Robotic elephant in Indian temple rituals

DW (English)

Elephants play an important role during Indian temple festivals. But the animals are often chained and forced to stand up for hours in extreme temperatures. Can robotic elephants be used instead?

Transcript

00:00Weighing in at 800 kilos, over 3 meters tall and stunningly lifelike, this robot elephant

00:07is decked out in colorful attire for Hindu ceremonies.

00:11The animal welfare organization PETA India is trying a new approach to end cruelty against

00:16animals.

00:17The robot elephants cost around 6,000 euros.

00:20Repeated incidents with stressed animals at ceremonies prompted the innovation.

00:26We see on a daily basis, we see all the different kinds of cruelty that is happening and elephants

00:32running amok in I think almost all the temple festivals because they happen in the heights

00:36of summer.

00:37And I don't think it's ever occurred to people that there is an alternative and you can do

00:42something like this.

00:43I think it's a really revolutionary step that they're taking and we hope to see him in a

00:47lot of places.

00:49Robot elephants operate in more than 10 temples in southern India, helping to keep a centuries

00:54old tradition alive.

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