"Circus Life for Elephants is Form of Abuse"

Great minds think alike! I think that Ms. Wexler-Jonas and I should get together, as we definitely share some opinions!  I've never been to a circus- and never plan to, unless for research purposes- but I've seen so many pictures and videos of cruel behaviors towards elephants and other animals that don't belong on a stage.  These animals do not deserve to be treated like this!

"I have deep concern for the elephants that will be performing in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus May 8-12 in Columbus.

Circus life for elephants is grueling at its best and takes an enormous toll on their bodies. These highly intelligent animals, which can recognize themselves in a mirror and mourn over their dead, are among the most emotionally sensitive animals on the planet.

They were built to walk dozens of miles a day foraging for food. In the circus, they spend most of their days chained up in railroad cars or inside a barn. Their only real movement comes during performances that force them to do unnatural circus tricks such as standing on their heads, standing on a tiny stool or climbing on each other’s backs.

As a result, most former circus elephants suffer from debilitating arthritis, foot problems and untreated broken bones and have been known to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

A few years ago, Sammy Haddock, a former Ringling elephant trainer, sent out documents including photographs showing how Ringling uses abusive practices when training the calves. These baby elephants are taken from their mothers at a very young age and forced at the point of a bull hook to learn circus tricks.

I hope everyone who reads this will think twice before purchasing tickets to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Maybe the Greatest Show on Earth should be called the Cruelest Show on Earth."

~Wendy Wexler-Jonas

The Columbus Dispatch

April 30, 2013

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Behind the Scenes

This video made me SO MAD!  People all over the world are being unnecessarily cruel to elephants.  Elephants should be out in the wild, NOT in irresponsible zoos, circuses, parades, small pens, or trailers.  

If you cannot access this video, click here.

"The animals deserve our respect and protection." 

AND LET'S GIVE IT TO THEM.

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Pick Up Your Trash, People!

We humans need to think about animals more often.  For example, this tire stuck on the neck of a female, possibly pregnant elk in Colorado.  

Wildlife officials say the elk—nicknamed The Tired Elk by residents–can do everything it needs to do, such as eat, breathe and run. They don’t want to tranquilize the animal to remove the tire because they fear the elk is pregnant. Tranquilizing the animal can be traumatic and could do harm to the calf.

This isn’t the first time an elk has ended up wearing an unwanted accessory. An elk lived six years with the ring of a dog’s feeding dish around its neck. There was an elk four years ago that somehow got a bar stool stuck on its head. A bar stool?

According to a CNN report, elementary students were tasked with coming up with an explanation. One student suggested the elk had too much to drink at a local bar, fell off its stool and somehow got the stool stuck on its head.

So, how did this elk manage to get a tire around its neck?

One woman suggested that some kids did it as a prank, but her husband dismissed the idea because they wouldn’t dare get that close to the wild animal. But is there a better explanation? Hmmm.

~David Strege

GrindTV

Cow's head stuck in ladder.

Skunk with a peanut butter jar stuck on it's head

Poor guys.  

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To Environmentalists, From Dr. Seuss 4.0

Think: What if we all cared for elephants?  Would we be facing the terrible crisis of poaching that we are?

Let's succeed in saving the elephants!

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To Environmentalists, From Dr. Seuss 3.0

I'm going to save elephants in my future, for sure!

Let's face our elephant troubles... WITH a bat! 

It's true. So many questions about elephants, and so many possible answers.

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To Environmentalists, From Dr. Seuss 2.0

Don't wait for others to make a difference.  You go do it yourself, and trust that others will follow.  

Yes, all creatures SHOULD be free!

Save the trees!

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To Environmentalists, From Dr. Seuss

I am steering myself towards saving elephants. Where are you going in your life?

Embrace the day.  Today is the only today you'll ever get.  Make the most of it!

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How Elephants See the World

"Washington: 12 to 14 year old students from East Side Middle School in New York City are attempting to put an end to the elephant crisis, which is at an all time high with more and more demand for ivory taking more and more lives. 

Think Elephants International, a not-for-profit organization striving to promote elephant conservation through scientific research, education programming and international collaborations, today announced its latest study, "Visual Cues Given by Humans are Not Sufficient for Asian Elephants (Elephas Maximus) to Find Hidden Food." 

Designed in collaboration with and co-authored by students from East Side Middle School, the study revealed that elephants are not able to recognize visual cues provided by humans, although they are more responsive to vocal commands. 

These findings may directly impact protocols for future efforts to conserve elephants, which are in danger of extinction in this century due to increased poaching and human/elephant conflict. 

