This story is heartbreaking , Raju the elephant from india had an incredibly rough life. after being ripped from his mother at a young age he was thrown from owner to owner until he was left living in horrible conditions and with no shelter during the night, he spent the most part of his life being used as a beggars prop all day long, Amazingly Raju managed to survive only from passing tourists and he was forced to eat plastic and paper while being chained 24 hours a day to not starve to death . SOS-UK which is a wildlife organisation could not stand the injustice and decided to save Raju in a heroic midnight rescue operation.
The elephant , realizing that he is about to be saved actually started to cry : ” It was incredibly emotional. We knew in our hearts he realized he was being freed” says Pooja Binepal who is one of the rescuers . ” tears began to roll down Raju’s face , Some no doubt from the pain but he also seemed to sense that change was coming , He felt hope for the first time ”
Raju spent most of his life in captivity being used as a tourists attraction and lived in terrible conditions, after realizing that his suffering will soon be over , he cried tears of joy
It’s known that elephants have very large hippocampus , a brain structure that is linked to emotion and is much bigger than that of a human , This is not yet a fact but there are scientific researches that support this theory that elephants weep as an emotional response . 50 years he spent shackled in chains, to fill his stomach he had to eat plastic and paper
Thankfully , Raju was saved by the SOS-UK wildlife organization in a daring midnight rescue operation and his suffering has finally ended
The rescue was not easy , Raju’s owner tried to prevent the operation by putting chains on his legs and shouting at him to try and scare him . But the brave rescuers didn’t let go and stayed by his side, as Raju noticed that , tears started rolling down on his face ” He felt hope for the first time ”
It took 45 minutes to free him because the chains was so tightly hooked
The rescuers drove Raju 350 miles away to a sanctuary at the elephant conservation and care center at Mathura
As they arrive at their destination the elephant was so tired he could barely move
Raju walked as a free elephant for the first time at 1 minute past midnight at 4 of july, independence was his !
Say hello to free Raju – We are certain he will live a happy life from now on
Wildlife SOS UK is trying to raise  £10,000 to help start Raju’s new life. To contribute visit wildlifesos.org
Source: Boredpanda
