Earth
EP Investigation: Hidden Epidemic, Tuberculosis Spreads Among Kerala’s Captive Elephants
An EP Investigation into tuberculosis in Kerala’s captive elephants reveals human transmission risks, weak screening systems, and urgent policy gaps.
Tuberculosis in Kerala’s captive elephants has become a silent but persistent threat, driven largely by human-to-animal transmission, chronic stress, and systemic failures in veterinary public health. An EdPublica (EP) Investigation reveals how the absence of routine screening, weak governance, and prolonged neglect could turn a preventable disease into a far larger crisis in the years ahead.
By Lakshmi Narayanan | EP Investigation
Tuberculosis is quietly spreading among Kerala’s captive elephants, sustained not by wildlife exposure but by human contact, chronic stress, and systemic neglect. Long treated as a marginal veterinary issue, the disease represents a serious and largely ignored public health and animal welfare crisis—one that experts warn could intensify in the coming years if left unaddressed.
Kerala hosts one of the largest populations of captive Asian elephants in India, housed by temples, private owners, and festival organisers. According to a Forest Department survey concluded in February 2025, the state currently has 389 captive elephants, marking a steady decline from 521 in 2018 and over 700 in 2010, with the majority now owned by private individuals. This sharp reduction over the past decade reflects broader stresses within the captive elephant system, including ageing animals, declining ownership viability, and chronic health concerns.
Within this shrinking population, tuberculosis is neither new nor rare; it is endemic. Historical veterinary records and animal welfare documentation indicate that in earlier years, TB may have contributed to as many as 25 captive elephant deaths annually. Yet in recent times, detailed and transparent reporting on TB-related infections and fatalities has largely disappeared from public view, creating a misleading impression that the risk has diminished when, in reality, surveillance itself has weakened.
This absence of attention does not signal reduced risk. Tuberculosis is a slow, insidious disease that can remain latent or undiagnosed for years. Without mandatory screening or transparent surveillance, infection can circulate undetected within captive elephant populations—allowing animals to suffer prolonged illness and potentially function as silent reservoirs of infection.
The persistence of tuberculosis among captive elephants is not accidental. It is the result of a convergence of vulnerabilities: constant exposure to infected humans, immune suppression driven by captivity-related stress, and systemic failures in veterinary public health governance. Together, these factors have created ideal conditions for a preventable disease to endure—largely unseen, and largely unchallenged.
The Human–Elephant Interface: A Critical Transmission Pathway
The primary route of TB transmission among Kerala’s captive elephants is reverse zoonosis: the spread of infection from humans to animals. The causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a human-adapted pathogen transmitted through respiratory aerosols. In settings where elephants live and work in close proximity to people, this pathway becomes epidemiologically decisive.
Mahouts and handlers represent the most significant source of chronic exposure. Their daily routines—feeding, bathing, training, and transporting elephants—require prolonged, close physical contact. If a handler carries an active or latent TB infection, the opportunity for transmission to the animal is constant and cumulative.
In addition to handlers, the general public constitutes a secondary but important exposure source. Kerala’s festival culture routinely places elephants amid dense crowds, often for extended periods. These gatherings create intermittent but high-volume opportunities for transmission from undiagnosed or untreated individuals within the broader population. Together, these human reservoirs ensure that captive elephants are rarely insulated from the pathogen. Yet exposure alone does not fully explain disease persistence. The risk of infection is significantly magnified by conditions that undermine the elephants’ immune defenses.
“Tuberculosis in captive elephants is a severe and often underestimated disease. What is seen during post-mortem examinations is extensive, chronic organ damage that reflects prolonged suffering rather than sudden illness. These findings are consistent with long-term exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and delayed detection, Dr. Arun Vishvanathan, a veterinary expert based in Kerala’s Palakkad district, tells EdPublica.
“From a medical and public health perspective, this condition is particularly concerning because it is largely driven by human-to-animal transmission. Elephants living in close, continuous contact with people—especially under stressful captive conditions—experience immune suppression, which allows the infection to progress unchecked. This is not an unavoidable disease; it is a preventable one. Without routine screening of both handlers and elephants, early diagnosis, and strict biosecurity measures, such cases will continue to occur, resulting in needless animal suffering and ongoing public health risk,” Dr. Arun Vishvanathan adds.
