70-Year-Old Elephant Who Spent Her Life in Chains as Tourist Attractions Is Finally Free

Gajraj is finally getting to enjoy retirement.

The 70-year-old elephant was the first patient at Wildlife SOS‘ recently opened elephant hospital — India’s first elephant hospital and one of few in the world.

Here, the hospital’s dedicated staff worked to help erase the trauma from Gajraj’s 50 years as a tourist attraction. Before being rescued and brought to the hospital, the senior elephant spent a good part of her life in chains at a temple, where guests paid to ride on her back. Working in these conditions caused Gajraj to develop wounds and abscesses on her feet from standing for hours in one place and from walking on hard pavement.

Those painful memories are a thing of the past. At Wildlife SOS’ elephant hospital, not only did Gajraj get the care she needed, she also got the freedom she deserved.

The hospital is able to provide top-of-the-line care for Gajraj and others like her at its 10,000-sq.-ft. facility, which is equipped with India’s only elephant ambulance, 24-hour inpatient care and diagnostics, CAT scan machines, laser treatments equipment, and blood and chemistry analyzers.

This dedication to treating and caring for the world’s elephants aligns with Wildlife SOS’ overall mission: ending the tourism practice of riding elephants in India and protecting all of the country’s animals.

Along with building India’s first elephant hospital, Wildlife SOS works to achieve this goal through its 10 wildlife sanctuaries and centers throughout India, an anti-poaching wildlife crime enforcement unit and one of the world’s busiest 24-hour wildlife hotlines.

Wildlife SOS hopes Gajraj is the first of many elephants still stuck in India’s tourism trade that will be rescued, brought to the hospital for treatment and then moved to a sanctuary for a freer, happier life.

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India’s first & only elephant hospital is ‘illegal’, says Central Zoo Authority

Central Zoo Authority says elephant hospital run by NGO never took permission. NGO claims it doesn’t need CZA permission.

New Delhi: Weeks after India’s first elephant hospital opened in Mathura, much to the joy of animal activists and tourists, a central regulatory body has said it is “illegal and not permissible for operation” and recommended the NGO running it be prosecuted.

In a notice sent to the Uttar Pradesh government on 30 November, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has said: “The Elephant Conservation and Care Centre, Mathura, is established without obtaining prior permission of this authority and operating without obtaining recognition by this authority.

“Therefore, the said facility is illegal and not permissible for operation.”

The facility is owned and run by NGO Wildlife SOS, and is equipped with facilities such as wireless digital X-Ray, thermal imaging, ultrasonography, tranquilisation devices and quarantine facilities.

Prosecution recommended

Soon after the Mathura centre opened last month, some animal rights activists are said to have complained to the CZA regarding the alleged violations of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Recommending that the NGO be prosecuted for the aforementioned “illegality”, the CZA has advised the Chief Wildlife Warden of Uttar Pradesh to take necessary action in the matter.

“Further, the Chief Wildlife Warden, Uttar Pradesh is advised to get the allegations raised in the complaints enquired and also take prosecution action under Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 against the operator of the Elephant Conservation and Care Centre, Mathura for its illegal operation in violation of Section 38-H(1A) and 38-H(1) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972,” the notice said.

“Also, a report on compliance be sent to the office of the Central Zoo Authority.”

Also read: Mathura hospital to give elephants a real healing touch

Opposite points of view

Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of Wildlife SOS, denied the allegations, arguing that the notice is a result of “some confusion”. He pointed out that the CZA is only a regulatory authority for zoos and rescue centres, and that the centre in Mathura is neither.

“What we have established in Mathura is an elephant camp, wherein elephants are housed, provided care and medical treatment,” said Satyanarayan, who served as a CZA member from 2007 to 2017.

“There are elephant camps across the country and none of them are recognised by the CZA…Then why this particular camp?”

Further, adding that at least two inspector generals of forests from the environment ministry in the central government had congratulated Wildlife SOS for the camp in writing when it opened, Satyanarayan said: “Surely, two departments of the central government cannot be saying opposite things. Also, if our facility was illegal, they wouldn’t be writing congratulatory letters to us.”

The Director General of Forests in the central government, Siddhanta Das, agreed with him. CZA, he told ThePrint, does not have authority over elephant camps and is responsible for regulation of zoos alone.

However, D.N. Singh, member secretary of the CZA, said that under the Wildlife Protection Act, any facility which houses animals for more than 30 days is deemed a rescue centre under law, and therefore needs CZA permission to function.

“If you have kept elephants for more than 30 days in captivity, you have to be recognised by CZA,” he said.

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