An African elephant at a zoo in India has been remoted in a bleak enclosure for 15 years following the dying of his solely companion.
Now, a petition has been launched to take away the elephant from the zoo and rehabilitate him with different African elephants.
The petition was filed by 16-year-old Nikita Dhawan, who's founding father of the non-profit group Youth For Animals. It says that Shankar is chained for 17 hours a day and doesn't have enough house to maneuver round when he's let loose.
Shankar has lived on the Nationwide Zoological Park in New Delhi for twenty-four years.
He first got here to India in 1998 with a companion referred to as Bombai, who died in 2005. Since then, Shankar has been alone.
Dhawan advised the BBC that Shankar is saved in a "black enclosure with metal posts and metallic fences."
A video posted by Youth For Animals exhibits Shankar swaying and bobbing his head, which is a stereotypical habits displayed by elephants when they're in misery.
In accordance with the petition, Shankar may be aggressive resulting from his solitude, which means that the viewing pathway on the zoo has needed to shut.
The petition had practically 100,000 signatures at time of writing.
Youth for Animals beforehand despatched letters to the zoo and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi relating to the elephant, however acquired no response.
The group then filed a Public Curiosity Litigation within the Delhi Excessive Court docket, which was heard on January 3. The case was admitted, with the subsequent listening to scheduled for March 8.
Shankar is certainly one of solely two African elephants at present held in Indian zoos. The opposite is saved on the Mysuru Zoo in Karnataka.
There are two different Asian elephants on the Delhi zoo referred to as Laxmi and Hira, nevertheless they're saved aside from Shankar.
The director of the zoo, Sonali Ghosh, advised the Indian Specific in November 2921 that she had reached out to parks in Africa to ask if they might discover a mate for the animal.
Ghosh additionally stated that they've had veterinarians look over the animal and that they discovered "no difficulty when it comes to stress."
In accordance with Ghosh, Shankar is a solitary animal, and subsequently it isn't potential to place him with Asian elephants.
Elephants are extremely social animals, and might undergo mentally when they're remoted from others.
Male African elephants are inclined to have a extra solitary existence than females, however there may be rising proof that additionally they dwell wealthy social lives.
This has been tough to analysis, as males roam massive distances and are harder to trace.
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