Unlike another Laxmi the elephant who was rescued by Wildlife SOS India in 2013, whose story had a happy ending, this Laxmi the elephant, also a “begging elephant” held captive at the hands of cruel owners, (an “illegally held” elephant at that) has died.
This petition, to bring attention to rampant elephant abuse & to save other Indian elephants from such cruelty and torture, is being initiated by Wildlife SOS.
The petition, called “This Elephant was Starved to Death — Demand Justice!” will be presented to the “Chief Wildlife Warden – Bihar”
& can be accessed here: SIGN PETITION
Laxmi, the 30 year old female Indian elephant, who most likely never knew the life of an elephant (captive elephants are almost always seized as baby elephants through poaching in the wild) succumbed to a lifetime of cruelty, beatings & starvation in the Indian state of Bihar where the flagrant abuse of begging elephants & temple elephants is well known. See: “Elephants Are Tortured in India For Amusement, Say Conservationists”
Wildlife SOS India witnessed such cruelty in the extreme, even more than they could imagine, as representatives of their Elephant Conservation & Care Centre had been able to spend a day with Laxmi the elephant, “the day before she died“.
To say that looking at a skin and bones elephant struggling to remain upright, and crying out in pain, was shocking is the biggest understatement of all times.
Read the full account of the day before Laxmi the elephant died at “JUSTICE FOR LAXMI ELEPHANT – STARVED, BEATEN AND KILLED IN BIHAR!”
It is too late for Laxmi but to say it is too late for the other abused captive elephants in India is to be complicit to the act of cruelty against wildlife (and a protected endangered species – the Indian elephant – at that). To know and do nothing about the suffering of these abused captive elephants is just as wrong.
“Founder of Wildlife SOS, Geeta Seshamani said: ‘It breaks our hearts to know we could not reach Laxmi in time, but we believe that she deserves justice even if she never saw a single day of freedom.
‘Such illegal trafficking, neglect, and severe abuse of elephants is intolerable, and a precedent must be set.'” –Alex Green The Daily Mail Online
Image: CC Flickr: elephant drawing “soft pink elephant” by ericbeaupere
STAND BY YOUR ELEPHANT! This Elephant was Starved to Death — Demand Justice!
SIGN Elephant PETITION here
See video & more “The last hours of a gentle giant tortured to death: Shocking video shows elephant’s agony after it had been abused and starved by illegal traffickers” by Alex Green at The Daily Mail
“Skin sagged over her bony frame and her legs caved inward, no longer able to support the weight of her body.”
Learn more about elephant abuse in India at ElephantSpokenHere.com: “We Have to Release Them. We Have to Release Them. We Have to Release Them. Liz Jones & the Elephants” Part 1.
Image: CC Flickr: “soft pink elephant” by ericbeaupere
Thank you, for all you do, WildlifeSOS India