So what can you do to help? We can start with Billy.
Billy is an Asian elephant in his early 20's currently residing all alone at the Los Angeles Zoo. Billy used to have two friends that he lived with, Gita and Ruby. Well, Gita died due to foot problems caused by spending her life standing on hard zoo grounds. Then, Ruby was granted freedom to the PAWs Sanctuary in Northern California because it was finally realized that the harsh zoo conditions were taking a serious toll on her body. However, Billy wasn't bad enough off to be saved from the zoo. Now Billy just stands there all day dead to emotion and repetitively and intensely bobbing his head. This happens a lot with captive elephants and is linked to lack of space, stress, loneliness, and boredom. These characteristics can be seen in the following video footage of Billy.
The Los Angeles Zoo is currently planning on leaving Billy all by himself until they finish building a new elephant exhibit in 2009. It may be convenient to the zoo staff, but not to Billy. Elephants are one of the most social creatures in the world and they NEED to be with others. There is a reason they are always with their herd in the wild. He is living in depression until the new exhibit is complete in which more elephants will be forced into the Los Angeles Zoo's Elephant prison. You would think that the zoo would realize that since 1975, 11 elephants have died in their zoo. The average age at their death was 22. This is horrible considering that in the wild they can easily live into their 70s. Billy needs to be saved and Los Angeles Zoo's elephant exhibits need to be shut down forever. You can sign the following petition in order to make those things happen.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/171715744
Please help us save Billy and any future elephants the Los Angeles Zoo plans to put on display. It is up to us.
I'd like to meet:
The following are 3 prime examples of why zoos and circuses are not suitible environments for elephants.
The first of which is the story that got me involved in the efforts of trying to rescue elephants in captivity because I personally got to experience the unfortunate ending.
It is the story of Tatima, Wankie, and Peaches, 3 African Elephants that were trapped in Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo.
Tatima and Wankie were born in Zimbabwe in 1969. They lived happily and contently withtheir herd before they were torn away from their mothers and taken to America to livetheir lives on display. Elephants should NEVER be taken from their mothers before the ageof 2 as it may result in a quick death. They were taken to the San Diego Zoo where theylived for the next 20 years. In 1976 they met Peaches, an older elephant who seemed totake on a mother-like role with them. While there isn't a single zoo in the world thatcan provide for the needs of such creatures, at least the San Diego zoo seemed to care.They SEEMED to, until they had the oppurtunity to put younger elephants on display whowere recently captured from Swaiziland in the same fashion Tatima, Wankie, and Peacheswere.
This would have been an excellent thing for them if they were to be released in aSanctuary where they could roam freely and live the rest of their lives normally. However,the San Diego Zoo decided to send them to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Illinois.There were many protests against this because the weather in Chicago is not suitible forAfrican elephants, or any elephants for that matter. Chicago winters are freezing and caneven reach below 0. The only law that zoos have to follow is to keep the elephantswarehoused out of the cold. Indoors they are often chained up and forced to stand oncement damaging their feet or legs. This is probably why Wankie developed a crippling leginjury. She could no longer bend her rear and her right leg would always drag.
The results of being in this zoo left the elephants in horrid condition. A former keeperfrom the San Diego zoo came to visit them and was quoted as saying, "It is my firm beliefthat these elephants are dying in their new environment, and if not retired to a sanctuarysoon, will not last more than a few years at Lincoln Park Zoo."
All 3 had colic which is Severe abdominal pain caused by spasm, obstruction, or distentionof any of the hollow viscera, such as the intestines. Peaches suffered from chroniclameness, nail abscensses, facial sores, and even lost most of her tusk. Tatima recieveda serious limp, and Wankie showed anger problems. This anger was due to the frustrationof being confined in such a small area. Eventually, Wankie began soloing out her lifelong friend, Tatina. Both Wankie and Peaches would shun Tatima and fight for territory.What was Lincoln Park Zoo's solution? They would keep Tatina locked inside for most ofthe time so that she cannot interact with them. Sadly, Tatina did not have to sufferunder these conditions much longer. On October 16 Tatima was found dead in her stallafter spending her last days freezing, lonely, and in pain. The cause of her death wasTuberculosis. The poor zoo condition and her stress weakened her immune system causingher to contract it. Tuberculosis is a common disease among captive elephants.