The publication of this paper is the climax of a three-year endeavor to create a comprehensive middle school curriculum that educates and engages young people directly in elephant and other wildlife conservation. 

The study was carried out at Think Elephants' field site in northern Thailand, and students participated via webcam conversation and direct web-links to the elephant camp. 

According to Joshua Plotnik, PhD, founder and CEO of Think Elephants, "if elephants are not primarily using sight to navigate their natural environment, human-elephant conflict mitigation techniques must consider what elephants' main sensory modalities are and how elephants think so that they might be attracted or deterred effectively as a situation requires. The loss of natural habitat, poaching for ivory, and human-elephant conflict are serious threats to the sustainability of elephants in the wild. Put simply, we will be without elephants, and many other species in the wild, in less than 50 years if the world does not act." 

The Think Elephants study tested whether captive elephants, wild animals in relatively close contact with humans, could follow visual, social cues (pointing and gazing) to find food hidden in one of two buckets. 

The elephants failed at this task, but were able to follow vocal commands telling them which bucket contained the food. 

These results suggest that elephants may navigate their physical world in ways that primates and dogs do not. 

Based on the results of this study, Dr. Plotnik suggests further attention to research on elephant behavior and an increase in educational programming are needed, particularly in Asia where the market for ivory is so strong. 

The study has been published in the journal PLOS ONE."

~ZEENEWS
April 20, 2013

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Happy Earth Day!

Yes, elephants need it too!

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Happy Earth Day Eve!

Yes, tomorrow is Earth Day.  And it is also a great reminder to really care for the Earth better.  Today I was fortunate to come across an amazing prayer from a group of Native Americans from Spokane, WA.  

"O Great Creator, I come before you in a humble manner.  With tears in my eyes and an ancient song from my heart I pray.  To the four powers of Creation, To the Grandfather Sun, To the Grandmother Moon, To the Mother Earth, And to my ancestors.  I pray for my relations in Nature, All those who walk, crawl, fly, and swim, Seen and unseen, To the good spirits that exist in every part of Creation.  

May there be good health and healing for this Earth,

May there be Beauty above me, May there be Beauty below me,

May there be Beauty in me, May there be Beauty all around me.

I ask that this world be filled with Peace, Love, and Beauty."

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The Show Must Go On... Without Elephants

"The show's producer calls it 'a bureaucratic nightmare,' but the state says all elephants must be tested for tuberculosis before entering Maine.

AUGUSTA – Johnny Rocket, "Just Larry" the clown, a flying trapeze act, a ballerina on horseback, Ringmaster Peter Sturgis, and other big top performers will be at the 60th annual Kora Shrine Circus at the Augusta Civic Center on Saturday.

Staff photo by Andy Molloy Cora, a 47-year-old elephant, and her owner Cindy Morris, have previously been part of the Shriner Circus at the Augusta Civic Center.

Select images available for purchase in the
Maine Today Photo Store

CIRCUS SHOW TIMES

WHAT: 60th annual Kora Shrine Circus

WHEN: Shows today at 9:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Doors open an hour before show times

WHERE: Augusta Civic Center

TICKETS: available at Shaw’s supermarket or at the door; $5 for children, $10 for adults and $12 for reserved seating

But not Nosey the elephant.

Neither Nosey, nor any other elephants, will be part of this year's circus -- a major fundraiser for the Shriners fraternal organization -- after they were denied entry by state officials because they hadn't had a recent-enough tuberculosis test required by the state of Maine.

The producer of the circus said elephants were en route to Maine for three Shriner circus shows in Lewiston, Portland and Augusta when the order to stop was made.

"It's a bureaucratic nightmare," said Jim Hamid Jr., producer of Hamid Circus Inc., the firm providing the circus acts for the Shriners. "I've never had anything (like this happen) before. And we've been in the business 82 years."

Hamid said the specific type of TB test required by Maine was previously administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but the USDA no longer uses it.

"You can't get it done anymore," he said of the test. "So by administering this rule, Maine is saying no more elephants are allowed in the state."

Not true, according to state veterinarian Michele Walsh. She said the test is still available, and elephants still can come to Maine.

"Elephants are welcome in Maine, if they meet our criteria for importation," Walsh said. "They didn't have the appropriate test done within the 12 months prior, as required to come in to Maine."

Walsh said she received a recent request to bring a single elephant, Nosey, into Maine for the Hamid Circus. That request was denied because Nosey hadn't had one of two required TB tests done within the required time frame.

She said elephants infected with TB can spread the disease to humans.

