Éléphants

At a time in her geriatric life when she required utmost care and attention, Sita would continue her arduous routine as a performing elephant for a circus. With no rest, exhaustion dominated most her day, and Sita could be seen swaying as she tried to sleep while standing. Sita would cower at the sight of […]

On the bustling streets of Delhi, infamous for its traffic, a person would be shocked to spot an ailing elephant timidly navigating through the cars. Amidst the glaring horns and the cacophony of the traffic, nobody could quite understand the trumpet of an elephant, and yet, nothing could be done to save her. Jasmine would

In 2015, Wildlife SOS saved four elephants that had suffered throughout their young, formative years being abused for the entertainment industry. The youngest of these four elephants was only six years old when we rescued her and we named her Peanut. Little Peanut would show signs of stereotypy and distress as she would constantly bob

Mia had lived most of her life chained to a filthy corner of a confined space with her companions, Rhea and Sita. As a circus elephant, Mia had to repeatedly undergo brutal training procedures to be able to perform unnatural tricks such as balancing a ball on her trunk or sit on her hind limbs.

For Rhea, life was a painful, monotonous cycle of being beaten into submission and starved to control her. She was abused as a circus elephant and would spend most of her day performing with a football for an. They were unaware and ignorant of Rhea’s painful life, which included undergoing brutal training to perform tricks.

For over six decades, Suzy’s health was neglected as she was lauded with ornamental garbs and paraded as a circus elephant. She was malnourished and emaciated, her petite structure overburdened with the pain and discomfort of her lost vision. Suzy spent most part of her life being brutally trained for the entertainment industry, restrained to

The brutality suffered by captive elephants abused for the tourism industry is clear in Asha’s case, who was forced to give joy rides in Rajasthan. Her frail stature balancing the overbearing weight of an iron carrier and the constant jab of a bull-hook led her to lose her balance on the cobbled roads leading up

Rajesh was rescued from an oppressive life as a performing elephant in a circus. When not performing, he lived tethered and confined in a concrete room with inadequate food and water, rendering him weak and emaciated. During the period of musth, when male elephants experience high levels of testosterone making them unpredictable, anxious and aggressive,

As a circus elephant, Maya was forced to perform unnatural tricks for the entertainment of people. She was made to balance on her hind legs at the crack of a whip and piercing blows of a bull-hook. When not performing, she would be tightly restrained to the concrete floor which severely affected her joints and