(Image source from: Elephant 'cries' on being rescued})

Held captive for 50 years in chains and abused, an elephant cried on being freed. The animal was held captive by a drug addict, who used the majestic animal to beg from tourists.

The elephant named Raju was often beaten by chain and starved since he was poarched as a calf from the wilds. Lack of food made him eat paper and plastic to keep his stomach filled.

Raju was in constant pain due to the wounds caused by chains and spikes around his legs. He had chronic wonds and arthritic pain.

The rescued elephant is walking free again, thanks to a bold effort by conservationists. Armed with a court order, the wildlife experts along with some 20 Uttar Pradesh Forest Department officials and around six police men rescued Raju from his abusive mahout.

The rescue operation took place on Thursday around midnight. The elephant's owner tried to prevent the rescue of Raju by adding more chains around him and gathering people to block the roads, and not allowing the rescue lorry to take him away.

The wildlife experts first tried to gain the trust of the elephant, which took hours, before he could be prompted to get into the van that would carry him to the sanctuary.

During his rescue, volunteers saw tears rolling down Raju's face.

The volunteers became emotional seing the plight of the majestic animal, said Pooja Binepal, from Wildlife SOS UK.

It made them realise that Raju knew that he was being freed.

Pooja says that elephants are not only majestic but also highly intelligent animals. They have feelings of grief and it's only imaginable that half a century must have been a torture for the animal.

The rescue was complete after two days some 350 miles away in Mathura, where the chains were cut through. It took 45 painstaking minutes to remove the chains wrapped around his legs.

Kartick Satyanarayan, the charity's co-founder said that everyone had tears in their eyes as the last rope with spike was cut.

Raju was taken to the Conservation and Care Centre at Mathura, where other elephants came to meet the new arrival. At present, Raju is being fed to nurture him back to health. His numerous wounds and abscesses, due to beatings and being chained, are being treated by vets.

Wildlife SOS rescuers believe that Raju was born in the wilds but was caught by poachers and sold off as a working elephant.

One expert said that the poachers catch a baby elephhant in two ways. One way was to slaughter the mother and then walk away with its calf. The second method involved driving a herd through traps into which only the babies fall.

The expert calls it a sickening trade as the mother cries for her baby for days afterwards. The captive calves are kept tied and beaten till they learn to submit to their mahouts - a process that breaks their spirits.

(Picture Source: dailymail.co.uk)

(AW: Pratima Tigga)