After suffering for 50 years held captive with spiked chains on his feet, Raju the Indian elephant is now free.
Rescue teams and veterinarians from the charity Wildlife SOS-UK and officers from the Forestry Commission journeyed to a farm in India's Uttar Pradesh region to save Raju, where he was chained and beaten by his owners his entire life, according to the New York Daily News.
Rescuers said Raju cried as the shackles were removed from his feet last Wednesday.
"Raju was in chains 24 hours a day, an act of intolerable cruelty," Pooja Binepal, of Wildlife SOS-UK, told the newspaper. "The team were astounded to see tears roll down his face during the rescue."
The team sedated Raju before loading him into the back of a truck where he was driven to the Elephant Conservation and Care Centre at Mathura.
"The other elephants in the sanctuary awoke from their sleep as we pulled in and came to have a look- it was an extraordinary moment," Katrick Satyanarayan, founder of Wildlife SOS-UK, told the Daily News.
There, his life-long bonds were removed. He was able to take his first steps at the conservation center on July 4.
"It was incredibly emotional. We knew in our hearts he realized he was being freed," Binepal said.
