A volunteer helps take care of Bijlee
Bijlee, a 58-year-old elephant, collapsed under her own weight on June 11 in suburban Mulund. Weighing 5000 kilograms, the pachyderm is suffering from degenerative joint disease brought on by her obesity. She now needs to go on a crash diet to lose 1500 kilos.
Bijlee's plight moved superstar Amitabh Bachchan who tweeted about her condition and appealed for help. Thanks to the actor's efforts, Bijlee is now being attended to by a well-known elephant expert Dr. Kushal Sharma.
Ganesh Nayak, from NGO Animals Matter to Us, said offers for help have also poured in after Mr Bachchan's tweet.
A shed has been built for her and she is being administered medicines to help her recover. However, doctors say, chances of her survival are slim.
"Those elephants which have been plucked out of forest area and forced to live in mega cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai never get to live in a natural atmosphere," Dr. Sharma said.
"In wild they live only on forest grass, leaves and water. But here in cities they are getting chapatti cooked in ghee or oil and other unnatural foods. The excessive concentrated food does the damage.
"She is a begging elephant and there are hundreds of such elephants all over the country. I appeal that the government should have fresh look on the fate of these elephants," Dr Sharma added.
Capturing of elephants, though banned, still continues in many parts of the country.
Bijlee's owner Ramdevi Goswami who owns another elephant, 18-year-old Laxmi, says, "Trade has not been stopped. It is still on. There are elephant fairs in Bihar and Assam. We are merely doing what our forefathers did."
There are around 4000 captive elephants in India and half of them face Bijlee's fate. Last year, Sunder, an elephant, was released after Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney and Pamela Anderson demanded his release from a temple in Kolhapur.