This is dear Ram Prasad, one of the “temple elephants” whose living conditions we have worked for years to improve, despite totally unreceptive temple administrators who couldn’t care less about his welfare.

We have been pressuring the temple hard to let us at least help build Ram Prasad a corral so that he can move around instead of standing chained in his concrete stall all day and night. Ironically, during Animal Rahat’s recent visit to check on Ram Prasad’s abscesses, his mahout (handler)—who in previous years has resisted the idea of the corral—expressed an urgent desire for the enclosure to be built because Ram Prasad is soon due to go into musth (a hormonal cycle during which male elephants become aggressive out of desperation to mate).

The mahout said that the temple authorities are now ready to green-light the corral, so we’re doing everything we can to get the ball rolling again. There may be a light at the end of the tunnel.

The other good news is that for the first time since we started treating him, Ram Prasad has no wounds and was assessed by our veterinarians as being in excellent health—a veritable miracle given the condition in which we found him all those years ago. After all the guidance and prodding from Animal Rahat, it’s no longer just the statues of elephants at this temple that are getting taken care of. Now, Ram Prasad’s caretakers are finally giving him high-quality food, trying to prevent injuries to his skin and feet, and taking him on regular walks. Hallelujah!