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Asia’s First Empathy-Building Animatronic Elephant, ‘Ellie’, Voiced by Actor Dia Mirza, Visits Hyderabad School Courtesy of PETA India

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For Immediate Release:

20 August 2024

Contact:

Sanskriti Bansore; SanskritiB@petaindia.org

Meenakshi Narang; MeenakshiN@petaindia.org

Hyderabad – Students at Glendale Academy were treated to a special visit on Tuesday from a stunningly realistic life-size mechanical elephant named Ellie, voiced by actor Dia Mirza, as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India launched an empathy-building tour of schools in Hyderabad. Ellie will interact with thousands of local students, blinking her eyes and flapping her ears, just like a real elephant, as she tells children an age-appropriate story about the trauma of being separated from her mother as a baby, the abuse she endured in a circus, and finally, her happy life at a sanctuary after her rescue.

Photos and videos of Ellie from the launch event are available upon request.

“The children were excited to meet and learn from mechanical elephant Ellie, who is a novel educational tool that helps youngsters develop kindness and concern for animals,” says Glendale Group of Schools Director Ms Minu Salooja. “Thanks to Ellie, the students now appreciate real elephants’ need to live free in their jungle homes – not in confinement, being chained and beaten – for their wellbeing.”

“Ellie the mechanical elephant helps children understand that members of other species feel pain, fear, joy, and love – just like us – and that they deserve to live out their days in peace,” says PETA India Senior Education Coordinator Meenakshi Narang. “PETA India encourages families to embrace animal-free activities that do not exploit elephants and other living, feeling beings.”

Captive elephants used for entertainment are often abducted from their families and jungle homes, beaten into submission, and jabbed with ankuses – heavy batons with sharp steel tips – to control them through pain and fear. Many develop abnormal behaviour after years of strict confinement, and they are rarely given adequate food, water, or veterinary care.

Since May 2023, Ellie has reached over 1,13,000 young learners at various private, public, international, and government schools across India, sharing the message that elephants should not be used in circuses or for rides or other cruel events. She’ll now be visiting thousands of students in Hyderabad at the Glendale group of schools, St Michael’s School, St Andrews School, Meridian School, Gitanjali Devakul, Meru International School, Talla Padmavathi International School, Suchitra Academy International School, and Little Millennium.

PETA India also runs a free humane education programme, Compassionate Citizen, designed to help school students aged 8 to 12 years better understand and appreciate animals. It has been used by over 2 lakh schools and reached approximately 9.3 crore children across India.

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