Thanks to the recent Madhya Pradesh High Court ruling, the 20-year-old bull elephant Tridev will be released back into the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Umaria. The released elephant will be fitted with a satellite radio collar to track its movement. Tridev’s release, after causing the death of two villagers in 2024, is also a departure from the practice of keeping captive adult male elephants that have caused harm to humans or have strayed into the fields.

This change came after a petition was filed by wildlife activist Nitin Singhvi, who alleged that the elephants were not rehabilitated in a timely manner and that studies that could make a strong case for their release back into the wild had not been conducted.

In the Petition

And so, in its recent ruling, the High Court has asked the state government to rehabilitate elephants in captivity by appointing special experts. Alongside, the High Court also demanded a status report on wild captive elephants in the state along with a list of elephants that should be rehabilitated.

While talking to national media, Anupam Sahai, the director of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, explained the circumstances that led to Tridev’s initial capture. The elephant, which came from Chhattisgarh on February 25, 2024, was captured by a joint rescue team of Bandhavgarh and Sanjay Tiger Reserve after an incident of human conflict occurred. The said incident killed at least two persons, and it was then that Tridev was kept in captivity at Kanha Tiger Reserve for a behavioural assessment.

Last week, he was released into Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and will now be free to roam around, but under close monitoring by a five-member team. According to wildlife officials, a committee will be formed to conduct a detailed assessment of the elephant’s behaviour and health. A meeting of the elephant advisory committee found that the elephant had fully recovered and was fit to be released into the wild. Officials informed national media that the elephant’s behavioural patterns had also changed.

Another senior wildlife officer at the national park told national media, “When the elephants stop chasing people or knocking down trees and eat normally, we know their behaviour is normal. We also observe small movements like those of the ears and tail to look for any signs of aggression and then release them.”

Anupam suggested that the radio collar will enable better monitoring of the elephant’s movement. “Earlier, villagers were the first to inform forest officials about elephant movements, but now with radio collars, we can track their routes. Our teams reach villages in advance and advise people not to disturb the animal,” said Sahai.

Captive Elephants

Wildlife officials would earlier train captive elephants and use them for protection. For instance, in 2017, a large herd of wild elephants began coming into BTR and wildlife officials saw increased reports of elephant–human conflict.

But Tridev’s release into the wild comes after a legal challenge by Singhvi and his advocate Anshuman Singh, who fought against the forest department’s elephant management practices. During the hearing, the chairman of the State Elephant Advisory Committee, L. Krishnamurthy, promised Madhya Pradesh Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf that the state was undertaking exercises and workshops to sensitise villages along with issuing guidelines to rehabilitate captured elephants.

During the same hearing, the Madhya Pradesh government also expressed its willingness to release two elephants from captivity after discussions with an appointed expert.

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