Wildlife artist lodges police report after elephants used at wedding, demands Perhilitan answers

GEORGE TOWN, June 29 — A wildlife conservation artist has lodged a police report while demanding answers from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (Perhilitan) after videos circulating on social media appeared to show a couple riding elephants during a wedding celebration.

Artist Christine Das, who lodged a police report at 10pm last night after seeing the videos, said the elephants involved were endangered and entrusted to the government for conservation.

“I lodged the police report because I believe this is a matter of public interest that deserves transparency,” she told Malay Mail.

She said the elephants belong to the people and are protected animals held in trust by Perhilitan for conservation.

“The purpose of the National Elephant Conservation Centre, Kuala Gandah, is conservation, rescue, rehabilitation, education and assisting in the management of wild elephant populations and not providing entertainment or prestige at private functions,” she said.

She said if the elephants shown at the wedding were indeed from Kuala Gandah, the public deserved to know whether their use for a private celebration had been appropriate, authorised and consistent with the sanctuary’s conservation mission.

Christine said she had long opposed elephant rides and performances because they did not reflect the animals’ natural behaviour and could affect their physical wellbeing.

“The use of heavy saddles and repeated carrying of people over long periods can contribute to chronic musculoskeletal problems, while many captive elephants also suffer from joint and foot disorders,” she said.

She said the elephants are endangered, sentient animals and should not be treated as attractions for entertainment.

“I was deeply saddened and appalled to see this happen. I cannot believe that Perhilitan would turn our majestic elephants into dressed-up props for weddings,” she said.

She also questioned whether Malaysia was living up to its conservation responsibilities.

Meanwhile, animal rights lawyer N. Rajesh, described the use of elephants for a wedding as illegal.

The founder of Lawyers for Animal Rights and president of PEKA (Association for the Protection of the Natural Heritage of Malaysia) called on the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability to investigate this matter.

“The use of elephants in a wedding is illegal, considering the fact that these are endangered animals. These are Category One endangered animals,” he said.

Rajesh said elephants under Perhilitan’s care should never be used for entertainment purposes.

“Perhilitan is a government body. Now, how can Perhilitan allow an endangered animal to be used for entertainment purposes? Or for the wedding?” he asked.

“So are they having a rent-elephant business? And how much money did they charge for the elephant to be used in the wedding yesterday? This is not why Perhilitan exists,” he said.

He reminded Perhilitan that they are the guardians for all these animals and they are not supposed to be running a business of renting the elephants out for weddings.

Even if the elephants were not from Kuala Gandah, he said all elephants are under the care of Perhilitan, he said.

“This is clearly a dereliction of duty by Perhilitan. Not only is it dereliction, it’s worse than that. It’s an abuse of duty,” he accused.

He said Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim should be held responsible regardless of who authorised the elephants’ use.

“At the end of the day, the director-general is the one responsible,” he said.

Rajesh also said he had been told the director-general was present at the wedding, although he stressed he had only seen videos online.

“I saw the videos on TikTok. There is a guy who looks like him attending the wedding,” he said.

PEKA will be writing to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) today and urging minister Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup to investigate the matter.

“Hopefully he takes some action. Because the director-general of Perhilitan is under his watch. I don’t know if they are renting the elephants out or giving it for free but whatever it is, it’s illegal,” he said.

He stressed that these elephants are not circus animals.

“You can’t use them like circus animals. You cannot put makeup on them and then use them for a wedding,” he said.

He added that other animal welfare organisations involved in the Dara Amoi Kelat (DAK) issue were also upset over the incident.

“I’ve been told that the other animal rights elephant organisations are also very upset,” he said.

He said the animal rights groups were already critical of the government for the whole DAK issue but now, even elephants remaining in Malaysia are being blatantly abused.

“They’re not a toy, you know,” he said.

The DAK issue refers to an ongoing controversy surrounding the transfer of three Malaysian Asian elephants named Dara, Amoi and Kelat from the Taiping Zoo to Tennoji Zoo in Osaka, Japan.

Malay Mail has reached out to Perhilitan for comment.