Uproar Over Elephant Rescue Plan

To cabinet ministers it seemed like a grand gesture, and a way of offering eight homeless elephants a new life in a luxurious enclosure.

But the Australian government's decision to import eight Thai elephants for a conservation project caused derision and an international rumpus.

Bombarded by criticism from animal welfare groups and some 65,000 emails and more than 52,000 postcards of protest, Canberra has now been drawn into a court challenge which means the elephants must stay put for now.

The saga began when the environment minister, Ian Campbell, said the elephants, now in Thai quarantine, would be transported to Australia, five of them destined for a new A$36.6m (£16m) enclosure at Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney which includes a mini-rainforest. The three others were earmarked for Melbourne Zoo.

"We look forward to the first successful pregnancy," Mr Campbell told reporters.

But animal rights campaigners said the Australian government had broken its own tough laws against trading in endangered animals and took legal action.

The RSPCA, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw), and the Humane Society have been granted an interim order stopping the elephants leaving Thailand until an appeal on Thursday.

"Keeping elephants in zoos is simply cruel," said Hugh Wirth, president of the RSPCA in Australia. "This plan places the welfare of these precious animals at risk."

Mr Campbell insists Australia would be helping to protect a species that faces extinction. It is estimated there are fewer than 35,000 Asian elephants across 15 countries.

"They're under serious threat," he said. "Australia's got to do what it can to save these elephants. If we can breed them in captivity here at Taronga Zoo and Melbourne Zoo ... then we can make an historic contribution as a nation to conserving this incredibly important species."

But wildlife organisations believe the money would be better spent improving their native habitat in Thailand. To support their argument, the groups cite the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which says an endangered animal only be imported for conservation and breeding purposes, not for commercial benefit.

"We believe this is a primarily commercial venture," said Rebecca Brand, of Ifaw. "They are bringing elephants in because they're a drawcard."

Dr Wirth said he was suspicious that the breeding programme was really "a dressed-up commercial enterprise" and pointed to research showing that zoo elephants suffered obesity and shorter lifespans.