Raju the elephant slave meets his new family for the first time
RAJU the elephant, who cried when shown freedom after 50 years of slavery, has been introduced to his new family.
RAJU the elephant, who stole the world’s heart when he was seen crying when shown freedom after 50 years of brutal treatment, has been introduced to his new family in a truly magical moment.
This week, footage of the male elephant went viral after he was released from the captivity in Uttar Pradesh in India and now it looks like the brave bull might get a happy ending.
Raju was today introduced to Phoolkali, the first member of what will be his new elephant family. The two met for the first time and enjoyed a meal together. Eventually they will run free within the conservation area and become a herd.
Phoolkali, meaning blooming flower, was also a rescued “begging elephant”, saved by Wildlife SOS two years ago.
It too was a dramatic rescue as the owners would not let her go and forceful action had to be taken. She had a huge abscess, caused from many beatings, on her head that took many months to heal.
RAJU’S STORY
For 50 years Raju the elephant was held in chains, beaten and abused — a pitiful sight with his legs bleeding from spiked shackles and living on handouts from passing tourists.
Day after day he was forced to hold out his trunk, begging for a few coins, on the streets of India — so hungry he’d eat plastic and paper to fill his empty stomach.
But last week, charity Wildlife SOS stepped in to save Raju from dying in his bonds in a daring midnight rescue operation, finally freeing him one minute into July 4, American independence day.
And incredibly, as the team moved in to save him, tears rolled down Raju’s face as though he wept in gratitude that he was finally being released.
“Elephants are not only majestic, but they are highly intelligent animals, who have been proven to have feelings of grief, so we can only imagine what torture for half a century has been like for him,” Wildlife SOS spokeswoman Pooja Binepal said.
She said very little was known about Raju’s early years but they believe he was poached from his mother as a young calf.
“The poachers either slaughter the mother, or they drive the herd into traps that are small enough only for the babies to fall into,” she said. “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.
“We discovered Raju’s case was particularly tragic. He’d been poached as a calf and then he has been sold on and sold on. Incredibly we believe he has had up to 27 owners — he’s been treated as a commodity every two years of his life.
“By the time we found him in July 2013 he was in a pathetic condition. He had no shelter at night, and was being used as a prop to beg from dawn until dusk from tourists visiting the sites of India.
“His nails are severely overgrown, he has abscesses and wounds because of the shackles and continually walking on a tarmac road has led to his foot pad overgrowing.”
HOW THE RESCUE UNFOLDED
On Thursday at midnight, a 10-strong team of vets and wildlife experts from Wildlife SOS were joined by 20 Forestry Department officers and six policemen to seize Raju in the Uttar Pradesh area of India.
It was exactly a year since the charity was alerted to Raju’s plight by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department in India.
A confiscation process had gone through the courts as Raju’s owner did not have any legal documents for his possession.
Once a court order was finally issued, a team led by Wildlife SOS founder Kartick Satyanarayan carried out two days of surveillance fearing Raju’s owner — or Mahout — could flee at the 11th hour.
“The chains around his legs had spikes which were cutting into his flesh and each time he moved pus would ooze out of wounds,” Mr Satyanarayan.
“Pain and brutality were all he knew. His cruel handler even tore out the hair from his tail to sell as good luck charms. The exploitation and abuse just had to stop.”
Raju’s owner tried to prevent the rescue.
“He began to shout commands to terrify Raju and try to provoke him.
“It created an incredibly dangerous situation as a bull elephant could snap a human like a tooth pick if he becomes afraid or angry,” Mr Satyanarayan.
“When that failed he then put a series of chains around his legs in an attempt to prevent us removing him — so viciously tight that were cutting into his legs.
“But 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.”
Once he was loaded on a truck and given additional sedation, a convoy escorted the five and a half tonne elephant, 350 miles to the charity’s Elephant Conservation and Care Centre at Mathura.
“Incredibly he stepped out of his truck and took his first step to freedom at one minute past midnight on July 4, which felt so extraordinarily fitting,” Mr Satyanarayan said.
“The other elephants in the sanctuary awoke from their sleep as we pulled in and came to have a look — it was an extraordinary moment.”
Raju was then fed bananas, banana leaves, mangoes, bread and biscuits and given water before the charity’s head wildlife vet Dr Yaduraj Khadpekar began the painstaking process of removing his shackles.
Raju finally witnessed human kindness as received emergency medical attention and was bathed at the weekend.
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