directly jeopardised the lives and welfare of the two surviving elephants, who remained in the alleged illegal custody of the accused.The statement urged the authorities of Bengal and Bihar to act in coordinated compliance with the binding orders of the Calcutta HC.It said the remaining elephants, Bhola and Basanti, must be secured without further delay and transferred to an appropriate rehabilitation facility where independent veterinary assessment and long-term welfare planning could be undertaken, and that any form of commercial deployment must cease immediately pending full legal compliance.The statement said the matter concerned the rule of law, the integrity of judicial oversight and the prevention of further irreversible harm to living beings dependent on human custodianship.It said Suman’s death should serve as a solemn and urgent reminder that court orders relating to animal welfare required faithful, effective, and time-bound implementation, rather than delay or obstruction.It added: “We express our profound grief at Suman’s passing and call upon all relevant authorities to ensure that the fate she suffered is not repeated for the remaining elephants.”
