Peta India opposes Mahadevi’s return to Nandani Math from Vantara, proposal hearing on June 23

Kolhapur: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), India, has opposed a proposal to shift elephant Mahadevi (Madhuri) from the Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust (Vantara) rehabilitation centre in Gujarat back to the Nandani Math in Kolhapur.The objection comes after the Nandani Math, along with state govt and Vantara, approached the Supreme Court-appointed high-powered committee, seeking permission to return Mahadevi to her former location. The matter will be heard by the high-powered committee on June 23 through an online session convened by its president, Deepak Sharma.Khushboo Gupta, vice-president of policy at Peta India, said, “Returning the elephant to the Math would undo the health improvements the animal has made at Vantara, where she now receives specialised veterinary care and lives among other elephants, something critical for her wellbeing as a social animal.”According to Peta India, the proposal would effectively send Mahadevi back to the same conditions in which she was confined for 33 years — alone, in chains and housed in what it described as a bleak shed. The organisation argued that such prolonged isolation and lack of proper care led to severe distress, ultimately contributing to incidents in which Mahadevi killed the Math’s chief priest in 2017 and injured a man during a procession in 2022.

The organisation said Mahadevi was removed from the Math due to its failure to meet her physical, social and environmental needs. It added that orders from the high-powered committee (June 3, 2025) and the Bombay high court (July 16, 2025), later upheld by the Supreme Court, directed that the jumbo be permanently rehabilitated at Vantara.Peta India also highlighted that Mahadevi suffered from multiple health problems, including chronic foot disease, arthritis and behavioural trauma arising from prolonged solitary confinement and pain. It further said since her relocation, Mahadevi has had the opportunity to socialise for the first time in decades, aligning more closely with the natural behaviour of female elephants, which typically live in family herds.Terming the proposal a “grave betrayal,” Gupta said, “Sending Mahadevi back to her previous environment will disregard both her welfare and court directives recognising her as a sentient being with physical and psychological needs.”