Wildlife charity calls for overhaul of 50-year-old law, although Carmarthenshire ashram says its elephants live in purpose-built facilities and are not tourist attractions

AN ASIAN elephant kept in Carmarthenshire has appeared on a new national map revealing more than 2,200 animals legally held under Britain’s dangerous wild animal licensing laws.

Data published by the Born Free Foundation lists one Asian elephant under Carmarthenshire County Council, making the county one of only four Welsh local authority areas shown as having licensed dangerous animals or applications under consideration.

The elephant is understood to be associated with Skanda Vale, the multi-faith religious community and ashram near Llanpumsaint.

However, Skanda Vale’s own website says three Asian elephants, named Valli, Lakshmi and Camela, currently live at the community.

Born Free’s published figures do not explain the difference. The charity warns that information supplied by councils may represent the maximum number permitted by a licence, the minimum number or the number present when the council responded.

Skanda Vale says the elephants live in a purpose-built barn, have access to nearby fields and are walked through the community’s woodland twice a day.

Four monks are said to work closely with the animals, accompanying them while they spend time outside and caring for their feeding, bathing and other daily needs.

The community stresses that the elephants are not a tourist attraction and visitors are not permitted to enter their barn. Photography is also prohibited at Skanda Vale.

Valli, the community’s original temple elephant, arrived in Wales from Sri Lanka in 1980 after reportedly being orphaned in the wild. Lakshmi and Camela formerly belonged to the Chipperfield Circus and later moved to France before being taken into Skanda Vale’s care.

No licensed animals recorded in Pembrokeshire

Born Free’s map records no animals currently licensed under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act in Pembrokeshire or Ceredigion.

Elsewhere in Wales, Denbighshire is listed as having 30 bison, while Monmouthshire has 12 bison and an application involving five ostriches.

An application to keep a Cuvier’s dwarf caiman is also recorded in Swansea.

Across Britain, the charity says more than 2,270 animals are licensed or subject to applications at 154 private addresses across 113 council areas.

They include 518 venomous snakes, 293 primates, 79 crocodiles, alligators and caimans, and 166 wild cats.

Animals listed across Britain include lions, tigers, cheetahs, wolves, lynx, cobras and rattlesnakes.

Born Free said the figures cover about 188 different species and subspecies, including 48 considered threatened with extinction.

The charity acknowledges that not all the animals are being kept as household pets. Some are held at sanctuaries, businesses, educational establishments or facilities involved in conservation work.

However, it believes many are being kept in domestic settings and has warned that the true number could be considerably higher because some dangerous species do not require a licence and others may be held illegally.

Law reaches its 50th anniversary

The Dangerous Wild Animals Act was introduced in 1976 following concerns about people keeping exotic and potentially dangerous animals.

Anyone seeking to keep a species covered by the legislation must obtain a licence from their local authority.

Councils must consider whether keeping the animal would pose a danger or nuisance to the public and whether its accommodation is suitable, secure and properly maintained.

Born Free claims the law has failed to keep pace with changes in the exotic animal trade, social media trends and modern understanding of animal welfare.

Chris Lewis, the charity’s captivity research and policy manager, said the legislation was originally intended to make private ownership of dangerous wild animals an exceptional occurrence.

He said: “Yet 50 years on we find ourselves in a situation where nearly ten times more venomous snakes are kept in British homes than British zoos.

“These animals are still wild, still dangerous, yet still legal to keep.

“The Government must urgently review and reform the laws governing the trade in, and keeping of, wild animals as pets.”

Born Free founder patron Dame Joanna Lumley said wild animals should not be kept as pets, regardless of how well owners believed they could care for them.

The charity is calling for ministers to review the Dangerous Wild Animals Act and the wider laws governing the sale, breeding and private ownership of exotic species.

It wants tighter controls, stronger enforcement and measures aimed at protecting animal welfare, conservation, public health and safety.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said anyone wishing to keep an animal covered by the Act must be carefully vetted.

The spokesperson said licences imposed strict conditions governing how animals must be housed and cared for.

Carmarthenshire County Council says licensed animal establishments receive regular visits and are required to comply with their licensing conditions.

Welsh businesses, universities and NHS organisations will be able to develop new technologies and partnerships through the Horizon Europe programme

WALES has secured more than £700,000 in European funding to support the development of new digital healthcare technologies.

The Welsh Government has joined the UNITE European Digital Health Valleys project, marking what ministers say is Wales’ first European Union grant agreement since Brexit.

The funding has been awarded through Horizon Europe, the EU’s main research and innovation programme, which the UK formally rejoined as an associated country in 2024.

Welsh businesses, universities, health boards and innovation organisations will be encouraged to work with partners across Europe to design, test and introduce new digital healthcare products and services.

The programme will focus on major challenges facing health services across Europe, including ageing populations, staff shortages and increasing pressure on frontline services.

