Asha is a female elephant aged approximately 46 years who has been used for elephant rides in Amber fort, Jaipur all her life. Once injured and forced to climb the steep trudge up the Amber fort she was sold to be a begging elephant. Adding to her pain and misery, she was later smuggled to Indore to a new owner with illegal documents who did not really give the care for an aged elephant’s needs. At the moment Asha has been shifted to the Indore Zoo and in a couple of hours will start her new journey towards a happy life with the herd of hope at the Elephant Conservation and Care Center.
Asha has been abused and tortured all her life and has abscesses on her body as well as a fresh wound on her face at the moment. The elbow joint of the front right leg of the elephant is stiff and the elephant is unable to bend the leg in that joint. This is making the elephant to limp and walk abnormally causing extreme discomfort to her. The elephant is also not able to lie down on the right side due to injured leg adding to her discomfort.
She has painful abscesses on both the hips which are caused by lying on hard surfaces continuously. On examination of ears, piercing holes were noticed on the ear folds, also below the temporal lobe, indicating the cruel and painful methods of training and handling.
The feet examination revealed severely overgrown toenails and foot pads. Severe toenail cracks were also observed in left front foot. The toenail cracks and overgrown toenails also need very long term care; tending and management to avoid serious problems in future such as toenail abscesses and tumors. The overall health of this elephant is very poor and she is not in a state to perform at all.
The injury and stiffness in the right front leg has almost caused permanent disability making the elephant handicapped. Further examinations such as x-rays of the joints are needed, to properly diagnose and treat the disability. If not taken care properly, this disability may create further serious, painful and fatal problems for the elephant such as arthritis and degenerative joint disease.
Her name ‘Asha’ means ‘HOPE’. Let’s join hands and give her some hope for a new life. She needs to retire now and to give her immediate treatment and lifetime care, we need funds. To care for Asha, please follow the link: https://wildlifesos.org/donate/
