Tikiri who died last year had a sorrowful story.
Tikiri the female elephant died last year at the age of 70. Her death put an end to the tragic life which she led for decades.
Tikiri was a female elephant belonging to Sri Lanka. It’s said that she was one of the oldest Asian elephants from Sri Lanka.
Last year she came to the news due to her skeletal body. Watching her in that condition made the animal lovers all over the world very unhappy and angry at the same time. There was a lot of outcry over the pitiable condition of the Jumbo. The authorities were held responsible for her condition.
The photos of the weakened and fragile anima were posted by Save The Elephant founder Lek Chailert. Those photos angered the conservationists who asked the reason behind the emaciated state of the elephant.
Despite her poor condition, the elephant was made to participate in the 10 days long Perahera festival. This festival is held in the month of July and August every year in Kandy, Sri Lanka. In this festival, the elephants have to walk for many kilometers and they are dressed in colorful clothes.
There were even pictures of the fateful elephant performing at the Perahera festival with her weak body covered by a colorful attire. So the spectators did not realize how weak and thin Tikiri was then at that time. It was only when the pictures of Tikiri showing her feeble body surfaced on the internet that everybody became concerned about the elephant.
There was a lot of criticism regarding the ill-treatment meted out to the elephant and even after knowing her condition she was seen attending the festival. After the backlash, though Tikiri was removed from the festival and she was given medical attention yet her condition remained the same.
There are several reports suggesting that the Jumbo was ill-treated and was severely undernourished but a spokesman from the Buddhist temple had a different story to tell that the elephant suffered from a digestive sickness that didn’t allow the animal to put on weight.
But whatever may be the case the truth is that the animal was not treated well. It is not the story of only one elephant, there is a large number of elephants who are exploited by the tourism industry. So here the role of the tourists is also important, the tourists can refuse the animal rides. They should understand the pain the animal is going through. Every life matters and should be treated well.
