Conservation: Wild elephant 'adoption' banned in Bangladesh

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Elephants at a safari park in Bangladesh

Elephants in Bangladesh will be getting extra protections thanks to a ruling by the country's High Court.

Adoption of wild elephants will now be banned, which animal rights groups hope will protect them from being used in circuses and street shows.

Bangladesh once had a thriving Asian elephant population, but there are thought to be only 200 elephants now, with around half of them in captivity.

Asian elephants are endangered in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Elephants are often used for entertainment in circuses and to entertain tourists in Bangladesh

Rakibul Haque Emil, head of animal rights group People for Animal Welfare Foundation, said he hoped that elephants in captivity could now be reintroduced to the wild.

"Several countries in Asia such as Thailand and Nepal have found some success in rehabilitating captive elephants," he said. "We shall do it here."

Asian elephant numbers are decreasing worldwide because of issues like poaching, habitat destruction and climate change.

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