New Delhi, July 14 - With incidents of elephants being shot at by Nepali security forces on the India-Nepal border, animal rights organisation PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) Tuesday appealed to External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna to ask his Nepali counterpart to check the brutality against the animals.

In a letter to the minister, PETA requested him to take up the matter with the Nepal Government and to urge them to keep the animals out of any conflict between the two sides.

'The India-Nepal border is a green area which has an elephant corridor where the elephants travel. Nepali security forces at the border have been injuring the animals who are seen on the route,' Jayasimha, campaign manager PETA India, told IANS.

'The elephants have been crossing this route for more than a thousand years and it has been genetically passed down to the elephants who use this path now. We need to work to protect the animals,' he said.

In the letter, PETA cited recent cases where elephant herds had been shot at on the border by the Nepal security forces.