Two circus elephants named Sita and Mia spent 50 years in captivity, living their entire lives in chains. But thanks to Wildlife SOS, the two elephants have been rescued and are experiencing their first freedom at an elephant sanctuary in India.
After years of being confined to chains the two elephants’ feet were in poor shape. “Both Mia and Sita have very painful feet. For Sita, her situation is exacerbated by the fact that she has a poorly healed fracture in her front leg that has limited her movement… thus preventing her the ability to lie down and rest,” writes Wildlife S.O.S on Facebook. We know it has been at least a year since she has lay down and slept.”
The two will be tended to by expert veterinarians and get some much needed therapy on their feet. This will include “warm foot soaks, swimming, exercise on natural soft surfaces, medicine, a specialized diet and lots of rest”.
Soon, the two elephants made a long journey by truck to get to their new home. Wildlife S.O.S. was concerned about how well Sita was going to tolerate the long journey, but she surprised them. Along the way, Sita showed her excitement by waving her trunk happily to people passing by from the truck.
After a journey of 1,200 miles, the two elephants finally arrived at the Elephant Conservation and Care Center in Mathura.