Guwahati, Aug. 3 -- Thousands of Kolhapur residents marched in silence on Sunday, urging authorities to bring back 36-year-old elephant Mahadevi, also known as Madhuri, from the Vantara Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Gujarat's Jamnagar.

Former MP Raju Shetty led the march, which began in Nandani and ended at the district collectorate.

Protesters submitted a memorandum demanding Mahadevi's return to her longtime home, the Shri Jinsen Bhattarak Pattacharya Mahaswami Jain monastery in Nandani, where she had lived for over three decades.

State health minister Prakash Abitkar told reporters that Vantara officials, during a Friday meeting in Kolhapur, assured cooperation in facilitating Mahadevi's return.

Authorities had earli...