Chikkamagaluru (Karnataka): Actress Shilpa Shetty gifted a life-size mechanical elephant named Veerabhadra to the Shri Jagadguru Renukacharya Temple on Sunday. This donation celebrates the 100th birth anniversary of Shrimad Rambhapuri Veerarudramuni Jagadguru. Karnataka Minister Eshwar B Khandre, who is responsible for Forest, Ecology, and Environment, praised the temple for choosing not to keep real elephants. Instead, they opted for an amazing new technology that allows them to use a robotic elephant instead.
The minister explained that many other temples had asked him for a live elephant, but he couldn’t give one due to the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. He said that technology like this robotic elephant is necessary and beneficial, allowing real elephants to live freely in nature.
Shilpa Shetty’s donation was made with help from PETA India and the animal welfare group CUPA, based in Bengaluru. The giant mechanical elephant stands three meters tall, weighs 800 kg, and is made from materials like rubber, metal, and foam, running on five motors. Minister Khandre expressed his gratitude to PETA, CUPA, and the actress on behalf of the Karnataka government.
Veerabhadra will be used for ceremonies at the temple without harming real elephants, ensuring they can stay in their natural habitats. The chief swami of the Peetha, Rambhapuri Jagadguru, encouraged other temples to adopt mechanical elephants too.
PETA pointed out that many elephants kept in captivity suffer from serious health issues due to being chained. They shared a shocking statistic that captive elephants in Kerala caused 526 human deaths over a 15-year period. PETA India has already helped donate mechanical elephants to other temples, with six currently used across South India.
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