BRITS, South Africa (AP) -- A South African judge ruled that 30 young elephants had been treated cruelly and awarded temporary custody of them to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The elephants' plight had drawn international concern, igniting protests in Washington and London and even prompting the Spice Girls to appeal to President Nelson Mandela."This has become of public interest and is not private interest anymore," Judge Herman Glas said Wednesday in upholding his earlier ruling, made in October. The elephants' owner, animal exporter Riccardo Ghiazza, had asked the judge to reconsider that decision and let him keep the animals.
The elephants were snatched from their families from a game reserve in Botswana and were destined to be sold to zoos in Europe and to a safari park in China.
The animals were to be taken to three South African game reserves on Friday or Saturday, NSPCA executive director Marcelle French said.
Final custody will be decided later.