Stewart Perrie
An Indian temple has been gifted a life-sized robotic elephant to ensure their religious traditions don't involve real animals anymore.
The Irinjadappilly Sree Krishna Temple in Kerala decided it would no longer use live animals for their annual ceremonies or rituals.
Animal rights and welfare organization PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has been worried about elephants being used for these types of events in India.
They claim many of these majestic beasts are 'held illegally or have been transported to a different state without permission'.
"Because elephants are wild animals who would not willingly obey human commands, when used for rides, ceremonies, tricks, and other purposes, they are trained and controlled through severe punishments, beatings, and the use of weapons with a metal-tipped hook," PETA said in a statement.
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"Many have extremely painful foot ailments and leg wounds from being chained to concrete for hours on end, and most do not get adequate food, water, or veterinary care, let alone any semblance of a natural life."
What's even worse, is that elephants held in captivity like this can develop antisocial behavior.
If left unchecked, these animals can try to break free from their chains.
Some elephants have been successful at this and have gone on rampages through local villages.
More than 500 people in Kerala have been killed in incidents like this over a 15-year period between 1997 to 2012.
According to the BBC, nearly 140 captive elephants have died in Kerala between 2018 to 2023.
However, the Irinjadappilly Sree Krishna Temple has decided to end the 'cruel' tradition of using elephants for religious ceremonies.
To reward the epic step forward, PETA has gifted a life-sized elephant, aptly named Irinjadappilly Raman, to the temple.
PETA says the robot 'will now help conduct ceremonies at the temple in a safe and cruelty-free manner'.
The temple's head priest, Rajkumar Namboothiri, says the donation will go a long way in protecting real animals.
"We are extremely happy and grateful to receive this mechanical elephant which will help us to conduct our rituals and festivals in a cruelty-free way, and we hope that other temples will also think about replacing live elephants for rituals," he said.
The mechanical elephant donated to the temple is 11ft (3.3m) tall, weighs 1764lbs (800kg) and is made of an iron frame.