{"id":604428,"date":"2026-07-26T02:54:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T02:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/604428\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T02:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T02:54:17","slug":"orphaned-once-dudhwa-elephant-now-faces-separation-from-surrogate-family-bareilly-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/604428\/","title":{"rendered":"Orphaned once, Dudhwa elephant now faces separation from surrogate family | Bareilly News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Orphaned Pilibhit: For three-year-old Bhawani, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) is more than a forest. It is the only home she remembers \u2014 one where a mahout became her caregiver, another orphaned calf her sister, and adult female elephants the family she lost as an infant.Now, a decision to move her to Gorakhpur Zoo threatens to break those bonds. The proposed transfer has riled wildlife enthusiasts and worried forest staff, who fear that removing Bhawani from her familiar surroundings and surrogate herd could adversely affect her physical and emotional well-being.Bhawani was rescued from Najibabad forest division after losing her family and brought to Dudhwa when she was just 20 days old. CJP Jantar Mantar Protest UpdatesFrail and vulnerable, she was placed in the care of mahout Irshad Ali, who nursed her and stayed by her side day and night.Ali would often sleep beside the calf to comfort her. Bhawani, in turn, would rest her tiny trunk on him as she slept. As she grew, so did their bond. \u201cIt feels as though my own daughter is being torn from my arms,\u201d said Ali, a recipient of the Centre\u2019s Gaj Gaurav award for his work with orphaned elephants.Dudhwa\u2019s elephants also took Bhawani into their fold. Durga, another orphaned female calf who is now six, became her constant companion, while adult female elephants helped nurture her. Forest staff said Bhawani gradually became an inseparable part of this surrogate family.The prospect of her exchanging Dudhwa\u2019s forests and the companionship of her herd for a zoo enclosure has triggered opposition. Wildlife enthusiasts have sent representations to senior forest officials, including UP principal chief wildlife warden Anuradha Vemuri, seeking cancellation of the transfer.DTR field director H Rajamohan cited a shortage of trained mahouts as the reason for the move. He told TOI that the reserve had 25 camp elephants but only 10 mahouts, against a requirement of one mahout and one fodder cutter for each animal.Those opposing the transfer have questioned the explanation, pointing out that DTR recently sought seven more camp elephants \u2014 four males and three females \u2014 from Karnataka. The request was conveyed in a letter from Vemuri to her Karnataka counterpart.DTR deputy director Jagdish R cited a different concern. He said Bhawani was being shifted to protect her from possible attacks by tigers and adult male elephants. He did not respond when asked whether Bhawani had faced any such attack or why other calves exposed to similar risks were not routinely moved to zoos.Even before her departure, the separation has begun. Bhawani has been moved away from the camp herd and placed in an isolated enclosure ahead of the proposed transfer.Advocate Syed Mohammad Haider Rizvi, a lawyer practising at the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court, has petitioned the Union environment ministry, Central Zoo Authority (CZA), Animal Welfare Board of India and UP forest officials to halt the relocation.Rizvi argued that the Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules, 2024, apply to elephants covered by ownership certificates issued under section 42 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act. Bhawani, being a wild-born orphan, is govt property under section 39 and does not have such a certificate, he said.He also contended that section 38-I of the Act restricts zoos from acquiring Schedule I animals without CZA approval and except from recognised zoos or breeding centres. Citing animal-welfare provisions and court judgments, he said Bhawani\u2019s best interests should guide the decision and suggested housing her in a predator-proof enclosure at Dudhwa instead.Rizvi said he would move the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court through a PIL if the transfer was not cancelled.For Ali and the herd that helped raise Bhawani, however, the dispute is not merely about rules and approvals. It is about whether an elephant orphan who found a family in Dudhwa should be made to lose it all over again.\"60d1c5bd-776c-42a2-ac5e-ae599ef424b7_Bhawani_sleeping_with_Durga_a_sister_like_another_orphaned_calf.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Bhawani sleeping with another orphaned calf Durga<\/p>\n

\"32b2d2a6-f2f3-4074-9ba3-4fa0cc19cde6_An_imotional_bond_between_Bhawani_and_Irshad_Ali.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Bhawani playing with mahout Irshad Ali, who nursed her and stayed by her side day and night<\/p>\n

\"9c3a49bd-629e-4b4a-8a88-b0d506bb15c0_Bhawani_getting_loving_care_of_Irshad_Ali..jpg\"<\/p>\n

Bhawani playing with mahout Irshad Ali, who nursed her and stayed by her side day and night<\/p>\n

\"b26dae2f-8fcb-4fb1-bdbd-6cb8743dea14_Irshad_Ali_feeding_Bhawani.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Irshad feeds Bhawani<\/p>\n

\"cfbed88d-127e-4854-81c5-37b2bb1761bb_Irshad_Ali_sleeping_with_Bhawani_at_elephant_camp.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Ali would often sleep beside the calf to comfort her<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pilibhit: For three-year-old Bhawani, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) is more than a forest. It is the only home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[273],"tags":[255358,255334,255329,255357,255355,255356,255321,255347,255336,255332,255322,238990,58918,18,255345,255348,255344,255324,255327,19,17,255326,255328,255352,255346,255333,255325,255343,255323,255354,255351,255342,255331,255330,76430,255353,255340,133,255339,255337,255338,255341,255335,255360,255350,35159,461,43833,255359,255349],"class_list":["post-604428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-a-nagaraja-judgment","tag-animal-welfare-board-of-india","tag-anuradha-vemuri","tag-article-21","tag-article-48-a","tag-article-51-ag","tag-bhawani","tag-camp-elephants","tag-captive-elephant-rules-2024","tag-central-zoo-authority","tag-dtr","tag-dudhwa-tiger-reserve","tag-durga","tag-eire","tag-elephant-calf-relocation","tag-elephant-captivity","tag-gaj-gaurav-award","tag-gorakhpur-zoo","tag-h-rajamohan","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irshad-ali","tag-jagdish-r","tag-lucknow-high-court","tag-mahout-shortage","tag-moefcc","tag-najibabad-forest-division","tag-orphaned-elephant-sop-2023","tag-pilibhit","tag-precautionary-principle","tag-predator-proof-kraal","tag-prevention-of-cruelty-to-animals-act-1960","tag-principal-chief-conservator-of-forest-wildlife","tag-principal-chief-wildlife-warden","tag-public-interest-litigation","tag-public-trust-doctrine","tag-schedule-i-animals","tag-science","tag-section-38-i-wpa","tag-section-39-wpa","tag-section-42-wpa-ownership-certificate","tag-sections-11-and-12-wpa","tag-syed-mohammad-haider-rizvi","tag-t-n-godavarman-judgment","tag-tiger-attack-risk","tag-uttar-pradesh","tag-wildlife","tag-wildlife-protection-act","tag-wwf-india","tag-zoo-enclosure"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}