These absolutely amazing before & after photos are from WildlifeSOS and show the incredible transformations of their rescued elephants.
WildlifeSOS runs two elephant rescue and rehabilitation centers in India, and they save these precious animals from unbelievably difficult backgrounds. The differences between their lives before and after can be unimaginable, and sometimes nothing illustrates that better than a couple of photos. As you can see in the pictures below, these animals’ lives have been completely transformed after arriving at the sanctuaries, and their physical and emotional wellbeing is infinitely better.
Lilly: This sweet elephant was beaten by her owner and forced to subsist on what she could beg on the streets. Rescued in 2014, she was taken to the Elephant Rehabilitation Center in Haryana so that she could finally live among other elephants.
After arriving at the sanctuary, she quickly made friends with two other elephants named Erika and Ella. Now she is doted on by her keepers with fresh fruit and other goodies, and she loves strolling through the outdoors with her friends. Check out this sweet picture of Lilly after rescue with her best friends Erika and Ella!
Suraj: This gentle giant was a severely abused and neglected temple elephant when he was finally rescued in 2015. He spent nearly all his time restrained by spiked chains in a dark, depressing, concrete room, chained by all four legs and lying in filth.
Now safely residing at the Elephant Conservation and Care Center, Suraj gets all the pampering he so deserves — along with regular medical treatment, healthy grub, and loads of exercise. Take a look at this precious picture of Suraj going for a stroll around the sanctuary!
Raju: When this precious elephant was finally rescued he was in terrible shape. He had been used as a begging elephant on the streets and was emaciated, weak, and riddled with scars. He was constantly chained by all four legs and couldn’t even move without terrible pain.
But Raju has truly come such a long way since his rescue. Now that he has nothing but free time, Raju can relax in the pool for hours. And he does! Soaking up his life forever free of chains. Check out this sweet photo of Raju relaxing in the tub with his elephant friends!
A big thank you to WildlifeSOS for rescuing these gentle giants. No more rides, no more circus, no more begging, and no more chains! We are so happy to see these precious elephants living in peace and dignity at the sanctuary!
Beautiful — thank you — keep up your great, noble work — our elephants NEED you.
THANK YOU ALL FOR THESE RESCUES!
Amazing work you do, its great to see happy elephants !
These elephants are lucky to have been rescued, there are so many more still suffering in silence… Organizations like WildlifeSOS try to save as many as they can, but animal rights is an overwhelming battle throughout Asia. Bless the precious elephants, bless their hearts…
LOVE seeing how well all the rescued elephants are doing, especially poor Raju. Thank you for rescuing and caring for these beautiful creatures.
So happy to see all the rescued elephants especially Raju where I have her poster(framed) in my music area. Also wrote a song about Raju and Sunder. God bless you for all you do for the elephants.
Brilliant news. So good for people who belong to Wildlife SOS
Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated.”
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived, and lived well.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thank you.
Thank goodness for orginizations like Wildlife SOS they really make a difference on whether these animals live or die. Thank you for all the great work you folks do.
Take care Coreen
So Happy to year these beautiful animals have a sanctuary there to enjoy there life without antoine abusing them
That’s awesome!!!
Well done to al who help these lovely elephants.
I’m so very THANKFUL for those folks & organization that saved these precious animals! If not for them, I know we’d being seeing pics of DEAD elephants throughout these areas! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU . . . for EVERYTHING you’ve done AND are doing for these poor Babes!!!
Thank you for helping these magnificent animals!
Wonderful to see that there are caring people who give their time to these beautiful elephants.
Thank you for saving these beautiful souls. They deserve this life they have earned it. Now please save the elephants of Amber Fort. They need your help too.
I heard recently that WildlifeSOS is working there also to try to free the elephants. Amber Fort (Indian tourist spot) is an absolute nightmare in their abuse of elephants.
We need to stop abusing these majestic intelligent and highly social beings in the name of greed and entertainment. What torture they endure through humans is heartbreaking – any captivity is beyond cruel as their family ties are strong and essential for each elefant. Respect these amazing creatures
Such magnificent elephants!
They are God’s Creatures.
And we shall not kill and hurt, but show compassion and care.
Our life is short also, let us take the chance, do good, stop the violence (‘God is Love’) and support the vegan lifestyle.
He is the beginning and the end, one day we will die also.
Oh my! They have come a long way! SO happy for them but at the same time heartbroken to think they had suffered ao long!
These people make me absolutely sick! They are vile, they are sub-humans. This must end. Thank you for those that save the precious elephants.
Tank God for all of you who brought these wonderful aninals to freedom, safety, healthy meals, and pools to soak in!!
Thank God these precious animals were rescued and now get to live out their lives in peace and quiet at the sanctuary.
Animals were never meant to live in chains. How can humans be so hardened to the fact that these intelligent, beautiful animals have feelings, suffer from beatings and yearn for time with their own species. Thank you for rescuing and providing a safe place to live out the rest of their lives.
Who keeps elephants chained by all four legs laying in feces and filth?! Is there no basic decency anymore?! I know we also have our problems in the U.S. with elephants suffering in circuses and zoos, breaks my heart. Thank God they were rescued!!
It is so sad that humans are so stupid when it come to life. Animals are like children. You protect children. God gave humans to brain to think and gave us animals to take care of. What happen? Thanks you for saving these beautiful animal. Now they have a good life. Which the humans before could have.
It’s an uplifting article – but there are so many hurting elephants that I feel – I feel like it’s not enough. I wish I was a millionaire and could invest in animal sanctuaries.
I also worry that there are many other elephants still suffering and waiting to be rescued, but a lot of them die very painful deaths before they can be saved. Never should have been taken from the wild in the first place…
Such magnificent elephants!
This is wonderful but we have elephants in the USA in zoos.. lonely, sick, swaying from side to side, living in a zoo in a cold climate,standing on concrete, taken to fairs to give rides, then chained and hauled to another venue to get money. These need rescued too! There is one in Venezuela that us being starved to death. Offer after offer to help, all denied. Humans need to be more Humane!
Agreed, elephants are suffering all over the world including in the U.S. Elephants are such sensitive animals and captivity, circuses, and zoos are terribly cruel. Breaks my heart. These rescue stories do give some hope.
I so agree with ALL of these posts and with you two…These are one of the most INTELLIGENT creatures on our planet! They must be SAVED !!!! It’s a GIVEN !!! Where are those folks who have the MEANS & POWER to do so???? I ask you…where are those so called ‘humans’ ???
OH MY GOSH…I thank the LORD for these rescues. These abuses were SO SEVERE! I almost got sick looking at these pictures. I continue to give to several animal abuse organizations….and on a fixed income I can not do more, but every year or two I change who I donate to. Please keep me on your mailing list. Gail
Thank the higher powers to have made the majestic elephants portrayed here free from their human traitors.
Our family is grateful and thankful to those involved in the release and everyday care & loving environment where they reside currently
How wonderful!!!