India's Supreme Court orders clinics for regular captive elephant checkups
India
India's Supreme Court just ordered special clinics for regular checkups of captive elephants (think those kept by temples, circuses, private individuals, and forest departments).
This comes after concerns about poor healthcare and illegal captivity, even though the Wildlife Protection Act bars elephants in captivity.
DNA profiling for 2,725 captive elephants
The court also wants DNA profiling of all 2,725 captive elephants to help stop illegal trade. Turns out, a lot of these elephants have unknown origins or were taken from the wild.
These clinics should maintain the record of treatment given to captive elephants, and the government's been told to lay down minimum standards for keeping elephants by individuals, so elephant welfare finally gets some real attention.