Because Asha the captive African elephant has a fighting chance at
freedom.
She's been forced to do stupid zoo tricks. Forced to
give endless rides under a sweltering sun. Forced to spend long, cold, sub-zero,
snowy winters in a barren barn. And alone, always alone.
All in the name of elephant "conservation" and elephant "outreach and education."
For too long, zoos and circuses have treated "conservation" and captivity as scarcely more than shades of grey - hoping you never discover that one has very little to do with the other.
For too long, they've touted "captive elephant breeding programs" when in fact not one of those elephants will EVER be released to the wild.
But for the past eleven years, the unwavering commitment of IDA members has fought against those half-truths, enabling our Elephant Campaign to contribute to victories that I hardly dared to dream of for elephants like Asha.
It is Asha who needs you now, to take a stand with your donation of any size.
Her fate has yet to be decided, at a zoo called Natural Bridge in Roanoke, Virginia.
Last year, support like yours enabled IDA to act after we were tipped off. We found conditions so appalling that Natural Bridge went straight to #1 on our 2014 Worst Zoos for Elephants list.
The Commonwealth of Virginia revoked the zoo permit for
Natural Bridge, in a stopgap measure. Since pulling their license the state has
since allowed the zoo to re-open pending the results of yet another
investigation. The ultimate decision, though, lies with the USDA.
Sixty-two remaining zoos in the U.S. have elephant exhibits.
And the truth is as plain as black and white.
Elephant rides ... isolation ... performing zoo tricks ... when it comes to elephant captivity, live-capture, and conservation, there are no shades of grey.
Your donation of any amount now will help IDA continue to:
An elephant's tusks develop from upper incisor teeth and grow throughout the animal's life. While only some Asian male elephants have tusks, all African elephants, including females, have tusks.
Sadly, the demand for these tusks is threatening the lives of these magnificent, intelligent animals. With as many as 30,000 killed every year for their ivory, elephants can't wait—and neither can other species and habitats around the world.
The urgency to help protect elephants from the
ivory trade is attracting international attention. Just 10 days ago, the US
destroyed more than one ton of confiscated ivory in Times Square, sending a
dramatic message to the world that the United States will not tolerate ivory
trafficking.
Among our critical conservation projects, WWF works to stop wildlife crime—the biggest threat to elephants, tigers and rhinos—by focusing on zero poaching efforts, breaking the trafficking links and reducing demand for illegal wildlife parts and products, including ivory.
But fighting wildlife crime is not our only focus. From the Amazon rain forest to the majestic Himalayas, we work with partners to combat threats, preserve biodiversity and protect habitats around the globe. Your generous donation today will help us continue our critical efforts to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature.
Don, please make a donation to WWF today.
After the Ivory Crush in Times Square, the Race is on for the U.S. to Shut Down Illegal Ivory Markets. Every fifteen minutes an elephant is killed for the ivory trade.
International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos (IDAEZ): Sunday, June 28, 2015. We once again would like to remind you to join us for our International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos (IDAEZ), a global event focused on the suffering of elephants in zoos while also raising awareness about circuses and other cruel captive conditions. Please help us by clicking "going" to the event on our Facebook page redirected through www.helpelephants.com. You can help by participating online at any time by sharing posts there as well!
On June 28th, an online global demonstration will culminate, and three live demonstrations, one in Canada and two in the U.S., will be held for the three solitary elephants in North American zoos who have been alone and isolated from all other elephants for decades. IDA's Elephant Scientist, Dr. Toni Frohoff, says, "The particular atrocities that these three elephants suffer in solitary in North American zoos will hopefully help to dispel the myth that North American – or any - zoos treat elephants humanely. Elephant advocates around the world want to see these – and all captive elephants – be released and retired to accredited sanctuaries where they can live their lives in comfort and companionship rather than in misery."
Click here to read more and to get locations for live demonstrations.
She's been forced to do stupid zoo tricks. Forced to
give endless rides under a sweltering sun. Forced to spend long, cold, sub-zero,
snowy winters in a barren barn. And alone, always alone.All in the name of elephant "conservation" and elephant "outreach and education."
For too long, zoos and circuses have treated "conservation" and captivity as scarcely more than shades of grey - hoping you never discover that one has very little to do with the other.
