Where Giants Rest

4,000 years ago in India people first put elephants to work in agriculture. Pretty soon they were charging in to warfare and serving kings. These elephants were taken from the wild and brutally beaten or “trained” into submission. The practice continued, and even diversified. Today, despite being listed as an endangered species, Asian elephants are still chained in temples, used to haul lumber, and ridden by tourists. 60% of the worlds Asian elephants live in India where, among everything listed before, they play cricket in circuses, and are sold in marketplaces alive or dead. With millennia steeped in traditions, poaching on the rise, and growing human populations crowding more and more land, we cannot go back to a world where elephants roam free from human intervention. That would be impossible. Yet, that’s precisely what one group of people has set out to do. Where Giants Rest is a photo essay following the work of Wildlife SOS. Based in India, they fervently believe that the way things are is not the way they have to be. Their goal is to end the exploitation of elephants and give them back their natural, wild, dignity. To date they have rescued nearly 30 individuals; more than any single agency on the subcontinent. Inside of their sanctuary, Wildlife SOS is giving these elephants the life, the love and the care that they never had. Where Giants Rest offers a peek into what it actually takes to save the world, one species at a time.