Guwahati: The Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to go for DNA profiling of all the captive elephants in the state.
The state Forest department has taken up the steps to estimate the population of captive elephants.
The Forest department’s move came a few days after the transportation of 10 elephants to Radhe Krishna Temple at Jamnagar in Gujarat.
The Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust (RKTEWT), an organisation based in Moti Khavdi village in Jamnagar, Gujarat is supported by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).
DNA profiling is a method to differentiate between individuals of the same species using samples of their Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
DNA profiling will help the forest department estimate the population of captive elephants as well as stop illegal activities, including poaching and selling of elephants, said Forest department officials.
Ten elephants were recently transported to the Jamnagar in Gujarat from Namsai in Arunachal Pradesh.
The elephants, mostly sub-adults — were domesticated and purchased from a few owners from Chowkham in the Namsai district by the Radhe Krishna Temple Welfare Trust.
However, many organizations in Arunachal Pradesh have expressed displeasure over such whiffing of animals from the Northeast to other parts of the country.
The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife and Biodiversity) issued permission to transfer these elephants on May 31 under the Wildlife (Transactions and Taxidermy) Rules, 1973.