Organisations in Wales are now being urged to begin developing potential projects and establishing international partnerships ahead of future funding opportunities.

Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy Adam Price said the agreement would support economic growth while helping NHS Wales adopt new technologies.

He said innovation-led growth, stronger international relationships and improvements to public services were central to the Welsh Government’s economic productivity plans.

Mr Price said: “This major initiative will deliver on all those fronts, with a focus on addressing shared healthcare challenges such as the needs of ageing populations and workforce pressures by connecting industry, healthcare providers, academia and the public sector.”

UNITE brings together regions from across Europe with the aim of creating a connected digital health ecosystem.

The network will allow technology companies, healthcare providers, universities and public bodies to collaborate on the development and deployment of new systems.

As a partner region, Wales will gain access to digital health organisations and potential research partners across Europe.

Ministers believe this could help Welsh organisations compete for further research and development funding while strengthening the country’s position within the international digital health market.

Mr Price added: “As a UNITE partner region, Wales will play a central role in shaping a new digital health innovation ecosystem and gain access to a network of European digital health regions.

“This will open up new opportunities for our most innovative sector organisations to collaborate internationally and access funding.

“Crucially, this will support the adoption of innovative solutions for NHS Wales while strengthening Wales’ position in the global digital health market.”

A free webinar explaining the programme and future opportunities will be held on Thursday, September 3.

Businesses and organisations can also seek further advice through Business Wales.

Police examine care given to Valdo Calocane before he killed three people in Nottingham

THE MENTAL health trust responsible for treating Haverfordwest-raised Valdo Calocane before he killed three people in Nottingham is now the subject of a corporate manslaughter investigation.

Northumbria Police has begun examining the care and treatment provided to Calocane by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust between 2020 and 2022.

The outside force is conducting the investigation on behalf of Nottinghamshire Police, whose own contact with Calocane before the attacks has been scrutinised during a separate public inquiry.

The trust has confirmed that it will cooperate fully with detectives.

Calocane grew up in Haverfordwest after moving to Britain with his family and attended the former Sir Thomas Picton School, now part of Haverfordwest High VC School.

He later moved to Nottingham, where he studied mechanical engineering at the University of Nottingham.

In the early hours of June 13, 2023, Calocane fatally stabbed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar as they walked home after celebrating the end of their university exams.

He then killed 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates before stealing his van and deliberately driving into three pedestrians, leaving them seriously injured.

Calocane pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and three counts of attempted murder.

He was sentenced in January 2024 to an indefinite hospital order and is being held at a high-security psychiatric hospital.

The decision to investigate the NHS trust represents a significant escalation in attempts to establish whether the deaths resulted not only from individual errors, but from serious organisational and management failures.

There has been no decision to prosecute the trust, and the opening of an investigation does not mean that any criminal offence has been proven.

Under corporate manslaughter legislation, prosecutors would need to establish that the way an organisation’s activities were managed caused a death and amounted to a gross breach of a duty of care.

The involvement of senior management must also have been a substantial part of the alleged breach. An organisation convicted of the offence can receive an unlimited fine, although individuals cannot be prosecuted for corporate manslaughter itself.

Repeated contact with mental health services

Calocane was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and had repeatedly come into contact with mental health professionals and the police during the three years before the attacks.

He was sectioned four times while under the care of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Despite concerns about violence, his refusal to take medication and his repeated failure to attend appointments, Calocane was eventually discharged from specialist mental health services and referred back to his GP.

A statutory public inquiry has heard that members of the Early Intervention in Psychosis team had effectively “lost” contact with him.

An independent NHS England investigation published in February 2025 identified clear failings in the care and treatment provided to Calocane.

NHS England apologised to the victims’ families and said the system, including the health service, had got the case wrong.

Mental health trusts across England were subsequently instructed to review their procedures, including policies which allowed seriously ill patients to be discharged simply because they had stopped attending appointments.

The police investigation is separate from the Nottingham Inquiry, which is being chaired by former senior judge Her Honour Deborah Taylor.

The inquiry’s main evidence hearings took place between February and June this year, during which evidence was heard about risk assessments, communication between agencies, decisions surrounding Calocane’s treatment and the failure to arrest him on an outstanding warrant.

Closing submissions are scheduled to be heard on September 8 and 9, with the inquiry’s final findings and recommendations expected in 2027.

Emma Webber, the mother of Barnaby Webber, described the corporate manslaughter investigation as the “beginning of the reckoning”.

She said the development should send shockwaves through public services and called for everyone involved to cooperate with complete candour and transparency.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: “Northumbria Police, acting on behalf of Nottinghamshire Police, have begun an investigation into matters relating to the care and treatment of Valdo Calocane.

“We know how important the independent inquiry and police investigation are for the affected families, the survivors and our local communities.

“We will, of course, be co-operating fully with Northumbria Police.”