Stress, Captivity, and Immune Compromise
Captive environments impose profound physiological and psychological stress on elephants, a species evolved for expansive movement, complex social structures, and environmental autonomy. Confinement to restricted spaces, prolonged chaining, limited exercise, and forced participation in noisy, crowded festivals all contribute to chronic stress.
Scientific evidence across species demonstrates that sustained stress suppresses immune function. In elephants, this immunosuppression reduces resistance to opportunistic infections such as TB and increases the likelihood that latent infections will progress to active disease.
Crowding further compounds the problem. Elephants housed in close quarters or transported frequently between venues are exposed not only to more humans but also to environments conducive to airborne disease transmission. In these conditions, respiratory pathogens can spread efficiently, especially when animals are already physiologically compromised.
”Tuberculosis in Kerala’s captive elephants spreads primarily through close, repeated contact with infected humans, and is sustained by conditions that weaken the animals’ natural defenses. Unlike many wildlife diseases, this is not an infection originating in forests—it is largely a human-driven disease cycle. Mahouts and handlers are the most significant transmission source. Daily activities such as feeding, bathing, chaining, and transport require close physical proximity, often for hours at a time. If a handler has active or undiagnosed TB, the elephant is repeatedly exposed to infectious aerosols,” says Manuprasad, an elephant welfare worker from Thrissur.
Festival crowds and tourists create additional exposure. During temple festivals and public events, elephants are surrounded by dense crowds, sometimes for entire days. In these settings, even brief exposure to multiple infected individuals can result in infection.
Systemic Gaps in Veterinary Public Health
Perhaps the most critical vulnerability lies not in biology but in governance. Kerala lacks a standardized, mandatory TB screening programme for captive elephants. As a result, infected animals—many of them asymptomatic—remain undiagnosed for years. This failure in routine surveillance effectively blinds any meaningful public health response and allows elephants to function as silent reservoirs of infection.
Experts warn that tuberculosis in Kerala’s captive elephants could expand if mandatory screening and biosecurity measures are not urgently implemented.
Nutritional inadequacy is another systemic issue. Economic pressures within the temple and festival ecosystem often translate into suboptimal feeding regimes. Poor nutrition weakens immune responses, lowering the infectious dose required for TB to establish and spread.
Compounding these challenges is a widespread lack of awareness among elephant owners and handlers regarding TB transmission and prevention. Clear, enforceable biosecurity protocols—covering quarantine, treatment, and movement restrictions for TB-positive animals—are largely absent or inconsistently applied. Without such measures, even identified cases pose an ongoing risk to other elephants and to humans.
”As an animal rights and welfare activist, I have personally witnessed the post-mortem of an elephant affected by tuberculosis, and it was deeply distressing. The extent of internal damage revealed the severe and prolonged suffering this animal endured—far beyond what most people realize. Seeing such devastation in an animal of immense strength and dignity is heartbreaking,” explains Ambili Purackal, founder of DAYA, a Kerala-based NGO known for its proactive role in the state’s animal rights movement.
What makes this suffering even harder to accept is that it is largely the result of human exposure. Elephants do not face tuberculosis at these levels in the wild; they contract it through forced, prolonged contact with humans under stressful captive conditions that weaken their immunity. This is not just a veterinary concern but a moral one. These elephants are silent victims of preventable disease, and their suffering is a consequence of human neglect and systemic failure,” Ambili Purackal says.
Secondary and Less-Documented Risks
While human-to-elephant transmission remains the dominant concern, other pathways cannot be entirely dismissed. Interactions with domestic livestock or wildlife in shared environments may contribute to transmission chains, though this remains poorly documented in the Indian context. These ancillary risks further underscore the need for comprehensive epidemiological research.
A Convergence of Vulnerabilities
Taken together, the vulnerabilities facing Kerala’s captive elephants form a self-reinforcing cycle. Constant exposure to a human TB reservoir, chronic immune compromise driven by captivity-related stress and poor nutrition, and systemic failures in disease detection and control create ideal conditions for TB persistence.
Breaking this cycle will require a multi-layered public health approach—one that integrates routine screening, improved nutrition, handler health monitoring, and enforceable management protocols. Without such intervention, tuberculosis will remain a silent epidemic, exacting a slow but devastating toll on one of Kerala’s most culturally significant animal populations.
Silence, in this case, is not neutrality—it is risk.
