ANKARA

A court in Bangladesh on Monday issued a ruling to stop cruelty on elephants in the name of training, local media reported.

A two-member bench of the High Court in Dhaka, headed by Justice Naima Haider, also stayed the issuance of new licenses and renewal of old ones for rearing elephants and other wild animals, asking: “Why it should not be declared illegal,” local English daily Dhaka Tribune reported.

The court passed the order on a petition filed by a local animal welfare group against the “inhumane” treatment of captive elephants in Bangladesh.

Squeezed by inner anger and pain, abused elephants have long been involved in incidents leading to the loss of lives and property in residential localities.

Animal rights groups have long been opposing the licensing of elephants for use in private circuses, especially considering the critically endangered status of the Asian elephant, according to a Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a global body involved in nature conservation.