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Reem Khokhar

Tara is leaning sideways on a mud pile. A man hovers over her clutching a large rasp, a metal tool that looks like an oversized cheese grater. Beads of sweat cover his forehead.
After all, an elephant manicure takes some muscle.
When it’s over, Tara accepts a handful of peanuts and fruit as a treat. A few minutes earlier, a team of vets gently took an X-ray of her elbow. The scan shows joint damage, probably caused by kneeling on concrete surfaces.
Tara is one of 32 rescued elephants housed between India’s only elephant hospital, the Wildlife SOS Elephant Hospital Campus, and the nearby 20-acre Elephant Conservation and Care Centre, both on the outskirts of Mathura, a city three hours’ drive from India’s capital, New Delhi.

“Each of them has a history of abuse and captivity,” says Kartick Satyanarayan, CEO and co-founder of Wildlife SOS, a non-profit wildlife conservation group that runs the hospital. “We only have the opportunity to give them the last few years of love and affection. Once an elephant is removed from its herd and turned domestic, it cannot return to the wild.”
Tara, 25, was rescued in 2023 from a life of begging, starvation and walking countless hours on concrete roads. Dermatitis and colic disease caused her immense pain and appetite loss.
But thanks to the veterinary team’s medical care, a carefully curated diet and the companionship of Taj, another resident elephant, Tara has shown great improvement.
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Wildlife SOS was started in 1995, and its rescue and conservation work includes bears, tigers and leopards.
While hospital visits are limited to professional vets and forest department officials, visitors can take 90-minute educational tours at the elephant centre or volunteer on a working holiday, where they help with daily tasks and learn about the animals, the rehabilitation of their former owners, and the group’s #RefuseToRide campaign.
“People are incredibly moved by their visit, unaware of this abuse and vowing to never ride an elephant, or participate in creating this problem,” Satyanarayan says.

Elephants are exploited for entertainment, weddings, begging and religious purposes across India. But many people are unaware of the cruel domestication process, including phajaan – a torture used on baby elephants to break their spirit and force them into submission.
Over time, heavy loads, walking on hot sealed roads, bullhook beatings and tight restraints cause problems including spinal damage, arthritis, loneliness and starvation.
Although the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972 prohibits the capture of wild elephants, unless they are a threat to life or property, there are an estimated 2,600 animals in captivity in India, many illegally owned. Rescue is a complex and often lengthy process.


“We cannot just seize an elephant from its owner,” says Harendra Singh, head coordinator of the visitor and volunteer programme at the Elephant Conservation and Care Centre, while showing us around its memorial garden.
“First the Forest Department checks on ownership and health certificates. If it goes into a court case with the owners, it may be a few years before the Forest Department hands the elephant over to us for permanent care.”
The garden is dotted with commemorative menhirs – tall standing stones – for the rescued elephants that have since died, including one honouring the “centre’s matriarch” Champa, the first rescue, in 2010.
“All visitors make a donation to visit, but there is no physical interaction with the animals,” Singh says. “If that’s what you want, then this is not the place for you.”

Longer-stay visitors to the centre help with various tasks, such as cleaning enclosures, preparing food and observing the elephants. Accommodation is a 10-minute drive away, at the comfortable 16-bedroom volunteer house.
As we walk around, the elephants are busy playing with “enrichments” – such as balls filled with fodder – placed around their sprawling enclosures for physical and mental stimulation.
As thick as thieves, Maya, Emma and Phoolkali are in one enclosure, the latter covered in oily patches, remnants of a warming massage.
A former circus elephant, Phoolkali was emaciated, dehydrated and blind in one eye from untreated cataracts when rescued. The trio’s healing would be considerably slower without their camaraderie.


Around the corner, 72-year-old Suzy, also a former circus elephant, is being hand fed by her caretaker, former mahout (elephant driver) Babulal.
Blind and toothless, the elephant is on a soft diet of “Suzy’s smoothies” and a delicious smelling mash of millet, brown rice, vegetables, ghee and spices.
In contrast to the elephants’ prior instruction through pain and fear, positive reinforcement methods are used here. Veterinary officer Dr E. Gochalan demonstrates target training on Laxmi.

A former begging elephant, Laxmi was 1,800kg (4,000lb) overweight due to a junk-food diet. She has since shed half that excess weight over nine years of nutritious meals.
“We tap the elephant gently with a spongy ball at the tip of a pole, a behaviour-shaping tool called ‘the target’,” Gochalan explains.
During training, the tip is touched to various parts of the pachyderm’s body while each is named, the elephant gradually understanding the connection.

