British zookeepers found out about an elephant named Raju living in Uttar Pradesh, India. They immediately went to help the animal. To free Raju, zookeepers had to endure a year of court proceedings.
The court sided with animal defenders only because the owner of the elephant did not have any documents confirming the origin of the animal and the right to own it. The defenders suspect that Raju was stolen from his mother when he was still a baby.
Elephants are specifically hunted in India. People build traps and drive herd towards it, only elephants can get into the trap, which are the main prey of humans. Animals caught in the trap are tied and beaten in order to submit to the will of the owner. Most likely, this is exactly how Raju ended up in the captivity of a human.
The first owner sold it, in total Raju was resold almost 30 times, the elephant changed owners every time and each of them “raised” the elephant in his own way. In the natural environment, elephants in Asia live about 70 years, in captivity their lifespan is greatly reduced, so it is surprising that Raju lived to be 60 years old.
“All his life, the elephant was in bad conditions and experienced cruelty. He would constantly be chained, they looked after him. When the chains were removed from him and he realized that his torture was over, real tears appeared in his eyes,” one of the animal rights activists, who was involved in the liberation of Raju, told the media.
After taking the elephant from the owner, they immediately took it to a safe place, put it in order and fed it. Now he is undergoing rehabilitation, which will take a lot of time.
