Priyanka

PRIYANKA'S RESCUE STORY

Amidst loud car honks and narrow lanes of a city in Uttar Pradesh, a loud voice and a piercing bull-hook tells a majestic elephant like Priyanka on which next step to take. To add to her miseries, little kids tug at her tail and touch her trunk to see if this is a real elephant or not – what Priyanka has undergone is no less than psychological abuse that has permanently impaired her ability to trust. She is the rare example of a solitary female who does not like to be in the company of other elephants and can barely trust her surroundings. Her journey at the Wildlife SOS Elephant Conservation and Care Centre has been a gradual process as she only trusts her keeper’s reassuring voice. The only time that Priyanka unleashes her relaxed and playful side is when she goes inside the pool in her enclosure and spends hours at once splashing around water and even napping! Her exhausted limbs feel the relief each time that she goes into the pool as the buoyancy of the water takes the weight off her limbs. Priyanka would be spotted digging the mud in her enclosure and collecting some in her trunk to carefully examine what exactly the softness feels like beneath her tormented feet and bruised footpads and that was how she understood what a dust bath is! Our beloved, shy Priyanka has come a long way from her past to a point where we witness a little more of her true self each day.