The following is a video of Tatima.
http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=tatima_chicago
&Player=wm&speed=_med
It shows her obvious limp and her frail build weeks before she died.
Take note at the beautiful sanctuary they could have been taken to in that video.
At the end it tells you to help bring Peaches and Wankie to that sanctuary.This would have been the proper course of action..
(Protesters at Lincoln Park Zoo trying to save the 2 remaining elephants)
Sadly, it is now too late for Peaches also.
Despite the pleas for the zoo to abandon their stubborn ways and to finally have a heart, nothing was done. Peaches' body was found on the floor of her indoor facility suffering and fighting for breath. She was euthanized shortly after. The zoo had tried to play it off as if her horrendous physical condition had nothing to do with her death, that it was simply a coincidence that 2 elephants had died within months of each other. They denied that the cold weather and lack of exercise space had anything to do with it and said that it is "likely" the death was caused by "complications due to old age"
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And then there was 1
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Elephants are smart animals and share many of the same characteristics as humans. They mourn just like people do and thus Wankie fell into a deep depression over the loss of her 2 life-long friends. It was now more evident than ever that she needed to be saved. Elephants cannot live alone and therefore it would have been unbelievable if Wankie was still not sent to the sanctuary below.
www.elephants.com
Things were begining to look up for her when a Committee hearing by Chicago City Council's Parks and Recreation was scheduled for May 12, approximately 4 months after the death of Peaches. This hearing would be to decide whether or not Wankie can live the rest of her life in happiness free to roam in a sacntuary with other elephants.
Once again, the Lincoln Park Zoo failed miserably.
They decided to rush Wankie away to this zoo
http://www.savewildelephants.com/page/HogleZooFactsheet.pdf
The Hogle Zoo has quite a long record of neglect, improper care, and even escapees. This record most importantly includes the early deaths of multiple elephants. Animal Rights activists again said that living at the Hogle Zoo would be certain death for the sole survivor of the Lincoln Park Zoo tragedy.
The following events of what happened can be best read in the letter located at this website
http://www.consciouschoice.com/2005/cc1807/letters1807.html
This letter was written by a frequent Lincoln Park Zoo visitor and reads as follows...
"I AM one of those funny, little old ladies who goes to the Lincoln Park Zoo and talks to the animals — so I am very sad that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Wanky, a dear elephant friend of mine. Now she has not only left Chicago, but she has left the living world.On Sunday, April 24, I took my camera to the zoo and hoped to get a last picture of Wanky. I had seen the large crate placed in her enclosure to help her get used to her “trailer home†for her trip to her new home in an undisclosed location. (When and where must be a secret because of those “pesky†animal-rights people who are always causing so many problems.)There was no sign of Wanky so I went back to the zoo with my camera the next Sunday, May 1. Not only was Wanky nowhere to be seen, but the shipping crate was gone.Sad, I took a couple of pictures of the place that Wanky and her two elephant buddies had called home. I knew all three were gone now. Only this morning on the news did I hear that Wanky was not only gone, but just as dead as her two buddies.I don’t think Wanky would have wanted me or any of her other frequent human visitors to be sentimental. She would have wanted to leave with her dignity still intact, but she would have wanted me to give you this message:Please, Chicagoans, let’s just look at pictures of African elephants. Let’s not pretend that elephants from Africa can thrive in zoos with the kind of winters we have in Chicago. — C.J. Herhold, Chicago"
The last of the 3 elephants had been murdered.
What had happened was that Wankie only had 2 weeks to get used to the crate that she was going to be transferred in. This was obviously because of the zoo's rushed plans due to the upcoming hearing that would have most likely damaged their ego and sent Wankie to the Tennessee sanctuary. She should have spent at the very least 2 months with the crate inside of her enclosure so she can get used to it.
Wankie was also denied a tarp to keep the cold out despite her passing through 20 degree weathers in route of her 34 hour trip. It was requested several times, however, the trucker, Steve Fritz insisted that the tarp would not be put on "due to a concern to keep the transit time to a minimum." Personally, I don't see why they didn't just get a truck with a heater. Zoo officials claimed they thought that's what they were getting, however, when they didn't, they they continued the transport anyway. Also, none of her medicines, such as the medicine for her colic, were taken with her for the ride even though the travel time was long enough that multiple doses should have been administered.
