Forest officials in northeast Bangladesh rescued a seven-year-old elephant calf from traditional restraint, reuniting it with its mother and intensifying debate over animal welfare and training customs nationwide and beyond.
Bangladesh’s long-standing practice of traditional elephant training has come under renewed scrutiny after forest officials rescued a seven-year-old elephant calf from restraint in the country’s northeast, highlighting growing tension between age-old customs and modern animal welfare standards.
The calf, named Birbahadur, was freed from a training site in the Karmodha area of Kulaura upazila in Moulvibazar district following intervention by the Forest Department. Authorities later reunited the animal with its mother in a nearby forest.
Birbahadur is the only offspring of Sundormala, a 42-year-old captive elephant. As part of the traditional training method locally known as hadani, the calf had been separated from its mother and restrained with thick ropes tied to wooden posts embedded in the ground. Five mahouts were assigned to the training.
Forest officials said they acted after receiving reports that the calf was being held under conditions commonly associated with physical and psychological distress. On Friday afternoon, officials visited the site and urged the owners to release the animal. The calf was freed later that day and taken to the Kalapahar forest, where it rejoined its mother.
Local residents who visited the site earlier this month said the calf repeatedly tried and failed to break free, crying out intermittently while restrained.
The elephant was originally owned by Sona Mia, a resident of Karmodha who died about a year ago. The animals are now managed by his son, Md Kamrul Islam, who owns four elephants. Two of them are licensed by the Forest Department, according to officials.
The lead trainer, Ashiq Ali, who has worked as a mahout for nearly 30 years, defended the practice, saying it has been followed for generations. He said traditional training usually lasts up to two months and is intended to teach elephants to respond to verbal commands and physical signals. He added that no alternative system is widely known among local trainers and that keeping the mother nearby is believed to disrupt training.
Elephants trained through such methods are often used commercially, including for hauling timber in hilly regions and for performances at public events and circuses, residents said.
Wildlife experts say the case reflects a broader regional challenge as South and Southeast Asian countries balance tradition, livelihoods and evolving global norms on animal welfare and conservation.
Forest officials acknowledge that traditional training methods frequently involve coercion. Ratan Chandra Das, an officer of the Forest Department’s Naldari Beat under the Kulaura Range, said authorities intervened after learning about the training and requested the owners to stop restraining the calf.
Animal welfare organisations argue that such practices are incompatible with modern standards. Rakibul Haque, founder and chairman of the Dhaka-based People for Animal Welfare Foundation, said traditional hadani often inflicts long-term trauma on elephants. He advocates positive reinforcement training, a method that relies on rewards rather than punishment and allows calves to remain with their mothers.
The organisation is working with Thailand’s Save Elephant Foundation, with support from Bangladesh’s Forest Department, to promote the approach. Under the programme, a three-year-old elephant calf named Jayita is currently undergoing training at Gazipur Safari Park while staying with its mother. The seven-month programme has shown encouraging results, Haque said.
Bangladesh’s Chief Conservator of Forests, Md Amir Hossain Chowdhury, said two Forest Department officials have received specialised training in Thailand on modern elephant management. He said authorities want to gradually move owners and mahouts away from practices that cause suffering and expand the use of positive reinforcement training across the country.
While animal rights advocates have welcomed Birbahadur’s release, questions remain over regulation, enforcement and whether Bangladesh will formally phase out traditional elephant training practices in favour of humane, internationally accepted alternatives.
