Many Countries Have Banned Wild Animals in Circuses … but Who’s Lagging Behind?
With you at our side, the Center
will fight for Africa's elephants by wielding the power of the Endangered
Species Act to help halt the sale of elephant ivory in the United States and
clamp down on illegal trade. The Act is one of the most powerful conservation
tools on the planet -- and we can use it to save elephants. Please
give as generously as you can today to help these magnificent
animals.
An endangered listing is especially critical for Africa's dwindling forest elephants -- which, as a distinct species, are smaller and darker, with more rounded ears, than savannah elephants, and whose harder ivory is especially prized by poachers. The number of forest elephants has crashed by more than 60 percent in the past few years, and they desperately need the toughest protections possible.
The Center is petitioning the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to specifically recognize the two elephant species that live in Africa -- forest elephants and savannah elephants -- so both populations can get the protections they need to survive.
An endangered listing would crack down on ivory poaching and sales -- the U.S. is the second-largest ivory market in the world. We must achieve full listing now before Africa's forest elephants enter a death spiral and these intelligent, social animals are wiped out in the wild, only to be found in zoos.
Please contribute with a gift to help secure the best legal protection possible for Africa's elephants.
The Center has gotten more than 550 species protected under the Endangered Species Act, which has a 90 percent success rate in saving wildlife from extinction. By acting now, we can win this kind of protection for African elephants. We can't stand by while the brutal ivory trade wipes out 100 of these great creatures every day.
Please give as generously as you can to get much-needed Endangered Species Act protections for forest and savannah elephants. Your support now will help us protect Africa's elephants from those who would kill them for thrill or profit.
Poachers Aren’t Going to ‘Like’ These Tech Companies Teaming Up to Fight the Ivory Trade. Facebook, Google, and eBay are joining Warren Buffett and environmental groups in a campaign to stop wildlife trafficking.
Elephants are the one of the most iconic and intelligent animals in the world. They build lifelong bonds with their family members and even mourn their dead.
But over the last century, the elephant population has taken a devastating hit as poachers slaughter one elephant about every 15 minutes to fuel a massive and lucrative illegal ivory trade.
As long as the illegal trade in ivory continues to flourish, elephants will continue to be killed in droves -- until eventually, there are none left.
Sign Your
Name: Demand
an end to the illegal ivory trade and help stop the slaughter of elephants
>>
The worldwide elephant
population is plummeting. And unless something changes quickly, we risk living
in a world where these majestic animals don’t exist in the wild.
We’re taking action that can reverse the trend and help stop the illegal ivory trade from proliferating. But we need your help.
Sign your name to demand an end to the worldwide slaughter of elephants >>
Recently the Parliament of Catalonia (Spain) voted to ban the use of all wild animals in circusesby a massive majority of 104 votes to 19. They will also establish an expert panel to assess whether any domestic animals need to be added to the circus ban too.
I know this issue well.
Last year I was one of the animal welfare experts called before the Catalan Parliament to give testimony independently about the plight animals suffer in travelling circuses. It does seem that my testimony and others did work, as the winning margin in the vote was huge. Therefore, Catalonia (where I was born), which has also banned bullfighting, should now rank quite high in world animal protection rankings.
IFAW believes that the keeping of wild animals in captivity for the primary purpose of entertainment is not ethically justifiable, and we congratulate the local groups who worked to achieve this result in Catalonia.
Here is a Roundup of Circus Animal Bans Around the World:
- Nationwide ban on all animals in circuses: Cyprus, Greece, Malta, and Bolivia
- Nationwide ban on the use of wild animals in circuses: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Singapore, Israel and Mexico
- Nationwide ban on the use of most wild animals in circuses: Belgium, Bulgaria, and The Netherlands
- Nationwide ban on the use of certain species in circuses: Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Portugal, Sweden, and India
- Nationwide ban on the use of native wild animals in circuses: Ecuador
- Nationwide ban on the use of wild-born animals in circuses: Estonia, Hungary, and Poland
- Local bans on the use of animals in circuses: Ireland, Norway, Spain, UK, USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Australia
More Progress is Needed
At the bottom of this list is the U.S., where there have been individual advances but, disappointingly, it has a long way to go. And France is not anywhere on the list yet!