After about 20 hours Wankie couldn't take the extreme cold any longer. She fell to her knees. If elephants aren't helped up within a couple of hours, their extreme weight causes problems breathing and crushes their internal organs. The driver knew immediately and yet nothing was done to help her. They drove on for 12 more hours with Wankie down. An emergency stop should have been made to the nearest zoo but that was not done.
It was found out after her death that she had lung problems which only allowed them to work at about 70%. The decision to send Wankie to yet another zoo, the poorly planned transport, the extreme weather, Wankie's previous medical conditions, and the careless or stupid people riding with her, all attributed to her death. The blame was never really placed on either of the zoos or the transporters.
No matter who was to blame for this death, one thing is for certain. If these 3 elephants were allowed to stay with their herd back in Zimbabwe, they'd be alive for another 30-40 or so years. The selfishness of us humans has taken away their lives. They were put on display and forced to undergo horrible conditions just so they could amuse us for about 5 minutes as we pass their display.
Another famous story of animal abuse is the story of Tyke the elephant. Sadly, the only reason that Tyke became popular is because she snapped and killed a human. The countless times humans kill elephants are never remembered. If she wasn't here and beaten, it wouldn't have happened.
It all started when Tyke was taken from her family and shipped to the circus when she was very young. She lived in a concrete room and was beaten constantly. This is the only way that circus "trainers" can make the elephants do the ridiculous tricks that you see in the circus. She was stabbed behind her ears, on her toes, in the back of her knees, and even around her butt hole until she did what they wanted. Ouch. She never got any exercise because she remained in chains at all times when she wasn't performing and therefore she suffered from leg pain.
Her diet was poor and she stood in her poo all day. How can anyone make the arguent that these elephants are treated fairly? According to USDA documents she was even beaten publicly. In 1988 while at the Hawthorn circus she was beaten to the point where she was "screaming and bending down on 3 legs to avoid being hit" When confronted, the trainer said he was merely "disciplining" her.
Tyke was fed up with the horrific treatment and needed to escape.
On July 23, 1993 Tyke gave her first try. At the North Dakota State Fair she trampled her handler and ran around for about 25 minutes.
On April 21 of that year, Tyke tried again. She ripped through the front doors during a performance and ran aound Altoona Pennsylvania for an hour causing over $14,000.00 in damages.
By now, Tyke's trainers should have gotten the picture that it wasn't safe for people to be around Tyke. Tyke is supposed to be a wild creature and it wasn't her fault if she couldn't behave herself in captivity. The circus continued to put on shows with Tyke and they continued to abuse her behind closed doors.
Finally, Tyke snapped. The events that occurred can be seen in this video...
http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=circuselephant
s
Tyke had killed her trainer (the second person in that video) and brutally mauled her groomer. (the first person) She was chased through the streets and shot 86 times left to suffer before her death after 2 hours.
You can see the pain in her eyes.
Why couldn't she have just stayed with her family?
Why do humans have to be so selfish?
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So what can you do to help? We can start with Billy.
Billy is an Asian elephant in his early 20's currently residing all alone at the Los Angeles Zoo. Billy used to have two friends that he lived with, Gita and Ruby. Well, Gita died due to foot problems caused by spending her life standing on hard zoo grounds. Then, Ruby was granted freedom to the PAWs Sanctuary in Northern California because it was finally realized that the harsh zoo conditions were taking a serious toll on her body. However, Billy wasn't bad enough off to be saved from the zoo. Now Billy just stands there all day dead to emotion and repetitively and intensely bobbing his head. This happens a lot with captive elephants and is linked to lack of space, stress, loneliness, and boredom. These characteristics can be seen in the following video footage of Billy.