For too long, they've touted "captive elephant breeding programs" when in fact not one of those elephants will EVER be released to the wild.
But for the past eleven years, the unwavering commitment of IDA members has fought against those half-truths, enabling our Elephant Campaign to contribute to victories that I hardly dared to dream of for elephants like Asha.
It is Asha who needs you now, to take a stand with your donation of any size.
Her fate has yet to be decided, at a zoo called Natural Bridge in Roanoke, Virginia.
Last year, support like yours enabled IDA to act after we were tipped off. We found conditions so appalling that Natural Bridge went straight to #1 on our 2014 Worst Zoos for Elephants list.
The Commonwealth of Virginia revoked the zoo permit for
Natural Bridge, in a stopgap measure. Since pulling their license the state has
since allowed the zoo to re-open pending the results of yet another
investigation. The ultimate decision, though, lies with the USDA.Sixty-two remaining zoos in the U.S. have elephant exhibits.
And the truth is as plain as black and white.
Elephant rides ... isolation ... performing zoo tricks ... when it comes to elephant captivity, live-capture, and conservation, there are no shades of grey.
Your donation of any amount now will help IDA continue to:
- Educate more of the public about what's really happening in zoos and circuses;
- Assist with grassroots support for
local activists at international rallies and specific zoos like Natural
Bridge;
- Change captive elephant policy through
our work with lawmakers and with science-based presentations at key
conferences;
- And of course, fight for the release to sanctuaries of Asha and other captive elephants.
An elephant's tusks develop from upper incisor teeth and grow throughout the animal's life. While only some Asian male elephants have tusks, all African elephants, including females, have tusks.
Sadly, the demand for these tusks is threatening the lives of these magnificent, intelligent animals. With as many as 30,000 killed every year for their ivory, elephants can't wait—and neither can other species and habitats around the world.
| DON'T WAIT—DONATE TO WWF TODAY › |
Among our critical conservation projects, WWF works to stop wildlife crime—the biggest threat to elephants, tigers and rhinos—by focusing on zero poaching efforts, breaking the trafficking links and reducing demand for illegal wildlife parts and products, including ivory.
But fighting wildlife crime is not our only focus. From the Amazon rain forest to the majestic Himalayas, we work with partners to combat threats, preserve biodiversity and protect habitats around the globe. Your generous donation today will help us continue our critical efforts to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature.
Don, please make a donation to WWF today.
After the Ivory Crush in Times Square, the Race is on for the U.S. to Shut Down Illegal Ivory Markets. Every fifteen minutes an elephant is killed for the ivory trade.
The elephant poaching crisis was on the agenda of the U.S. – China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, that took place Wednesday June 24 in Washington DC.
The timing, then, of the ivory crush at Time Square in New York City is not lost on many who are watching the one-upmanship between two of the most significant consuming markets for elephant ivory.
When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service destroyed six tons of contraband ivory in November 2013, I wrote in a blog, the survival of elephants depends on our collective stand against ivory trade, expressing my hope that the U.S. ivory destruction would rally China to do the same.
Indeed, China followed the U.S. lead: Less than two months later, China destroyed 6.1 tons of ivory in Guangdong.
Growing Support for Elephants
In fact, since then, nearly 50 tonnes of ivory confiscated from illegal trade have been crushed or torched in many countries and territories around the world, France, Chad, Belgium, Hong Kong SAR of China, Kenya, Congo-Brazzaville, and UAE.
In addition to supporting these ivory destructions, IFAW offices in UK and France have also organized destruction of ivory trinkets surrendered by our supporters.
Many enlightened IFAW supporters see the mere possession of ivory as shameful, and they don’t want the ivory items to EVER get into the markets again. We need to spread the message that ivory ONLY has value when it is on living breathing elephants in the wild.
Ivory markets are the ultimate culprit for the killing of elephants.
Ivory markets are magnets for wildlife criminals, giving them opportunities to launder smuggled ivory from poached elephants.
Ivory markets attach commercial value to the lifeless ivory trinkets, decoration and jewelry, all taken from thousands of elephants slaughtered.
Ivory markets also attract unknowing consumers who are confused and wrongly take market availability as legality.
Ivory trade anywhere is a threat to elephants everywhere!
