Green Minute News:
Every year on September 22, the world comes together to celebrate Elephant Appreciation Day. The Elephant Care and Conservation Centre at Mathura wore a festive look and dedicated this day to cherish and recognize these magnificent mammals which are an integral part of our ecosystem.
Wildlife SOS, a non-profit conservation organization marked this occasion with its global virtual event the ‘Ele Earth Walk’ and a grand fruit feast was held for resident elephants at its sanctuary in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. This initiative will go on until 7th October.
The Mathura Sanctuary is the first and only Elephant Conservation and Care Centre was set up in 2010 in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department. The Centre’s primary objective was to rehabilitate severely abused and exploited elephants.
The Centre is now home to over 30 rescued elephants and is a living, breathing conservation education platform to change public perception to support elephant conservation. All elephants at ECCC were rescued from extreme distress.
Some jumbos were privately owned and had a cruel history of being used for begging, while others spent a lifetime in captivity and confined to temples or were being coerced to perform in circuses.
Geeta Seshamani, Co-founder and Secretary, Wildlife SOS said, “All these elephants have been rescued from a traumatic past and now remain under our long-term care. Our caregivers and staff put in a lot of time and hard work to prepare such a grand fruit feast for the elephants.”
ELE EARTH WALK
The ‘Ele Earth Walk’ encourages participants to walk, advocating against riding elephants while reducing their carbon footprint, and improving their health. The event aims to raise funds for rescued elephants at Wildlife SOS.
People of all ages are encouraged to participate, and since it is a virtual race, the event presents a chance for participants to connect with wildlife supporters worldwide.
RIGHT OF PASSAGE TO WILDLIFE
Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO, stated, “One of the core ideas behind Elephant Earth Walk is that walking should be a “Right of Passage” for all wild animals. The Ele Earth Walk initiative is our way to spread more awareness about that right.”
Elephants being the largest land animal on the planet, they definitely have a claim to that right. No longer forced to bear heavy loads, or walk on hot pavements, these majestic creatures are finally able to spend their days happily at the Centre, with frequent baths, a nutritious diet, and good veterinary care.
The Mathura Sanctuary is full of natural vegetation with enough open fields around for their daily walks and several trees to scratch themselves against, thus making it closest to the natural habitat of the elephants. Water pools have been provided to the elephants with free access for them to bathe and play.
JUMBO FRUIT FEAST
To mark this special occasion, a massive fruit feast was held for its resident pachyderms at the Elephant Conservation and Care Centre which is a sanctuary for rescued elephants.
The entire herd consisting of female elephants – Emma, Maya, Phoolkali, Chanchal, Bijli and Laxmi, and male elephants Sanjay and Suraj, gorged on the ‘jumbo’ fruit feast.
The lavish spread of watermelons, papayas, sugarcane, bananas and pumpkins was a delightful treat for the resident pachyderms, making their day even more special.
(PHOTO CREDIT: ALL IMAGES EXCEPT 5 ARE FROM WILDLIFE SOS)