Elephant Who Wept Through His Rescue Officially Declared ‘Free’

2 December 2014

 - Earlier this year, the story of an elephant named Raju touched the hearts of many people around the world. After 50 years of suffering and exploitation at the hands of his owner in India, Raju shed tears as volunteers from the group Wildlife SOS freed him from painful shackles.

But that was only the beginning of Raju’s bid for freedom. Not long after Wildlife SOS intervened and relocated him to a sanctuary, the man who kept the elephant chained, launched a legal battle claiming that Raju was his rightful property.

A legal team from Wildlife SOS fought “tooth and nail” to ensure Raju’s freedom, bolstered by a petition on Change.org which garnered a whopping 467,000 signatures from supporters around the globe. And on Tuesday, India’s Allahabad High Court ruled in Raju’s favor — officially declaring him free to live out his days in peace on the grounds of the sanctuary among elephants just like himself.