Surprisingly, some countries not necessarily known for their animal welfare record, such as Bolivia and Greece, lead the international community with the most progressive and swift policies.
The UK is often cited as a leader on animal welfare, however the record on circus animals puts it somewhat out of kilter with other countries, and let’s not even talk about issues such as fox and stag hunting and the badger cull, which tarnish our record.
In 2012, the UK Government pledged to ban the use of wild animals in circuses, but this still hasn’t happened as bills have been repeatedly blocked by individual Conservative MPs.
While it naturally isn’t the highest priority for the UK Government (there are only around 20 licensed wild animals in UK circuses) the fact is it is something that:
- the public is against,
- the UK Government has pledged to resolve and
- is easy to enforce..
Bans do exist locally across the UK (as local councils can issue local bans for their areas only), but we lack the necessary national legislation. It was good to see the pledge of a national ban in the Conservative Party’s election Manifesto – now IFAW hopes the new UK Government will promptly fulfil its promise.
In the end, however, animals in a circus do not care in which country they were born, trained or perform. Surely they all need to be protected from the suffering a lifetime in a circus can cause.
Lead image Source: Paula Lively/Flickr
African elephants, slaughtered for their tusks, are being driven to extinction
by illegal poaching and a global demand for ivory. That's why the Center for
Biological Diversity and allies are acting now to secure the most powerful legal
protection we can for them -- full listing under the Endangered Species
Act.   Help save Africa's forest elephants. Make a gift today. |
An endangered listing is especially critical for Africa's dwindling forest elephants -- which, as a distinct species, are smaller and darker, with more rounded ears, than savannah elephants, and whose harder ivory is especially prized by poachers. The number of forest elephants has crashed by more than 60 percent in the past few years, and they desperately need the toughest protections possible.
The Center is petitioning the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to specifically recognize the two elephant species that live in Africa -- forest elephants and savannah elephants -- so both populations can get the protections they need to survive.
An endangered listing would crack down on ivory poaching and sales -- the U.S. is the second-largest ivory market in the world. We must achieve full listing now before Africa's forest elephants enter a death spiral and these intelligent, social animals are wiped out in the wild, only to be found in zoos.
Please contribute with a gift to help secure the best legal protection possible for Africa's elephants.
The Center has gotten more than 550 species protected under the Endangered Species Act, which has a 90 percent success rate in saving wildlife from extinction. By acting now, we can win this kind of protection for African elephants. We can't stand by while the brutal ivory trade wipes out 100 of these great creatures every day.
Please give as generously as you can to get much-needed Endangered Species Act protections for forest and savannah elephants. Your support now will help us protect Africa's elephants from those who would kill them for thrill or profit.
Poachers Aren’t Going to ‘Like’ These Tech Companies Teaming Up to Fight the Ivory Trade. Facebook, Google, and eBay are joining Warren Buffett and environmental groups in a campaign to stop wildlife trafficking.
Feeling lucky, poachers?
Google is joining Facebook, eBay, Warren Buffett, the United States government and environmental groups in a new effort to fight the illegal trade in elephant ivory, rhino horns, tiger bones, and other products driving wildlife toward extinction.
The goal of the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance is to raise awareness about wildlife trafficking and reduce Americans’ demand for products that promote poaching. The alliance also aims to give companies the tools they need to make sure they’re not selling, shipping, or otherwise enabling the sales of illegal wildlife-related products.
“I think many of us feel there is a moment in time here,” said Patrick Bergin, chief executive of the African Wildlife Foundation, one of the nonprofits that have teamed up to form the alliance. “We feel we are nearing a tipping point that would get wildlife numbers headed in the right direction again, but we need a surge in awareness and action to get definitively over that hump. We need to focus people now and get this done.”
