URGENT: Act Now to Help Elephant Madhuri Return to Her Sanctuary Home

Following efforts by PETA India, over a year ago, a High-Powered Committee (HPC) of the Indian Supreme Court, the Bombay High Court and Indian Supreme Court ordered or upheld orders for lonely and ailing elephant Madhuri to be transferred from a temple where she had been chained, alone, for 33 years, to the Vantara elephant rehabilitation centre in western India.

However, after a boycott of products connected to the business that owns Vantara and a sustained political campaign to force her return—on 9 September 2026, the HPC ordered her to be returned to the same bleak and lonely shed at the temple that drove her to kill its priest in 2017 and attack a bystander in 2022.

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The latest order follows Vantara's decision to actively turn its back on Madhuri during the HPC meeting by supporting her return to the temple. This is despite long-distance transport back to the temple being dangerous for Madhuri, her continued need for specialised veterinary care that does not exist at the temple, and the breaking of the deep elephant bonds she has formed during rehabilitation at Vantara. Madhuri has been betrayed and needs your help NOW!

During her time chained and forced to live nearly stationary on concrete at the temple, Madhuri developed irreversible ailments, including chronic foot disease and arthritis. After being relocated to Vantara, Madhuri had been receiving specialised veterinary care and lived in the company of other elephants. Socialisation is essential for female elephants, who in nature live in multi-generational family herds. Vantara reports show Madhuri is now deeply bonded to another elephant, sought her company and that they participated in activities together, attended joint hydrotherapy sessions and communicated in rumbles and trumpets.

Take Action Now

Please join us in urging both the Chief Minister and the Forest Minister of Maharashtra to take steps to send Madhuri back to the Vantara sanctuary.

You may use the provided text, but as personalised letters always work best, your e-mail will carry more weight if you write your own customised message and subject line. (Remember to keep things polite!)

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Shri

Devendra

Fadnavis

Government of Maharashtra

Shri

Ganesh

Ramchandra Na

Gorvenment of Maharashtra

Dear {user_data~Salutation} {contact_data~firstName} {contact_data~lastName}:

Elephant Madhuri—also known as Mahadevi—was rescued over a year ago after over three decades of suffering. She has severe arthritis, foot rot, multiple fractures, and psychological trauma. At Vantara, she has finally found peace, and a friend.

Now, after recommendations by Vantara that followed a boycott of Reliance products, a High-Powered Committee (HPC) of the Supreme Court ordered her return to the same bleak and lonely shed at a Kolhapur temple that drove her to mental distress and physical violence, killing the priest in 2017 and attacking a bystander in 2022.

Moving her back to the temple means taking her away from veterinary care, removing her from elephant companionship, and returning her to the conditions that caused her suffering, effectively undoing the intervention that the courts and experts had deemed necessary for her physical and psychological well-being.

PETA India has offered a mechanical elephant to the temple for rituals, just as the Jain Thousand Pillars Temple in Karnataka uses. Mechanical elephants have been recommended by the governments of Delhi, Karnataka and Telangana for use in temples or processions. Maharashtra, can also follow this compassionate and progressive path. 
Please protect Madhuri by ensuring that she is permanently retired at Vantara. The temple can continue its rituals using a mechanical elephant in alignment with Jainism.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,
{user_data~First Name}

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URGENT: Act Now to Help Elephant Madhuri Return to Her Sanctuary Home

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