PETA India Offers Mechanical Elephant for Telangana Muharram and Bonalu, Centre Halts Transfer of Unfit Live Elephant from Karnataka
Hyderabad: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has temporarily halted the transfer of an elephant named Roopavathi from Karnataka to Telangana due to concerns about her poor health. In response, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has publicly offered to fund and facilitate the use of a mechanical elephant for the upcoming Muharram and Bonalu processions. This initiative aims to allow devotees to continue their rituals without subjecting Roopavathi to the grueling processions and crowds.
Veterinary experts informed PETA India that Roopavathi is unfit for transportation and participation in events, showing signs of prolonged physical suffering. Her forelimbs exhibit arthritic changes, and she appears blind in one eye and generally visually impaired. Additionally, her flattened foot pads cause her pain and increase the risk of slipping on city roads.
Last month, PETA India met with officials from Telangana, including the minister for forest and environment, the principal secretary of environment and forest, the Telangana Waqf Board, and H.E.H. The Nizam’s Religious Trust. They offered to supply a life-size mechanical elephant for Muharram and Bonalu observances. The mechanical elephant, designed to have a realistic appearance and perform realistic functions, can effectively replicate the experience of using a real animal.
“The use of live elephants in processions causes the animals extreme physical and psychological stress and is therefore dangerous to humans, as the animals often become violent as a result,” said PETA India Senior Advocacy Officer Farhat Ul Ain. “PETA India urges authorities to immediately protect Roopavathi and the humans who may encounter her by sending her to a reputable sanctuary for care and replacing her use with a mechanical elephant. This would allow our cultural traditions and heritage to remain intact while enabling elephants to live with dignity and ensuring human safety.”
PETA India has already donated four life-size mechanical elephants to various temples in recognition of their decisions never to own or hire live elephants. These mechanical elephants are used to conduct safe, cruelty-free ceremonies, allowing real elephants to remain with their families in nature. The mechanical elephants can shake their heads, move their ears, swish their tails, and lift their trunks, ensuring safety and humane conduct of rituals. The only costs involved are for electricity and staff to accompany the mechanical elephants during public events.
PETA India, whose motto reads, in part, “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
Contact:
- Khushboo Gupta: 9910397382; KhushbooG@petaindia.org
- Hiraj Laljani: 9619167382; HirajL@petaindia.org
