Elephant training ruled as not abuse by Yunnan court

A court in Yunnan province ruled on Tuesday that a local company's performance training of elephants was not animal abuse, nor damage to the environment after hearing a lawsuit initiated by a Beijing-based environmental organization.

The Duoyuan Zhineng, or diverse intelligence environment research institute, in the Beijing Changping district, earlier sued the Wild Elephant Valley in Yunnan to the Kunming Railway Transportation Intermediate People's Court, claiming that the methods applied by the company in the training of elephants amounted to animal abuse.

While pleading an order from the court to stop the elephant performance training and performance programs and other activities of mistreating elephants conducted by the company, the environmental organization also requested an order from the court to demand the defendant apologize for its abuse of the wild animal.

After a trial, the court said on Tuesday that the performance of wild animals is not prohibited under the current Chinese laws, deeming the Yunnan company's elephant performance training is not a violation.

"The company has obtained the domestication, breeding and business licenses, meaning it has the qualification to do that," the court said.

It noted that the domestication and breeding of wild animals should be regulated in ways suitable for their physiological characteristics and physical conditions, pointing out that reasonable training is not abuse.

"The elephant training performance in the valley is carried out under the guidance of staff members, which doesn't cause damages to the elephants, nor to the environment," it said. "So the environmental organization's claim lacks legal and factual basis."

While announcing the ruling, the court said that moderate human-elephant interaction is not only a way to inherit the traditional culture, but also can help people understand more about elephants and enhance their awareness to protect the animal.

The court said the Wild Animal Protection Law has emphasized that wildlife abuse must be prohibited in China, although it allows training performance.

"With the progress of human civilization and development of science and technology, we should pay more attention to animal protection and domesticate animals in a more civilized manner," the court said.