Video: Captive Elephant Attacks Tourist at Amer Fort, Rajasthan 

Video: Captive Elephant Attacks Tourist at Amer Fort, Rajasthan 

This news release is also available in Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, and Tamil. 

Amer Fort Rajasthan, 28th February 2024 (GNI): People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has released terrifying footage (available here) showing the moment a captive elephant named Gouri attacked a Russian tourist in the main courtyard of Amer Fort in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The footage, captured on CCTV earlier this month, shows the elephant grabbing the woman in her trunk, swinging her vigorously, and then slamming her to the ground, breaking her leg. The same elephant, who was forced to give rides at the popular tourist site, severely injured a male shopkeeper in October 2022. 

Out of concern for public safety and the animal’s welfare, PETA India is appealing to the regional government to urgently move Gouri to a sanctuary, where she could begin to recover from the mental trauma of a lifetime of enslavement. The group is also requesting that all elephant rides be replaced immediately with eco-friendly electric or battery-operated vehicles. PETA India is calling on tourists everywhere to stay away from activities involving direct contact with elephants.  

“Elephants who have spent years being chained, bullied, and threatened with weapons are known to run amok, lashing out in fear and frustration,” says PETA India Director of Advocacy Khushboo Gupta. “Despite being a known danger, Gouri continued to be used to carry tourists at Amer Fort. Rajasthan authorities must send her to a sanctuary for her and tourists’ sake and replace the use of elephants with beautifully decorated electric vehicles. In the meantime, tourists must make kind choices and not support this abuse.” 

When elephants attack humans, the animals are typically beaten and subjected to other punishments, which only increases their frustration and distress. Furthermore, elephants commonly carry tuberculosis, which can infect humans. PETA India has previously highlighted that elephants who have tested positive for tuberculosis have still been used for rides. 

PETA India has written to the Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister cum Minister for Tourism, Art and Culture, and Archaeology and Museums Diya Kumari calling for Gouri to be rehabilitated and for all elephant rides to be replaced with eco-friendly electric or battery-operated vehicles, as was recommended in a report of the committee constituted by the Project Elephant division of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, per an order of the Supreme Court of India.  

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com – ends GNI