Hamid said the elephant was, before the Maine shows, in New Hampshire waiting for a permit to come into Maine. Having been denied that permit, the elephant is now in North Carolina, he said, waiting for the next show.

Dan Gove, circus chairman for the Shriners in Maine, said the elephants are a popular feature, and synonymous with the circus.

But the show will go on, he said, and it's still packed with two-hours plus of action for the whole family.

Remaining events, he noted, include a trapeze act, a comedy tow truck act, a ballerina on horseback, an aerial motorcyclist, a performance by dogs that were all rescued from pounds and trained, and both professional and Kora Shrine clowns.

"It's something the whole family can do and enjoy," Gove said of the popular shows. "Fun, wholesome family entertainment."

Hamid said that's a major reason circuses have survived for so long as entertainment, even with the growth of technology and changes in society.

"You can go with your grandchildren and not be embarrassed, and both of you will enjoy the acts," Hamid said. "It's good, clean family entertainment, for all ages. That's why it's survived so long."

Saturday's three shows are scheduled for 9:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

The circus raises funds to help offset the cost of running the Shriners' fraternal organization, Gove said, including the cost of maintaining the organization's building in Lewiston."

~Keith Edwards

Portland Press Herald

April 20, 2013

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Elephant Killed on Indian Railway Tracks

A villager performing a ritual places flowers over a dead wild Asiatic elephant after it was hit by a train in Panbari, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Guwahati, the capital city of India’s northeastern state of Assam, on September 1, 2012. The female elephant was killed by a moving train when the herd it was with crossed the railroad tracks. (Strdel/AFP/GettyImages)

"The railway tracks should be removed from the elephant corridors. This will need huge investment but eventually this needs to be done."

~K. Tito Joseph, Program Manager at Wildlife Protection Society of India

"Wild elephants continue to be killed on the railway tracks across India, suggesting an open confrontation between the wild life habitats and the Indian railways.

In March this year, an adult male elephant was killed by a speeding train in the Buxa Tiger Reserve located in West Bengal.

The reserve’s northern boundary runs along the international border with Bhutan. It serves as a corridor for the elephants migrating between the two countries, making it dangerous for these animals.

Such incidences have become more frequent in the last few years. In December last year, five elephants were reportedly killed after they were hit by a passenger train in Orissa state, as the animals were crossing railway tracks with their herd. 

“In recent years elephants have been killed on railway tracks in the states of West Bengal (Buxa Tiger Reserve), Assam, Uttrakhand, Orissa, and Tamil Nadu (Krishnagiri),” said K. Tito Joseph, program manager at Wildlife Protection Society of India. 

According to Joseph, elephants usually travel in herds through forest and elephant corridors. “Elephants nature is such that it annually moves through corridors in search of food and railway tracks come in between.”

According to Eleaid, an organization involved in conservation of Asiatic Elephants, India has 50 to 60 —percent of Asia’s total wild elephants and 20 percent domesticated. The total elephant range is spread across 110,000 square kilometers in south, central, north-east, and north-west of the country.

In a report titled “Elephants on railway hit list,” published in the Civil Society magazine, author Vivek S. Ghatani writes that there are 529 elephants in Buxa. Recently the state government stated 49 elephant deaths in the last two years in the region, out of these 22 were killed by the speeding trains.

“During our meeting with railway officials, we repeatedly requested them to bring down the speed of trains from 80–90 kmph to 25 kmph so that the driver can stop the train in time after sighting elephants. But our pleas fell on deaf ears,” said R.P. Saini, field director of the Buxa Tiger Reserve, in the Civil Society magazine’s report.

Joseph said that some good mechanism should come into place to prevent elephant deaths on railway tracks. “The railway tracks should be removed from the elephant corridors. This will need huge investment but eventually this needs to be done.”

The situation is reportedly similar in other parts of the country. According to a report by Press Trust of India (PTI), the government was recently informed by Indian Railway Ministry that 49 elephants were killed on railway tracks around the country since 2010, including 5 killed in January this year.

According to the PTI, the Indian railway minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal, said that advisories have been issued to zonal Railways to sensitize train crew and station masters on regular basis. 

The incidences have led to increasing demands that trains be stopped at night on tracks that run through wild life reserves as elephants mostly move at night in herds.

However, Joseph believes that proper coordination between the forest and railway officials could greatly solve the problem. “Forest officials have to do patrolling and they have regular updates of the movement of elephant herds. They should timely pass the information of their movement to the railway officials.”

“Such accidents are usually happening at the same locations. Proper coordination between railway and forest officials can minimize the causalities.” However, he stresses that gradually the tracks should be removed from the corridors."