Later, when the elephant performs the required action, such as raising a limb, through verbal request or by tapping the target to the body part, they are rewarded with edible treats.
This is useful in medical examinations particularly.
In each elephant field at the sanctuary there is a “protected contact wall”, with openings through which the elephant can place their limbs or ears for examination or treatment.
In anticipation of reward, Laxmi enthusiastically places her legs and ears for examination by Gochalan, without being instructed or requested.


While the elephants’ tragic stories and visible scars make for a sobering visit, there is also great joy to be found at the centre.
In the relaxed environs, the elephants display a sense of liberation, dignity and security. It is special to walk alongside them on their evening stroll as they playfully shower their backs with trunkfuls of mud, graze, and amble in little groups like gossipy friends.
“These elephants are now fulfilling the role of educating and inspiring people to prevent this from happening to others,” Satyanarayan says.


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Asia travel

Indian elephant hospital and conservation centre that provides sanctuary for 32 rescued animals offers educational tours and volunteer working holidays

Suzy, a 72-year-old elephant who is toothless and blind, gets ready to receive a meal from Babulal, a former mahout (elephant driver), at the Elephant Conservation and Care Centre in Mathura, India. Photo: Siddharth Khandelwal

Tara gets a manicure. Photo: Siddharth Khandelwal

Wildlife SOS CEO and co-founder Kartick Satyanarayan (left) and Bollywood star Disha Patani chop fruits for the elephants. Photo: Wildlife SOS

Elephants on their evening walk with their caretakers. Photo: Siddharth Khandelwal

Volunteers help chop fruits for the elephants. Photo: Wildlife SOS

Harendra Singh, head coordinator at the Elephant Conservation and Care Centre Harendra Singh, explains the cruel tools used to control captive elephants, like the bullhook, in his hand, and spiked chains. Photo: Siddharth Khandelwal

The large enclosures are filled with “enrichments”, such as balls filled with fodder enrichments, as well as soft mud piles for them to rest on, and covered sheds. Photo: Siddharth Khandelwal

After a few years of using trucks to rescue elephants, Wildlife SOS had a custom ambulance made that allows for safe and comfortable transport. Photo: Siddharth Khandelwal

A “target” is used to train an elephant to make a connection between parts of its body and the words for them. Photo: Siddharth Khandelwal

Elephant feet are made to walk on the cushioned jungle surface, not concrete roads. Captive elephants often face foot issues such as cracked nails, abscesses and infections. Photo: Siddharth Khandelwal

Tara gets an X-ray. Photo: Siddharth Khandelwal

Elephant trivia is placed around the centre. Photo: Siddharth Khandelwal

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The Museum of Art and Photography in Bengaluru. Photo: Anita Rao Kashi

Exhibits at the Museum of Art and Photography. Photo: Anita Rao Kashi

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Exhibits at the Indian Music Experience. Photo: Anita Rao Kashi

A space inside The Courtyard. Photo: Anita Rao Kashi

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The entrance to the Bangalore Creative Circus. Photo: Anita Rao Kashi

Ranga Shankara was built by actress Arundhati Nag in memory of her husband, Shankar Nag. Photo: Anita Rao Kashi

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Walking among Rompin State Park’s endemic fan palm trees in the southeasternmost corner of Malaysia’s Pahang state. Photo: Chan Kit Yeng

Rompin State Park has a new suspension bridge over the Kinchin River. Photo: Chan Kit Yeng

One of the rooms at Rompin Rainforest Lodge. Photo: Chan Kit Yeng

The breezy veranda of Rompin Rainforest Lodge’s restaurant is surrounded by rainforest. Photo: Chan Kit Yeng

A scorpion under UV light during a night walk in Rompin State Park. The park is full of wildlife. Photo: Chan Kit Yeng

The Seri Mahkota waterfalls in Rompin State Park. Photo: Chan Kit Yeng

Rompin State Park’s endemic fan palm trees (Livistona endauensis). Photo: Chan Kit Yeng

Walking to Padang Tujuh surrounded by Johannes palm trees. Photo: Chan Kit Yeng

A Raffles’ banded langur in Rompin State Park. Photo: Chan Kit Yeng

Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

The Wildlife SOS Elephant Hospital Campus, and nearby Elephant Conservation and Care Centre, give love and affection to elephants who have had horrific pasts
Visitors can take 90-minute educational tours at the elephant centre or volunteer on a working holiday, where they help with tasks and learn about the animals


India’s only elephant hospital and a nearby conservation and care centre provide sanctuary for 32 rescued animals, offering educational tours and volunteer holidays during which visitors can muck in.


Responsible travel

India

Animals

Conservation