Kumar Bahukhandi
World Animal Protection organized a protest event at Patrika Gate in Jaipur today to raise concerns about the continued mistreatment of captive elephants in Amer Fort and Haathi Gaon, Jaipur. A large number of people and volunteers participated in the event and engaged with the public to highlight the suffering of these elephants. During the event, many individuals took a pledge not to ride elephants during their travels and called on the Government of Rajasthan to end elephant rides.
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Save The Elephant Day protest by World Animal Protection at Patrika Gate in Jaipur on 16 April 2026 Photo credit: World Animal Protection
The event was organised in the wake of the death of a 70-year-old elephant named Chanchal in February 2026, who had been used in a photoshoot where she was painted pink by photographer Julia Buruleva. Although her death is believed to be unrelated to the photography event. Nonetheless, the shooting event raised major questions on ethics surrounding the treatment of animals, especially wild animals like elephants, that suffer from their incarceration in captivity.
“For years we have seen the unfortunate scene of captive elephants being paraded as props in Amer Fort for tourists, including foreign tourists, to the detriment of their health and welfare and it is high time this practice stopped,” says Gajender Kumar Sharma, Country Director, World Animal Protection in India. Numerous studies have repeatedly shown that the status quo on Amer Fort elephants is untenable and the need is imminent for them to be retired from the daily rides and given a satisfactory retirement in a wildlife friendly sanctuary for the rest of their lives.
Studies by Animal Welfare Board of India and Project Elephant of Ministry of Environment And Forests have shown the Amer Fort elephants show major distress due to their captive nature and that the way forward is by ending the elephant rides in Jaipur, in Amer Fort, Haathi Gaon and other venues where they still take place. In the wake of the photoshoot that has made news all over, it is amply clear and self evident that the elephant being painted with a scantily clad model woman on top was hardly the epitome or symbol of Indian culture that has respected the elephant with the status of National Heritage Animal of India.
Elephants are wild animals, who live sociably in the wild and display many human emotions like love, fear, bonding, sadness and mourning and they are deprived of these traits in captivity. Moreover the continued illegal trade in live elephants from certain parts of India to fuel the captive elephant industry in places like Jaipur give cause for concern for elephant conservation in the wild. We also witness retrogressive practices like elephant safaris in Kaziranga National Park in Assa and Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand. “Elephant rides across India must be brought to an end, and tourism activities involving captive elephants including those involving international visitors/tourists need to be strictly regulated. World Animal Protection urges the Government of Rajasthan, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and Project Elephant to take immediate action, including establishing a clear timeline for the retirement of elephants currently used for rides in Jaipur and across the country,” says Gajender Kumar Sharma, Country Director, World Animal Protection in India.
The demonstration in Jaipur, with active participation from volunteers and local residents alongside World Animal Protection staff, reflects a growing awareness that wild animals belong in the wild. Elephants are not entertainers, nor are they props for photographs in captive settings. Elephants deserve to live free. Wildlife belongs in the wild.
For more information please contact: Gajender Kumar Sharma
Email: gajenderksharma@worldanimalprotection.org.in
Phone: 9313333283