Sally Jewell, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, praised the new alliance last week, saying in a statement, “There is no question that how we deal with wildlife trafficking activities here in the United States will have an enormous influence on our global success in dealing with the crisis.”
The alliance comes at a critical time for species such as lions, which conservationists fear could be extinct by the year 2050, and elephants, which are being poached at a rate of nearly 100 a day.
That means time is of the essence.
“The alliance is not meant to have long-term goals or even exist long-term,” Bergin said. “If this thing becomes too long-term, by definition we will have failed.”
He said the most immediate goal is to educate the American public about the problem and get them to take action. “We want to create a mass movement in American society, where the average person on the street is aware of the poaching and trafficking issue and stands up to say this is not acceptable and it must stop.”
The alliance’s first actions focus on getting the word out with the help of its corporate partners. Google built the alliance’s website, and the search engine’s marketing team (along with those of Facebook and eBay) is working on an anti-trafficking awareness campaign to engage the public.
Meanwhile, Tiffany & Co. and two other jewelry companies owned by Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway have committed to keeping ivory out of their supply chains, something the alliance hopes will become an industry standard.
Bergin said that’s just the first step and the alliance will be reaching out to additional corporate partners. “For example, we want shipping and transportation companies to be more rigorous in ensuring that they are not transporting illegal wildlife products,” he said. “We will want fashion and media companies to help mobilize their customers and users not to consume wildlife products, and to support bans on the sale of ivory in their states.”
Beyond that, he said the alliance hopes to inspire other ideas for protecting wildlife. “I think it’s likely that companies and individuals will have ideas for things they can do that the NGOs and government departments would have never thought of.”
Other alliance members include the National Geographic Society, the World Wildlife Fund, the Humane Society of the United States, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, along with the Paul G. Allen Foundation. Additional collaborators are expected to be announced at a meeting at the White House this fall.
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Every 15 minutes, an
elephant is killed for its ivory. In 2012 alone, 30,000 elephants were
slaughtered for their tusks. Leading conservation experts say that ivory continues to be traded illegally across the country. It’s time to stop the killing and save elephants from extinction. Add your name today to say that you want the slaughter of elephants to end! |
Elephants are the one of the most iconic and intelligent animals in the world. They build lifelong bonds with their family members and even mourn their dead.
But over the last century, the elephant population has taken a devastating hit as poachers slaughter one elephant about every 15 minutes to fuel a massive and lucrative illegal ivory trade.
As long as the illegal trade in ivory continues to flourish, elephants will continue to be killed in droves -- until eventually, there are none left.
We’re taking action that can reverse the trend and help stop the illegal ivory trade from proliferating. But we need your help.
Sign your name to demand an end to the worldwide slaughter of elephants >>
The Bronx Zoo has been given the shameful title of the 5th worst zoo for elephants in the country. The New York Times calls Happy the Bronx Zoo’s loneliest elephant. That’s because this highly intelligent and social being is one of the only zoo elephants in the entire United States who is being held alone. And it looks like her living conditions won’t change anytime soon unless we do something about it.
I am asking you, my fellow animal lovers, to encourage the Bronx Zoo Director James J. Breheny to release Happy to a sanctuary where she can be in a more natural setting and live the rest of her life in peace.
New standards regarding the keeping of elephants were recently passed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the accrediting organization for American wildlife institutions. Among their recommendations was that elephants be held in groups of three or more, as they are highly social creatures. Now, zoos around the country are scrambling to comply with the regulations by AZA’s 2016 deadline. Yet, the Bronx Zoo seems steadfast in its opinion that Happy is “happy” with her solitary life. This goes against all scientific data about elephant behavior.
