NEW: PETA India Statement on Elephant Madhuri (Mahadevi)
PETA India are aware of ongoing discussions about the ultimate fate of Madhuri, the elephant, and hope for the best outcomes for her.
We concur with the Bombay High Court’s order dated 16 July 2025, that, given her poor condition, most importantly, Madhuri’s health must be treated as a priority above all else. Just as humans sometimes need hospitalisation, extensive care and retirement, so do elephants. And just as humans need other humans for our wellbeing, so do elephants need to be with other elephants as they are herd animals, matriarchs, who value family relationships greatly. See Madhuri meeting her first elephant friend at Vantara’s Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust
The key concern is that Madhuri has long been in need of specialised veterinary care and company of other elephants for her wellbeing, and so we wholeheartedly support the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court decision to grant her access to top veterinary treatment, freedom from chains, and restorative care as she has grade-4 arthritis, painful foot rot, and displays stereotypical behaviour such as head-bobbing—a sign of severe mental distress in elephants.
On 16 July 2025, the Hon’ble Bombay High Court upheld the Supreme Court–appointed High-Powered Committee’s decision to rehabilitate suffering elephant Mahadevi at a sanctuary.
Dear @moefcc @MahaForest @KOLHAPUR_POLICE, she now needs to be moved.#FreeElephantMahadevi pic.twitter.com/6bcifhYMZ3
— PETA India (@PetaIndia) July 27, 2025
The honourable courts made a decision to give her a new lease on life after 33 years of living in isolation and on unyielding concrete which contributed to her pain and suffering. Disturbed elephants often attack, and Madhuri showed that to be true as she has already killed the Chief Swamiji.
View this post on Instagram
Madhuri needs a quiet space to roam freely, a water body to ease her pain and allow exercise of her ailing feet, and advanced veterinary equipment and expertise to ease her pain from her multiple health problems. Vantara provides all that and there is no other such facility in Maharashtra at the moment. Should that change, PETA India would not oppose having her treated there, in the same way we support rescued elephants going to Wildlife SOS in Uttar Pradesh and Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Karnataka if that rehabilitation centre met Vantara standards where elephants are respected, never exploited, chained or controlled with weapons. Specifically, this means the centre is built for her permanent retirement and perhaps that of a few other rescued elephants and is in a quiet location, away from crowds and traffic, rather than be a visitor-focused zoo-like facility. Living in peaceful retirement, chain-free and treated for both physical and psychological damage is paramount for Madhuri.
View this post on Instagram
PETA India’s sole concern is that Madhuri must get the care, quiet and peaceful retirement she needs. The Supreme Court ensured that, and we have faith that the top court would take steps to ensure that again if the matter was reconsidered.
