The cold of the winter season is just as severe to animals as it is to humans. Even furry and large animals like elephants are greatly affected by the extreme weather of this season. Unfortunately for animals like elephants, there is hardly anything they can do to protect themselves from the cold weather. It is therefore up to humans to take the responsibility of keeping the elephants safe and developing ways of keeping them warm through the cold season. This is precisely what residents of Muthura Village, Utar Pradesh are doing.
In an attempt to keep their large neighbors warm despite the cold winter weather, the villagers are utilizing their creativity to knit giant sweaters for the elephants. As odd as it may sound, their strategy is actually working, and the elephants seem happy knowing their human neighbors care for them. The villagers have come up with the name Jumbo Jackets for these garments.
Knitting a sweater that fits onto an elephant is not exactly an easy task. It takes lots of time and a great deal of time to knit the sweater to completion. Due to these and other challenges, the villagers take relatively longer to completely knit a single Jumbo Sweater. It can take up to four weeks to knit one sweater. Their efforts at ensuring the wellbeing of elephants is certainly remarkable and the elephants are definitely grateful for their new winter attire.
Just like in any other area around the world, the elephants that inhabit the village were exposed to harsh treatment from certain residents. Realizing the danger and the harm these animals were exposed to, they were adopted as residents of the Wildlife SOS Elephant Center. The move was aimed at rescuing the animals from abusive homes. The population of the elephants at the center is steadily growing. Currently, there are 20 different elephants hosted at the center, both males and females. They are well taken care of at the center and are offered protection not only from the abusive residents but from severe weather conditions and other environmental elements as well.

In a statement to the media, Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS spoke on the importance of protecting elephants from the harsh cold of the winter season. He added that since the elephants had suffered significant abuse from some residents, they were vulnerable to diseases like pneumonia. He also stated that the cold weather heightened the risks of the elephants going down with arthritis.
The villagers have proven that it does not take lots of money, fully equipped facilities or resources to keep wildlife safe and comfortable. They are a true definition of what a true neighbor should be.