PETA India Urges Eco-Friendly Alternatives to Elephant Rides at Amber Fort

PETA India has requested Rajasthan's Deputy CM Diya Kumari to replace elephant rides at Amber Fort with eco-friendly motorised vehicles following a recent elephant attack. The organization stresses the importance of rehabilitating the involved elephants and transitioning to safer, sustainable tourism options.

Animal rights group PETA India has urged Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari to issue directions for replacing elephant rides at the Amber Fort here with eco-friendly motorised vehicles in the wake of a recent attack by an elephant. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has also sought the rehabilitation of an elephant which attacked another jumbo during a ride in Amber fort here.

Khushboo Gupta, director of advocacy projects, PETA India, on said the incident was captured in a CCTV footage of March 5. In the CCTV clip, an elephant who was returning after completing rides was seen ''dangerously'' pushing another elephant carrying tourists against a wall several times.

In 2019, a similar fight occurred between two elephants when both the animals were carrying tourists.

''We have written to Deputy CM Diya Kumari requesting for the rehabilitation of this elephant,'' Gupta said.

In the recent letter to Kumari, who also holds the tourism and art and culture portfolios in the state government, PETA India also urged that all elephant rides should be replaced with eco-friendly motorised vehicles, citing the recommendation of a committee constituted by the Project Elephant division of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

''Captive elephants are controlled through pain and fear. Trauma and frustration from this type of abuse often causes these sensitive animals to attack humans or each other,'' Gupta said.

''Before more humans or elephants are hurt or killed, PETA India is calling on Rajasthan officials to replace these dangerous elephant rides with motorised vehicles and to send the animals to sanctuaries where they can live unchained,'' she added.

At the Amber Fort, elephant rides up the steep hill commence from the car parking lot and end at the fort's courtyard.

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