What Needs to Change
Addressing tuberculosis among Kerala’s captive elephants requires coordinated action across animal welfare, public health, and governance. Experts and welfare workers interviewed by EdPublica point to the following urgent priorities:
1. Mandatory TB Screening
· Routine, standardised tuberculosis testing for all captive elephants
· Regular TB screening for mahouts, handlers, and caretakers
· Immediate isolation and treatment protocols for positive cases
2. Handler Health Monitoring
· Integration of mahout health checks into public TB control programmes
· Confidential diagnosis and treatment access to reduce stigma and underreporting
3. Improved Living Conditions
· Reduced chaining and confinement
· Adequate daily exercise and social interaction
· Limits on festival exposure, crowd density, and noise-related stress
4. Nutritional Standards
· Enforced minimum nutrition guidelines
· Regular veterinary audits to ensure immune-supportive diets
5. Biosecurity and Movement Controls
· Quarantine protocols for newly acquired or transferred elephants
· Restrictions on inter-district or inter-state movement of TB-positive animals
6. Transparent Reporting and Oversight
· Publicly accessible data on TB cases and outcomes
· Independent audits of temple and private elephant management practices
7. Interdepartmental Coordination
· Formal collaboration between forest, animal husbandry, and public health departments
· Recognition of TB in captive elephants as a One Health issue—linking human, animal, and environmental health
Some sources in this investigation have requested anonymity due to professional or personal safety concerns. Their identities are known to EdPublica and their statements have been independently verified.
Climate & Environment
Global Ecosystem Restoration Progress Falls Short of 2030 Targets, UN Report Warns
Ecosystem restoration efforts are expanding across the world, but progress remains insufficient to meet global biodiversity targets for 2030, according to a new report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD).
The report, Restoration Progress Report: Nature’s Comeback – Scaling Ecosystem Restoration for People and Planet, documents approximately 252 million hectares of terrestrial, freshwater, marine and coastal ecosystems under restoration across 149 countries in 2026. Despite this progress, the report warns that implementation must triple to achieve the global commitment to restore 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems by 2030.
Countries have collectively committed to restoring approximately one billion hectares through national plans, international agreements and regional initiatives. However, the documented restoration area represents only about a quarter of these commitments, highlighting the gap between political ambition and action on the ground.
The assessment comes as the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030) enters its second half. It examines restoration progress across different ecosystems, the financial resources required and the measures needed to accelerate recovery.
The report identifies land-use change, agricultural expansion, deforestation, overexploitation of natural resources, pollution and climate change as major drivers of ecosystem degradation. These pressures frequently interact, making recovery more difficult and expensive.
More than 1.56 billion hectares of land, representing over 15 per cent of the global land surface, are estimated to be degraded. Between 2015 and 2019, at least 100 million hectares of previously healthy and productive land were degraded annually. Agricultural lands account for more than 60 per cent of global land degradation, with an estimated 480 million hectares of cropland and 560 million hectares of pastureland affected.
Freshwater and marine ecosystems lag behind
Restoration progress varies considerably across ecosystem types. Terrestrial ecosystems account for the largest share of documented restoration, with approximately 232 million hectares under restoration. However, this still represents only about half of the 469 million hectares estimated to be required to meet the 2030 restoration target for terrestrial ecosystems.
Freshwater ecosystems face a substantially larger implementation gap. Only around 11 million hectares are documented as being under restoration, representing approximately 4.5 per cent of the estimated 244 million hectares required to meet the target.
Marine and coastal ecosystems have approximately 5.7 million hectares under restoration, equivalent to around 23 per cent of their estimated 25 million-hectare target.
The report notes that freshwater and marine ecosystems are among the most rapidly degrading environments, despite their importance in supporting biodiversity, food security and livelihoods. Incomplete monitoring and inconsistent national reporting also make it difficult to establish the full extent of restoration activities in these ecosystems.
Funding gap threatens restoration ambitions
Financing remains another major obstacle. Global restoration investments reached approximately $64 billion in 2022, but annual funding needs to increase to $296 billion by 2030 and $448 billion by 2050 to meet restoration requirements.
The report calls for greater public investment alongside private and blended financing mechanisms. It also stresses the need to redirect financial flows and subsidies that encourage unsustainable resource use and contribute to environmental degradation.
Beyond ecological benefits, restoration could generate significant employment opportunities. The report estimates that more than one million green jobs have been created through the World Restoration Flagships, while ecosystem restoration has the potential to generate over 32 million additional jobs globally by 2030.
