Directing the district forest officers to stop ‘jumbo begging’ by scrupulously following the law which bans it, the Madras high court has said taking captive elephants in private possession on streets and making them ‘bless’ commuters for a ‘fee’ amounts to begging, say reports. Justice D Krishnakumar said forcing elephants to beg would amount to exploitation of the animals and would mean subjecting them to behave in an uncharacteristic manner.
