https://twitterstorms.wordpress.com/2016/04/14/elephants/
One Elephant dies every 15 minutes. If this continues elephants could be extinct in 10 years. We cannot afford to let this happen. Elephant babies are snatched away from their families by countries like China and the United States to be placed into zoos, circuses, and to be used as props in weddings and for human entertainment. This is modern day slavery and must be stopped. Members of our own government are lobbying to loosen restrictions on ivory, which will enable poachers, even though we know illegal ivory funds terrorists and makes us all unsafe. Please join S.H.A.M.E. United and Breeze Azrael in Mini Tweet Storm for Mali, Nosey, Kavaan and other elephant related causes!! We must speak out for these gentle, intelligent, social animals before it's to late.
Elephant Rescue page: Let us introduce you to Sontaya.
Sontaya is a beautiful Asian elephant in her late 50's who is currently working as a trekking elephant in the south of Thailand.
She really needs our help before she collapses from overwork.
They have a genuine love and concern for her and they know that BLES will give her the life they cannot.
This is an opportunity to change a life and make a significant difference for this elephant, which hopefully will lead to more elephants being retired rather than making them work until they collapse, which is something that happens all too often http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3438521/Tourist-attraction-Samruai-elephant-collapses-dies-Thailand-suffering-shock-fireworks-display.html
Our Target includes the cost of buying her, truck hire to transport her home to us, fuel and transport costs for our rescue team, plus the additional costs from using Just Giving ( 6.3%) and bank charges to send money and currency conversion.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
Why is This Still Allowed?! Trekking Elephant Dies of Exhaustion in Popular Tourist Attraction.
Getting up close and personal with an elephant is something that many people can only dream of doing. After all, in most parts of the world, you’re not likely to find an elephant just casually wandering the streets. For this reason, tourist attractions and getaways that feature the chance to ride or interact with an elephant seem like the ultimate excursion for animal lovers. Unfortunately, while on the surface sitting on an elephant’s back while trekking the jungle might seem like a harmless endeavor, there is a whole mountain of cruelty behind the elephant tourism industry.
Across Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, as well as other parts of Asia, these animals are captured from the wild and forced to perform tricks, paint, or carry people on their backs. Like all wild animals, elephants are not made to entertain people, rather these highly intelligent and emotional animals are perfectly adapted to spend the duration of their lives in their native habitat interacting with the members of their herds. Sadly, due to the popularity of elephant tourism, the life many lead is quite the opposite.
In order to make elephants docile enough to train them to perform entirely unnatural feats, mahouts (elephant trainers) subject these gentle creatures to an extensive “breaking” process. After ripping young elephants from their mothers, mahouts lock the babies in chains and beat them repeatedly until they lose all will to fight back. This process can go on for weeks and at the end. Once they are rendered completely submissive, they’ll go on to be trained through starvation, fear, and pain to perform whatever the mahout wishes.
Elephants used in the trekking industry are forced to work all hours of the day and are rarely given breaks. Temperatures can easily surpass 100 degrees Fahrenheit and though elephants have adapted to keep cool, they need to have ready access to water and mud in order to protect themselves from exhaustion. Tragically, if there is a paying customer who wants a ride, these things are readily forgotten or rather, ignored. A recent story from Angkor Wat, Siem Reap in Cambodia shows what happens when the happiness of tourists is put above elephant welfare.
According to reports, this young elephant died of sheer exhaustion while carrying people at the Angkor Wat temple.
Share this post and encourage others to learn what they’re really supporting! To learn more about better ways to enjoy elephants in the wild, click here. All image source: EARS/Facebook.
MeBai and her Mother.
This is the video to witness the minute of reunion Mebai - Mae Yui mother and daughter who separated for many year. See how much joy they are. Over three years apart they have a lots stories to tell to each others. Follow full story soon...
The Lonely Blind Elephant After Lost Her Friend. It is very hard for Jokia to believe that her best friend, Mae Perm, is gone from her life. After Mae Perm passed away we brought Jokia to walk out from the enclosure because we don't want her to be too stressed inside her shelter . The first steps beyond her door, she rushed to find her friend , and called every minute, searching her trunk to call Mae Perm. She expected as every time prior that when she spoke her low rumble to call Mae Perm, that she will come to hug and comfort her, as every time before ! But now there is only emptiness and no familiar word. I can feel her emptiness. I can see her tears run down with fear and confusion . My heart is so hurt and devastated with deep pain for my girl lost and for the beautiful one left behind, darkness surround. While Mae Perm was here she was the light behind Jokia's eyes, and the will to live. Since Mae Perm passed away, Jokia spends her time looking for the place, the smells, the memories where they walked together all around where they both used to stay together. She sniffs everywhere, and when she finds where Mae Perm has peed, she stops for a long time to observe and then she displays her sorrow and clearly mourns. I Hope time can help to heal her. Currently she spends her days with Navaan and his family but she is uneasy..Yai Bua and the other elder nannies didn't work out..Please pray for Jokia to find a new precious caring friend, someone who can be her eyes and the light for her. If you don't believe about animals having a strong bond and animals having such deep feeling watch this video.
Learn More : www.saveelephant.orgThe Lonely Blind Elephant After Lost Her Friend. It is very hard for Jokia to believe that her best friend, