India, April 2 -- Julia Buruleva, the artist accused of painting an elephant pink for a photo shoot, has started a support petition - not for the animal, but for herself.

Buruleva is the Russian artist who came under fire after Chanchal, a 65-year-old elephant, was painted pink for her photo shoot in November 2025. The elephant died a few weeks later in February, news agency PTI confirmed.

As visuals of the pink elephant began to circulate online, Buruleva and others involved in the shoot became targets of severe backlash for animal cruelty. The backlash was compounded by news of the animal's death, even though the elephant's owner Sadiq Khan claimed there was no link between its death and the pink gulaal used for the photo shoot.

Juli...