~ Venus Upadhayaya

Epoch Times 

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An Apology To Elephants 3.0

Have HBO? Are you free this Monday night?  Do you love elephants?  If so, this is for you!

"The crux of this documentary is to explore the beauty and intelligence of elephants, tell the story of how these animals are exploited and treated in captivity, and shed light on the poaching of wild African elephants. Oakland Zoo’s elephant manager, Jeff Kinzley along with zoo president & CEO, Dr. Joel Parrott, and Colleen Kinzley, director of animal care were all involved with interviews and filming at Oakland Zoo.

Oakland, CA (PRWEB) April 17, 2013

On Monday, April 22, 2013 "An Apology to Elephants" narrated and executive produced by Lily Tomlin and directed by Emmy winner Amy Schatz, with narration written by Jane Wagner, will debut at 7:00pmET/PT, on HBO. Oakland Zoo strongly supports the message of this film and is extremely proud to be a part of a documentary that showcases the plight of these magnificent animals.

The crux of this documentary is to explore the beauty and intelligence of elephants, tell the story of how these animals are exploited and treated in captivity, and shed light on the poaching of wild African elephants. Oakland Zoo’s elephant manager, Jeff Kinzley along with zoo president & CEO, Dr. Joel Parrott, and Colleen Kinzley, director of animal care were all involved with interviews and filming at Oakland Zoo.

“It is heart wrenching to see what elephants have gone through and still go through today in the name of entertainment,” said Nancy Filippi, managing director at Oakland Zoo. As an organization, we feel the message of this film is directly in line with Oakland Zoo’s mission. We hope this documentary is eye-opening to viewers and that it inspires them to take action for elephants.

Oakland Zoo is home to four African elephants, three females and one male. Their names are Donna, Lisa, M’Dunda, and Osh. More than six acres make up their expansive exhibit, which includes a swimming pool, trees, hills, and areas for dust bathing, which is a natural behavior among elephants. The elephants are managed with protected contact, meaning zookeepers and elephants do not share the same space; bull hooks are not used. The animals are never forced to do anything they do not want to do; instead, they are rewarded with treats for participating with foot care, morning routines, and health exams. Ten spreads (scattering of food throughout the exhibit) are done each day to encourage foraging and exercise. Truckloads of browse or tree branches are collected and donated from surrounding areas, to ensure the proper diet is given to the animals.

CONSERVATION CONNECTION: 
Each year, Oakland Zoo honors elephants by hosting a Celebrating Elephants day event and an evening lecture. The day event’s focus is to educate the public about elephants, explain why they should not be used for entertainment, and demonstrate what it is like to research elephants in the wild. The evening lecture is a more intimate gathering that features a guest speaker, silent auction, and reception. Proceeds from these events are donated to the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, which aims to ensure the long-term conservation and welfare of Africa’s elephants in the context of human needs and pressures through scientific research, training, community outreach, public awareness and advocacy. Cynthia Moss and her research team at Amboseli have spent time in the field researching and leading the efforts to understand these intelligent and complex animals.

ABOUT OAKLAND ZOO: 
The Bay Area’s award-winning Oakland Zoo is home to more than 660 native and exotic animals. The Zoo offers many educational programs and kid’s activities perfect for science field trips, family day trips and exciting birthday parties. Nestled in the Oakland Hills, in 500-acre Knowland Park, the Zoo is located at 9777 Golf Links Road, off Highway 580. The East Bay Zoological Society (Oakland Zoo) is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization supported in part by members, contributions, the City of Oakland and the East Bay Regional Parks. For more information please visit our website at http://www.oaklandzoo.org.

~SF Gate
April 18, 2013

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An Apology To Elephants 2.0

I can't wait until Monday, April 22!

"Lily Tomlin’s eloquent HBO doc is a kind of Pachyderms 101, informed by compassion, outrage and a sense of urgency.

Lily Tomlin lays her cards on the table at the very beginning of An Apology to Elephants, the HBO documentary she executive produced and narrates. “I love elephants,” she says over the poignant sequence that opens the film. Setting up the doc’s central argument, director Amy Schatz contrasts footage of showbiz elephants lumbering off a train at dawn with visuals of the beasts in their natural element, the African savanna. If there’s one thing the filmmakers want viewers to take away, it’s that elephants don’t belong in captivity. 

