The month of April marked yet another milestone for Wildlife SOS since the launch of our Circus Elephant campaign in 2015. Our team of experts and veterinarians embarked on an epic journey to rescue our 8th circus elephant – Rhea and bring her home to our elephant haven in Mathura. After spending nearly 53 years as a performing elephant where she would be tied up in confined spaces, restricted by heavy chains and tight ropes that dug painfully into her legs, we were determined to free Rhea and give her the life she truly deserved.
The 2100 km journey from Tamil Nadu to the Elephant Conservation and Care centre in Mathura was far from being an easy one but was definitely worth every moment, as Rhea can now put her traumatic past behind her and live a free life with her long lost sisters Mia and Sita.
Following her much awaited homecoming and heart-warming reunion with her sisters Mia and Sita, we received a lot of interesting queries and concerns regarding Rhea and her journey to the Elephant Conservation and Care Centre from our wonderful supporters, who have been with us at every step of the way. The 3rd edition of our Webinar provided an ideal platform for our Elephant Campaign Manager, Ms. Rhea Lopez to share her experience of the entire rescue journey.
In the first half of the talk, our eager listeners were given an insight on the process of rescuing elephants, the struggles and stress involved in the actual rescue, and the relief and joy that accompanies saving the lives of these remarkable animals. Ms. Lopez went on to describe how decades of abuse and ill-treatment had left Rhea elephant frail and tired and her weak legs with cracked toenails and swollen footpads, barely held her up.
The audience was enraptured by the stories about the road trip that proved to be quite the adventure for our amazing rescue team as well as for Rhea and the beautiful reunion with her sisters that followed.Having already rescued 21 elephants from illegal captivity and circuses, Wildlife SOS is no stranger to the hard work that goes into getting these animals to safety or the unsurpassable joy of having done so. With over 200 people from across the globe in attendance, the webinar was an absolute success with intriguing queries and series of concerns that Ms. Lopez was more than happy to resolve.
We truly enjoyed hosting this session and look forward to having further interactions with our awesome supporters.
In case you missed this one, you can listen to a recording by following this link. Stay updated on our activities by following our Facebook page, we’ll make sure to post an announcement whenever we do another Webinar or something similar, so you can tune in next time and get candid with the people saving your favourite elephants!
