Meet Emma, Our Adopted Elephant From Wildlife SOS
We like to support charity at Tradeprint because our team is made up of lovely people and lovely people generally want to help those less fortunate.
The charities we support with donations are chosen early in our financial year and sit in-line with our company vision and values so when we heard about poor Emma, we couldn’t help but help.
You can read all about Emma here:
Wildlife SOS came to be in 1995 in an attempt to protect and conserve India’s rich natural heritage. It became quickly apparent that the organisation would need to support the conservation of certain habitats whilst studying and researching the biodiversity and culture of the areas in which they found a thriving poaching community.
It was important for the group to take a holistic approach to rescue in order to help those communities. Where poaching was the “norm” for sustaining villages, Wildlife SOS strives to create other avenues of employment so that the local wildlife can remain protected.
Emma, whose caregiver’s name is Asif, lives at the Wildlife SOS Elephant Hospital near Mathura, India. She is only 40 but over those 40 years, she has endured a lifestyle that has left her with debilitating injuries and psychological trauma. Emma was used as a processional elephant which meant that she would be dressed in heavy ornamental garb and made to walk on blisteringly hot concrete and tarmac roads. She was also used for begging and for religious ceremonies. Her owner at the time force-fed her alcohol which she is unable to metabolise, so he was causing her more harm than good with his “medicinal intervention”. Emma was rescued by Wildlife SOS New Year 2021 and was brought back to their specially built Elephant Hospital for intensive care after an arduous journey covering many miles.
Her feet are in a terrible state, covered in wounds and causing her such pain that she chooses to lie down whenever she can to avoid the agony. On her initial assessment, her feet were embedded with sharp stones, pebbles and glass shards, her toenails were overgrown and alongside this, she had suffered an injury to her forelimbs. These were treated with urgency as soon as the Wildlife SOS vets were able to attend to her and she now enjoys regular foot baths, cabbages, cauliflower, socialising with her new friends and living her best life.
Emma will need love and medical care from humans for the rest of her life so, understandably, Wildlife SOS are always on the lookout for new donors to help give Emma the life she deserves after so much struggle. Emma is not the only elephant the charity takes care of, in fact, they have rescued 40 to date, with 28 of them currently residing at their Conservation & Care Centre near to Mathura. Wildlife SOS started out rescuing Sloth Bears from the tourism trade, successfully eradicating the Dancing Bear practice throughout India. Now their many projects include the rescue and conservation of bears, elephants, reptiles, leopards, tribal rehabilitation and many others across India. You can read about their projects here:
We have fallen in-love with Emma, and we will keep you posted with her development.