Tomlin isn’t alone in her deep affection for the pachyderms. Their fans have had access over the years to a multitude of documentaries and books about them. For those familiar with any of those works, Apology offers nothing particularly new, and none of the astounding intimacy that makes nature docs so compelling. But the 40-minute film covers the basics — the matriarchal social structure, the intense and lifelong emotional ties, the appalling history of abuse — with energy and clarity, making for a concise overview and a convincing call to action. 

The talking-head interviews, with people who have devoted much of their lives to the endangered mammal — among them wildlife researcher Cynthia Moss, conservationist Joyce Poole and veterinarian Mel Richardson — are as succinct and impassioned as the judicious narration, written by executive producer Jane Wagner. 

Archival material is also effectively employed. It includes the film’s hardest-hitting element: footage of training routines at zoos and circuses that’s painful to watch. In order to learn how to entertain humans, the animals are tortured into submission with bullhooks and whips. The unspeakable mistreatment began in 1796, when a “specimen” was torn from its home and shipped to the U.S., the first of many elephants that would be put on display for an entrepreneur’s profit. 

Inspired by the intelligent beasts' unique grace and nobility, humans broke their spirit. It’s a story not unlike King Kong’s, and with no less tragic an ending; though the elephants have survived the ordeal, it has denatured them. And they continue to be a money-making attraction, which is why zoos continue to breed them — a practice that one expert eyes with profound ambivalence. 

Without specifically addressing the long-running controversy over the Los Angeles Zoo’s elephant exhibit, the film spotlights protests at such facilities. The Oakland Zoo gets a nod for exemplary improvements that give the animals more than 6 acres for roaming — not much compared to their African treks, but a vast improvement over the cramped quarters in which most captive elephants are forced to spend their lives. 

According to former TV animal trainer Pat Derby, to whom the film is dedicated, “You can fix a zoo. You can’t fix a circus.” Derby, who died in February, co-founded the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), and Apology includes what must be some of the last footage of the spirited crusader at the rescue group’s elephant sanctuary in Northern California. (It airs just days after the Los Angeles City Council paid tribute to her.) 

The images of hope and salvation are responses to the dire warning that runs through the documentary. But the sense of emergency remains. The film touches briefly on the flourishing ivory trade that makes tusks a hot commodity, noting that if African elephants continue to be poached at the current rate, they’ll be extinct in 10 years. Like much of what’s said in  An Apology to Elephants, it’s a fundamental fact, plainly stated and brokenhearted."

~Sheri Linden

The Hollywood Reporter

April 17, 2013

Chocolate For Elephants!

Two of my favorite things in one sentence.  Chocolate and elephants!

Hey eis4elephant readers in Virginia!

"Chocolate for Elephants features gourmet chocolates, desserts and wines from local vendors, all sold to benefit the U.S. Friends of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT), a  501 (c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and conservation of wildlife, specifically known for the rescue and hand-rearing of orphaned baby elephants.

#Two hundred guests are expected to attend on Saturday, April 27, in the name of protecting the infant elephants that have lost their families due to the tremendous increase in poaching for ivory in Africa.

#The event goal is to raise over $10,000 during the evening.

#Chocolate for Elephants will be held at the Midtown in Reston Town Center, Virginia, from 8-11 p.m. There will be chances to win prizes and a silent auction with items and vacations. Some of the items include:

#*Afternoon Tea for Two at The Ritz Carlton

#*Signature facial with make-up application at The Red Door Spa at Elizabeth Arden

#*Round of golf for four at Sea Pines Resort

#*Jewelry from Midtown Jewelers

#*Four rounds of golf at 1757 Golf Club

#*Chocolate tasting for ten at MC2 Confections

#*Premier wine tasting for twelve at Tarara Winery

#*Three-month trial membership at Koko FitClub

#*Pampered Pooch package, grooming included, from PetsMart and Dog a Do

#*Wine/chocolate pairing class for two at Artfully Chocolate

#*Guided tour for two (kayak or canoe) down the Gunpowder River including a picnic lunch included, courtesy of Susie Needle Coven and Allan Coven

#*Restaurant certificates from Wildfire, Mamma Lucia, The Melting Pot, Mon Ami Gabi, PF Chang's, Clyde's, The V, and IceBerry

#*Tee it Up Golf lessons at Reston National Golf Course

#*Wine tasting and tour for six at Three Fox Vineyards

#*Massage treatment at Spa Noa

#Guests can also sign up to foster the baby elephant of their choice.

#For more information go to: HYPERLINK "http://chocolate4elephants.eventbrite.com/"http://chocolate4elephants.eventbrite.com/.

#All proceeds go directly to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust."

~The Connection

(Virginia)

April 16, 2013