Happy and 6 other elephant calves were captured in the wild from Thailand and brought to the States in 1977. For 25 years, she and her companion, Grumpy, were kept as a pair in the Bronx Zoo. When Grumpy passed away, she was paired with Sammy, who sadly died in 2006. It was then that the zoo decided to end its elephant program, but it didn’t relocate the elephants it currently had.
For 10 years, Happy has been in a sort of solitary confinement, unable to truly interact with the other elephants held at the zoo.This is a social being like a monkey or a dolphin. Elephants thrive in the company of their own kind, where they form multi-generational family groups that remain loyal to one another for life, and the elders pass wisdom down to the younger ones to help them navigate their world.
Happy is likely not at all happy. She has endured a decade of loneliness and deserves the chance to be with others of her kind in a sanctuary. Please join me in telling the Bronx Zoo to release Happy to a sanctuary and let her really have a chance at happiness.
LETTER TO
Director of the Bronx Zoo James J. Breheny
Director, Communications, Bronx Zoo Max Pulsinelli
Ivory Belongs On Elephants
It’s easy to feel disconnected from the plight of the African elephant. These beautiful creatures live halfway around the world, and most Americans have only ever seen them on TV or at the zoo. Sure, we have all heard that poaching is a problem, but did you know that the U.S. is the second largest market for poached and smuggled ivory in the world? Ivory from elephant tusks is valued for use in carvings, jewelry, and as a traditional (though fallacious) Chinese medicine used to purge toxins from the body and to improve one’s complexion – and a growing demand for it is decimating the species’ populations.
One African elephant dies every 15 minutes at the hands of ivory poachers. With rates of elephant poaching increasing, the wild population of African elephants outside of certain fiercely protected reserves could vanish completely within 10 years.
African elephants were listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1978, and most populations are currently listed under Appendix I, the category of most concern, under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). A ban on the importation of raw ivory into the U.S. took effect in 1989, except for in specific cases.
After protections were put in place, African elephant populations had begun to recover, but with a surge in demand for ivory, rates of illegal poaching have jumped again. From 2011-2014, African elephant poaching reached the highest levels since international monitors began keeping records in 2002. And the price of ivory in China has tripled, making elephant poaching an extremely lucrative business.
What is the U.S. doing about the illegal ivory trade?
In 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) crushed six TONS of confiscated ivory. This past June, they crushed another ton in Times Square. Millions of dollars worth of ivory sacrificed to send a message: The U.S. will not allow this prolific trade to continue at the cost of elephant lives.
It’s easy for illegal ivory to blend in with the legal ivory for sale in U.S. markets. Because it is legal to sell African ivory that was imported before 1989, and because legal ivory is often sold without certification, illegal ivory is often sold under the guise of a legal sale. And since many wildlife products made from hippo teeth, walrus teeth, warthog tusks, etc. look very similar to elephant ivory, it can be difficult for law enforcement officials to determine what is legal and what isn’t without the use of expensive and destructive testing. Right now, products are considered legal until proven otherwise. Law enforcement officers must prove that the seller knew that their ivory was illegally obtained in order to obtain a conviction. Current U.S. law is outdated, confusing, and full of loopholes.
As a result, the easiest way to stop the illegal sale of ivory is to prevent it from coming into the country in the first place. FWS inspectors are stationed at ports across the country in an attempt to catch illegal ivory as it enters. The FWS also provides enforcement training around the world, and has assisted in international efforts to trace seized ivory shipments back to the country of origin so that smuggling routes may be shut down. But the volume of products coming into the U.S. far outstrips the resources that FWS has to address the issue.
What can you do to help?
Be a Conscientious Consumer. Remember, the sale of legal ivory often serves as a cover for the sale of illegal ivory. Choose to boycott all ivory products to help reduce the demand. Tell your friends and family about your decisions and explain why they should consider making the same commitment.
Be an Advocate. On July 29, President Obama proposed new regulations designed to close existing loopholes and shut down the importation and sale of illegal ivory within the U.S. Write your representatives to let them know that you support this and other tough anti-trafficking measures. Tell them that you also support increases in funding for FWS law enforcement so that more wildlife inspectors can be trained and stationed full time at our ports of entry.
