In continents like Asia and Africa where elephants live out in the wild, the sad truth is that it’s not uncommon for these beautiful creatures to be mistreated. Elephants are very useful for humans, and some heartless people treat them as slaves, using them for tourism, manual labor, performances, processions, entertainment, and street begging. Often elephants will be taught to follow orders by methods involving pain, and when they’re not being used for their desired purpose they will face serious neglect, shut away from others with little food and water.
There are many amazing charities and volunteer centers that are helping to rescue these elephants and put an end to this horrific treatment, and today’s story follows one rescue center in particular. This center is Wildlife SOS, and one of their recent videos featuring Karma the elephant is one of the most touching we’ve ever seen.
Wildlife SOS is based in India, and they have a specific approach to saving the wildlife, including conservation and protection of wild populations and habitat, rescue of injured and displaced wildlife, and care for captive population. One thing the team is passionate about is rescuing abused elephants from captivity, and they share many of their rescues onto their YouTube channel.
They recently shared a video of a sweet elephant called Karma, as she made her way out of the trailer and towards freedom for the first time in her life. The video was captioned:
‘The gentle elephant named Karma experienced her first taste of freedom as she stepped off the ambulance and into the Wildlife SOS elephant hospital. She is blind and will get a comprehensive medical exam and treatment in the coming days, but you can see her tentatively feel her way step-by-step. Join us as we celebrate Karma’s smooth and successful rescue by our amazing and dedicated team!’
We can see the door to the trailer being lowered before two volunteers encourage the elephant to walk out. She must have been feeling very scared, as not only was she unable to see anything, but also, after spending a life in captivity it must be difficult to trust humans.
But the volunteers were kind and patient and helped to guide Karma out of the trailer. They used a bell to help her understand where she was walking, and within no time she was out of the trailer and heading toward the animal hospital. Here she will get the care that she needs, as well as being treated with love for the first time in her life.
The center is doing amazing work caring for the animals, and Kartick Satyanarayan, CEO & Co-Founder of Wildlife SOS, believes that it’s our duty to do our bit for the environment. He said,
“Humans have a duty to nature as we must give back and repay the debt. Protecting wildlife and forests is one way to do this.”
We couldn’t agree more! If you’d like to donate to Wildlife SOS and give your contribution during these challenging times, follow this link.
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