The Los Angeles Zoo is currently planning on leaving Billy all by himself until they finish building a new elephant exhibit in 2009. It may be convenient to the zoo staff, but not to Billy. Elephants are one of the most social creatures in the world and they NEED to be with others. There is a reason they are always with their herd in the wild. He is living in depression until the new exhibit is complete in which more elephants will be forced into the Los Angeles Zoo's Elephant prison. You would think that the zoo would realize that since 1975, 11 elephants have died in their zoo. The average age at their death was 22. This is horrible considering that in the wild they can easily live into their 70s. Billy needs to be saved and Los Angeles Zoo's elephant exhibits need to be shut down forever. You can sign the following petition in order to make those things happen.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/171715744
Please help us save Billy and any future elephants the Los Angeles Zoo plans to put on display. It is up to us.
Music:
Here are some specific cases...
Rose-Tu, victim of zoo abuse.
At the age of 5, she was found in an Oregon zoo with 176 gashes and other wounds in her thick hide from a bullhook such as this one.
You think Rose-Tu's treatment was bad?
Video evidence has shown this elephant being chained and beaten for hours with ax handles at the El Paso Zoo.
The most sickening part of it all was that despite this massive creature's build, she could not prevent her knees from giving out causing her to collapse several times.
Despite having 3 legs chained down to the ground, and one tied to a bar, the beating did not stop.
Keep in mind this incident occurred in 1998.
2005 came around and the same guy was caught beating elephants again.
He was finally fired.
Who knows what else he did off camera in those 7 years.
Gita here is a prime example of the most common zoo mistreatment.
It's not that the keepers intentionally harm elephants like Gita.
It's that they don't know or they don't have the right resources to give a massive creature such as an elephant the things that they need.
The environment in which Gita was forced to walk in caused her to develop advanced foot problems that led to surgery.
She was declared Healed by the zoo.
It may just be me, but I don't think "healed" elephants are supposed to die within a week.
It's a shame to think that for 3 years prior to her death the LA animal activists were trying to get her out of the LA zoo just so this kind of thing would not happen.
Baby Hansa.
At 1 year old she was eating dirt.
Because well, babies don't know better.
Her keepers beat her with a bullhook ripping permanent holes in her.
What else can I say?
This is Lota.
She spent over 30 years in the Milkwaukee Zoo in a single concrete stall chained up like she is in this picture until they sold her to a circus for a dollar because she had become too aggressive.
Personally, I'd be quite aggressive too after being chained up for so long.
The circus treated her even worse.
During her transfer she refused to enter the truck so she was beaten so severely that she fell and began urinating blood.
She was denied any immediate medical care and witnesses say that blood was seen flowing out of the black of the moving trailer.
The last 13 years of her life she spent traveling and performing under horrible conditions such as being chained for days on end and being malnurished.
She was luckier than most of these elephants, however. A battle was won to send her to an elephant sactuary. Once she arrived she was 4,000 lbs underweight. She lived her last 3 months there before she died of tuberculosis which is common among captive elephants so it is thought that she either got it from the circus, or another one of the elephants in the sactuary who got it as a result of being captive.
Baby elephants NEED their mothers.
2 year old Kala found this out the hard way.
He was separated from his mother by 6 flags despite warnings that he was still nursing.
He died soon after.
Elephants like Jumbo can't get hit by trains in the wild.
Television:
HEY YOU!!!
Ok, ok, I really don't expect everyone to read every word on this page, even though that would be pretty neat.
If anything, just remember the basic facts. It is all true, this isn't a PETA Conspiracy of some sort.
These creatures are suffering and dying miserable deaths for our entertainment.
The goal here isn't for you to stand with picket signs outside your local zoo. The point is to spread the word. Next time you pass the zoo or see an ad for the circus, just mention what you learned to whoever your with. Maybe even ask a zookeeper if these facts are true and see what they come up with. Simply put, just spread the word.
Visit the sites below as they are where I got most of my information from and compiled it on this page for all you myspace hipsters out there.
Also, watch the videos.
At least watch the first one.
It really opens your eyes.
Books:
The first site has a bunch of campaigns and other elephant stories so you can go there and find out how you can help even more.
www.savewildelephants.com
www.helpelephants.com
www.peta.com
Heroes:
Video Links.
Horrible Circus Treatment
www.circuses.com
Another Circus Video (Peta Video)
http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=ringling_expos
e&Player=wm&speed=_med
The 3 Lincoln Park Zoo Elephants (Peta)
http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=lincoln&Pl
ayer=wm
