Despite the flow of time, the story of this magnificent elephant continues to touch the hearts of thousand animal lovers across the world. Because he genuinely cried when he was rescued, he was nicknamed “the crying elephant.” And the world cried with him as he cried.
Raju was just a calf when he was kidnapped from the wild by some “humans,” and he had been tortured constantly since that terrible day. For 50 years, the poor creature was chained and abused in ways we could never imagine. He’d had twenty-seven owners, but they all treated him like a money machine, beating him brutally whether he obeyed or not.
Raju was mentally and physically tired. No one seemed to care about his pain, and there was nothing the sad tusker could do about it. He was sure that the few inches of freedom provided by these shackles were all he could acquire.
Raju’s luck finally shone upon him after the Wildlife SOS learned of his terrible living conditions, which he had endured for five decades. A group of volunteers set out right soon to find him; they had to rescue him at night for fear that his owner or mahout would make it difficult for them to take Raju.
The elephant began to cry as they removed the spiky chains. His scream crushed the hearts of the rescuers.
Raju was sent to Wildlife SOS’ Elephant Conservation and Care Center, where he could live a free life with plenty of love and care, with other rescue elephants. It took months for the poor boy to recover and open up his heart, which was quite tough given what he had been through. But he got there eventually.
Now that 6 years have passed and Raju is probably happier than ever. As the rescuer said, his spirit has “truly soared”.
Here is also a video of Raju’s 6th rescue anniversary!
