Abused elephant 'cries' during rescue

An elephant held and tortured for 50 years has cried while being unfettered by conservationists in India.

Raju, assumedly poached from the wild as a calf and sold as a working elephant, has had more than 30 owners, The Independent wrote on Monday.

He was spotted by rescuers at Wildlife SOS while being used as begging elephant on the streets of Allahabad exactly a year before the rescue.

Raju’s tail appeared almost bare since his owner ripped off the hair so bundles of it can be sold to pilgrims as good luck charm.

“His owner, a drug addict, would tell pilgrims at religious sites his elephant could ‘bless’ them in exchange for money.”

Volunteers say the elephant had been beaten and was ‘dangerously underweight’ as he was made to starve and resort to eating paper and plastic.

“He was kept chained outside with no shelter or rest, even in the summer heat.”

The animal suffers constant pain because of ‘chronic wounds and arthritis’ inflicted by the chains and spikes around his legs.

Conservationists armed with a court order by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and aided by police as well as state officials, freed Raju from his abusive owner on Thursday night.

The owner, aware of the volunteers, tied him more chains and blocked the road to obstruct the rescue lorry, but in vain.

“The mahout tried to make the elephant charge by shouting commands,” Kartick Satyanarayan, the charity’s co-founder, told The Independent.

“We stood our ground and refused to back down – and as we did so, tears began to roll down Raju's face.

“Some no doubt were due to the pain being inflicted by the chains, but he also seemed to sense that change was coming.

“It was as if he felt hope for the first time in a very long time.”

Experts toiled for hours to gain Raju’s trust by feeding him fruits and eventually managed to get him into the van which drove him to Conservation and Care Centre in Mathura, a sanctuary for rescued animals.

“Raju was covered in deep wounds from the spikes, as well as the spear used to discipline him and abscesses from his chains,” says the report.

Photos: Press People

Photos: Press People

After a couple of days, the chains bounding him were removed by volunteers in an effort that took 45 ‘painstaking’ minutes.

“The team was astounded to see tears roll down his face during the rescue. It was so incredibly emotional for all of us,” said Pooja Binepal of Wildlife SOS UK.

“The poachers either slaughter the mother, or they drive the herd into traps that are small enough only for the babies to fall into. The mother cries for her baby for days after he's been stolen – it is a sickening trade.

“The calves are then tied and beaten until they submit to their owners – their spirits are effectively broken.”

Wildlife SOS, founded in India in 1995, is appealing for £10,000 of donations to help start the elephant’s new life.