Vibrant green moss and plants beside a gently flowing stream in a natural setting.Image credit:Pexels
It also highlights the potential of restoration to address climate change and biodiversity loss. Research cited in the assessment indicates that restoring just 15 per cent of global priority areas could capture and store carbon equivalent to 30 per cent of the total increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since the Industrial Revolution, while helping avoid 60 per cent of species extinctions.
The report emphasises that successful restoration requires more than increasing the area of land brought under recovery. It calls for greater participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, recognition of land rights, stronger monitoring systems and restoration strategies that address entire landscapes and ecosystems.
As the 2030 deadline approaches, the assessment identifies three priorities for accelerating progress: building a broader global movement for restoration, strengthening political commitment and developing the technical capacity needed to implement and monitor restoration programmes.
It concludes that restoration targets must translate into sustained ecological recovery rather than remain numerical commitments. Preventing further degradation and ensuring that restored ecosystems continue to recover will be essential to securing long-term benefits for biodiversity, climate resilience and human well-being.
Earth
Greener Forests, Weaker Carbon Sinks? Study Finds Declining Productivity in Northeast India
A 24-year satellite-based study finds that Northeast India’s forests are experiencing declining carbon productivity despite relatively stable canopy cover, highlighting how rising atmospheric dryness could weaken their capacity to absorb and retain carbon.
Forests in Northeast India are showing signs of a weakening capacity to accumulate carbon despite maintaining relatively stable canopy cover, according to a study published in Ecological Indicators in October 2026. The research suggests that increasing vegetation greenness does not necessarily indicate stronger carbon sinks, highlighting the need to assess forest health beyond satellite measurements of green cover.
Titled Are Greener Forests Stronger Carbon Sinks? Rising Vapour Pressure Deficit Instigates Greening-Productivity Decoupling in a Tropical Biodiversity Hotspot in India, the study examined forest carbon dynamics across Northeast India using 24 years of satellite-derived data from 2001 to 2024.
Researchers analysed three indicators: Leaf Area Index (LAI), Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) and Net Primary Productivity (NPP). These measurements helped assess changes in forest canopy structure, photosynthetic activity and the amount of carbon retained in plant biomass after accounting for plant respiration.
The analysis found that while canopy structure remained relatively stable and gross primary productivity increased modestly by 1.76 grams of carbon per square metre annually, net primary productivity declined by 0.83 grams of carbon per square metre annually across much of the region.
The researchers identified a divergence between canopy greenness and carbon productivity across approximately 40% of forested areas. A separate divergence between photosynthetic activity and net productivity was observed across around 30% of the region.
These findings indicate that forests can maintain their green appearance without achieving corresponding gains in carbon accumulation.
Atmospheric dryness emerges as a major factor
The study identified rising Vapour Pressure Deficit (VPD) as a primary driver of declining forest productivity. VPD measures the difference between the amount of moisture the atmosphere can hold and the moisture it actually contains. Higher VPD indicates greater atmospheric demand for water, increasing stress on vegetation.
Under such conditions, plants may close their stomata, the small pores on their leaves, to reduce water loss. This also restricts the intake of carbon dioxide required for photosynthesis, potentially reducing the amount of carbon absorbed by vegetation.
The researchers also identified a major shift in forest carbon functioning beginning around 2012. Their analysis suggests that the relationship between canopy structure, photosynthesis and net carbon accumulation has weakened over time.
The findings are particularly significant for Northeast India, which the study identifies as a climatically sensitive biodiversity hotspot containing approximately one-third of India’s forest carbon.
Earlier research points to similar concerns
The findings build on earlier research published in Scientific Reports in December 2023, which examined vegetation productivity across India between 2001 and 2019.
That study found that India’s Leaf Area Index increased by 6.75% in consistently forested areas, while Net Primary Productivity declined by 6.19%. Northeast India, the Western Ghats and parts of Peninsular India emerged as important regions experiencing declining productivity.
The 2023 research associated these changes with rising temperatures, which can reduce photosynthesis and increase plant respiration beyond certain temperature thresholds.
Another study examining a semi-deciduous forest in Kaziranga, published in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology in 2022, demonstrated how carbon exchange varies with seasonal and climatic conditions. It found that the forest functioned as a carbon sink during the pre-monsoon season but as a carbon source during winter in the observed study period.
