NEW DELHI: An Indian elephant taken on an epic journey to a tycoon’s giant zoo is expected to return home after protests by the religious community she came from, officials said Wednesday, following a court battle over the animal’s welfare at the temple.
The story of the 36-year-old elephant called Madhuri reflects both the passion that some communities have for elephants in India — and the mind-boggling scale of the self-declared “world’s biggest wild animal rescue center.”
The elephant spent her adult life at a Jain monastery in Kolhapur in Maharashtra state — where campaigners from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India said she experienced “cruel and bleak living conditions.”
The often chained animal killed a monk in the temple in 2017 when she lashed out in frustration, and a court in 2024 ordered she be rehabilitated after a complex legal battle.
Madhuri was taken more than 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) to the Vantara Animal Rescue Center, run by Anant Ambani, son of the billionaire head of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani, arriving in July.
