In India, it is planned to use robot elephants instead of real elephants in rituals conducted in Hindu temples. This is aimed at protecting real elephants. Cases of human-elephant confrontations have been increasing as living spaces decrease, leading to 629 people being killed by elephants between 2023 and 2024. By replacing real elephants with robot elephants, it is planned to prevent all these deaths. Robot elephants have been produced to prevent the torture of elephants in India. They can move their ears and eyes, attracting attention with their resemblance to real elephants.
Large, real-sized elephants made of rubber and fiberglass are planned to be used in rituals at Hindu temples. Through these robots, the aim is to prevent cases where elephants panic in rituals due to bright light and loud noise and end up crushing the crowd. It also aims to prevent the displacement of endangered elephants from their habitats. It is emphasized that the 2,700 elephants taken from their natural habitats in India are stressed due to the conditions they are exposed to.
There are believed to be fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants in their natural habitats, with the majority living in India. As cases of humans and elephants coming face to face increase due to shrinking habitats, 629 people were killed by elephants between 2023 and 2024. In the same period, 121 elephants died due to reasons such as hunting, poisoning, train accidents, and electrocution. It is planned that by replacing real elephants with robot ones, all these deaths can be prevented.
It is stated that incorporating all the features of the robot costs $5,500, or around 200,000 Turkish lira. There is also an option to rent robot elephants for weddings in India.