Support Defenders’ work. Make a donation or adopt an elephant today . Your support helps us to keep pressure on the White House to follow through with their plans, to mobilize against Congressional attempts to weaken ivory restrictions, to encourage grassroots efforts to implement state-specific ivory bans, and to ensure that current laws are sufficiently enforced.
Know Your Stuff. Did you know that elephants are considered a keystone species? When elephants dig for water in dry riverbeds, their neighbors benefit from the new water source. Elephant dung is an important vector for seed dispersal, and also serves as a fertilizer and a nursery for dung beetles. Even the trails made by elephants walking across their landscape result in important trails for other species and serve as fire breaks and water run offs. Share this information with your friends – the more someone knows about a species, the more likely they are to want to protect it.
Get Your Travel On. Have you ever wanted to see an elephant in the wild? If you choose to travel, be sure to choose an eco-tourism company that supports elephant conservation efforts. Shopping for souvenirs? Never buy ivory , but buy other items that are made in the communities you visit. Supporting locally-owned and operated businesses helps provide sustainable livelihoods for people on the ground in elephant environments, a great alternative to the temptation of making money through poaching.
Spread the Word. Share this post on social media. Tell your friends and family about the ivory trade and its impact on elephants in the wild. The post Ivory Belongs On Elephants appeared first on Defenders of Wildlife Blog.
Thank you for being an elephant. https://goo.gl/6yZpMC #WorldElephantDay
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Help
Protect Elephants!
An
elephant is killed every 15 minutes to fuel the global black market for ivory.
|
In
response to the growing poaching crisis that is rapidly pushing elephants to the
brink of extinction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) recently proposed
new regulations to crack down on ivory trafficking and the sale of illegal ivory
within our borders.
But despite this, special interest
groups are working overtime in Congress to make it easier for illegal ivory to
flow into our country!
As
shocking as it is, the United States is the second largest market for ivory in
the world. We have a responsibility to do everything we can to curtail the
domestic demand for ivory that is fueling black markets and pushing elephants
closer to the brink of extinction.
Recognizing
this responsibility, FWS has proposed new restrictions on the sale of commercial
ivory – tightening longstanding loopholes that have allowed the illicit
trafficking of elephant ivory to thrive. Legal ivory acts as a cover for poached
ivory, making a ban on commercial ivory sales the only way to ensure U.S.
markets do not contribute to the poaching crisis.
We
must act now to send a clear message that the United States is serious about
protecting elephants!
Special
interest groups, including the gun lobby, will be fighting tooth and nail
against these regulations and will be seeking to relax any restrictions on ivory
trade. We need your support now more than ever – the survival of African
elephants depends on it.
Thank
you for your partnership on behalf of the world’s wildlife!
Our team in Zambia recently sent a photo of an elephant they spied standing in a river. She was missing part of her trunk, likely to a snare set by poachers. While she appears healthy, she must wade deep into the water to drink.
Incredibly, local people have seen young elephants feeding her -- putting foliage in her mouth -- since she can't pull branches from trees anymore.
Elephants are known for caring for their sick like this. But they need our help, too.
In honor of this tough elephant and her loving herd, I hope you'll join us in celebrating World Elephant Day, which we're sponsoring this year. Send an ecard to someone you know who loves elephants and your donation will be matched 2:1 by a Conservancy volunteer leader.
World Elephant Day
Elephantastic Day
#HERdPower
Your gift will go directly to our work to protect elephants in Africa, where just $50 can provide rations for a wildlife ranger for a two-week patrol. Rangers combat poaching in many ways, including removing snares.
This Zambian elephant was lucky to escape with her life. She should inspire us all to help ensure that African elephants don't have to depend on luck for their survival.
Thank you for your support of elephants today and all year round.
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