Image of a dense forest alongside a flowing river.Image credit:Pexels
Together, these studies highlight the importance of examining forest productivity, atmospheric conditions and seasonal carbon exchange rather than relying solely on changes in green cover.
The latest research does not suggest that Northeast India’s forests are structurally collapsing. Instead, it points to a less visible change in their ecological functioning, with implications for forest carbon accounting and climate-resilient forest management.
The findings underline the need for monitoring systems that combine satellite observations with measurements of atmospheric stress and carbon productivity to better understand how tropical forests respond to a warming climate.
Earth
252 Million Hectares Under Restoration Across 149 Countries, but UN Warns of 2030 Target Gap
A UN report finds that 252 million hectares across 149 countries are under ecosystem restoration. However, increased investment and accelerated action are needed to meet global restoration targets by 2030.
Global efforts to restore degraded ecosystems have reached 252 million hectares across 149 countries, generating more than one million green jobs. However, a new United Nations assessment warns that restoration efforts remain insufficient to meet international biodiversity targets by 2030, calling for a more than fourfold increase in annual investment.
The findings are presented in the Restoration Progress Report: Nature’s Comeback – Scaling Ecosystem Restoration for People and Planet, released on October 29, 2026, by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
The report provides the first comprehensive global assessment of progress towards commitments to restore approximately one billion hectares of degraded ecosystems. These commitments are linked to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls for at least 30 per cent of degraded terrestrial, freshwater, marine and coastal ecosystems to be under effective restoration by 2030.
According to the assessment, the 252 million hectares currently documented under restoration represent the largest recorded global restoration effort. However, this accounts for only 34 per cent of the indicative global benchmark associated with the 2030 target.
Freshwater and marine ecosystems lag behind
The report identifies considerable differences in restoration progress across regions and ecosystem types. Asia accounts for the largest share of documented restoration, with 192.2 million hectares, followed by Africa with 36.3 million hectares and Europe with 9.1 million hectares. North and Central America account for 5.8 million hectares, South America 5.4 million hectares and Oceania 3.2 million hectares.
However, the report cautions that these figures should not be interpreted as a ranking of restoration performance, as they also reflect differences in regional land area and monitoring and reporting capacities.
Restoration of terrestrial ecosystems has reached nearly half of the global 2030 target. China reports the largest terrestrial restoration area, with 127.4 million hectares, while substantial restoration activities have also been documented in Mongolia and Kazakhstan.
Progress remains considerably slower in freshwater, marine and coastal ecosystems, despite these environments experiencing rapid degradation.
A river along the side of a dense forest. Image credit: Pexels
The assessment documents 11 million hectares of freshwater ecosystems under restoration across 62 countries and 5.7 million hectares of marine and coastal ecosystems across 46 countries. The report also notes that limited monitoring and reporting may mean that actual restoration activities in these ecosystems are higher than the documented figures.
Meanwhile, the share of countries reporting implemented wetland restoration or rehabilitation programmes has increased from 8 per cent in 2022 to 54 per cent.
Restoration financing needs to increase fourfold
Insufficient investment remains a major obstacle to achieving global restoration commitments. The report estimates that annual restoration financing must increase from US$64 billion to US$296 billion by 2030, representing more than a fourfold rise.
Agroforestry requires the largest estimated annual investment, at US$87 billion, followed by restorative reforestation at US$52 billion, peatland restoration at US$44 billion and seagrass restoration at US$28 billion.
The report identifies employment generation as another potential benefit of scaling up restoration. While more than one million green jobs have already been associated with restoration initiatives, increased global investment could generate up to 32 million additional jobs by 2030.
It also highlights the potential contribution of ecosystem restoration to climate mitigation and biodiversity protection. Research cited in the assessment indicates that restoring just 15 per cent of global priority areas could capture and store 30 per cent of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions released since the Industrial Revolution and help prevent 60 per cent of projected species extinctions.
The report further identifies the participation and leadership of Indigenous Peoples and local communities as essential to ensuring long-term restoration outcomes. Secure land rights, stronger monitoring systems and sustained political commitment are among the priorities identified.
With five years remaining in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the assessment calls on governments to move beyond isolated restoration projects towards coordinated, long-term programmes that address the underlying causes of ecosystem degradation.
It emphasises that the 2030 targets should serve as a milestone in the restoration process rather than its conclusion, as ecological recovery requires sustained action and investment beyond the end of the decade.
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