While it’s widely known that China is the leading destination for trafficked ivory from poached elephants, the ivory markets in the U.S. have also attracted wildlife criminals to smuggle ivory internationally.
The ivory carvings and trinkets crushed at Time Square were confiscated from illegal trade on the streets of New York.
Crushing ivory serves as a reminder that ivory is valuable only to elephants.
If we want to save the last remaining elephants in the world, we have to crush the ivory markets, wherever they occur.
As an integral part of President Obama’s National Strategy to Combat Wildlife Trafficking, the U.S. Department of Interior announced more than a year ago to ban commercial ivory trade to shut down criminal markets that encourage elephant poaching.
While a rule change at the national level is progressing slowly, the states of New York and New Jersey have banned ivory trade at the local level, prompting a series of legislative initiatives in eleven other states across the U.S.
Following a directive to suspend ivory imports for one-year, the Chinese government also used the occasion of another ivory crush in Beijing at the end of May, to announce the pledge to halt commercial ivory trade in China.
On the eve of the U.S. — China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, I couldn’t help but hope for a race between the world’s two largest super powers.
This is not a competition for wealth and power.
But a noble race to save the noble giant — elephants.
The finish line for the race: Closing down the sinful domestic ivory markets that kill elephants.
Lead image source: Swallowtail/Flickr
Posted By: PETA:
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (campaign leader)
This summer, dozens of elephants will be shackled in
tiny boxcars and trailers as circuses crisscross the U.S. during the hottest
months of the year.
Many will spend hours—even days—in chains as they're
transported from one city to the next, perhaps even your own. When they feel the
painful blows of a bullhook to the sensitive, paper-thin skin around their eyes
and mouth, it can signal that they've reached the next destination—and they'll
once again be forced to perform tricks, fearing what will happen to them if they
don't.
These animals need our help, and they need
it now.
Circus promotions fail to mention that elephants and
other animals don't voluntarily balance on balls, ride bicycles, or stand on
their heads. They're forced into performing these ridiculous tricks, which they
learn during violent training sessions during which they're beaten with
bullhooks and shocked with electric prods.
When you stand with PETA, you'll be helping us
achieve victories that truly make life better for elephants and all other
animals abused by circuses. As we've seen in recent months, the drive to end
the suffering of animals in circuses is gaining momentum, with significant
progress such as the following:
- Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and the George Carden Circus International have announced that they're ending elephant performances, further proof that the public rejects the practice of separating baby elephants from their mothers and chaining and beating these sensitive, intelligent animals in order to force them to perform silly tricks.
- Richmond, Virginia, and a growing list of other municipalities around the U.S. have banned bullhooks. These violent weapons don't belong in any city or state, and now we're working in other jurisdictions to get similar bans enacted to spare elephants pain.
- New charges are being filed, including recent ones by the U.S. Department of Agriculture against the notorious animal abuser Carson & Barnes Circus in response to an incident in which elephants allegedly ran amok for 45 minutes.
Yet despite these and other vital developments,
animals in circuses continue to suffer.Your tax-deductible gift to PETA now can change the lives of
elephants and other animals who face cruelty and neglect.
Thank you so much for your compassion.
| PLEDGE |
World Unites for Suffering Elephants
International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos (IDAEZ): Sunday, June 28, 2015. We once again would like to remind you to join us for our International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos (IDAEZ), a global event focused on the suffering of elephants in zoos while also raising awareness about circuses and other cruel captive conditions. Please help us by clicking "going" to the event on our Facebook page redirected through www.helpelephants.com. You can help by participating online at any time by sharing posts there as well!
On June 28th, an online global demonstration will culminate, and three live demonstrations, one in Canada and two in the U.S., will be held for the three solitary elephants in North American zoos who have been alone and isolated from all other elephants for decades. IDA's Elephant Scientist, Dr. Toni Frohoff, says, "The particular atrocities that these three elephants suffer in solitary in North American zoos will hopefully help to dispel the myth that North American – or any - zoos treat elephants humanely. Elephant advocates around the world want to see these – and all captive elephants – be released and retired to accredited sanctuaries where they can live their lives in comfort and companionship rather than in misery."
Click here to read more and to get locations for live demonstrations.
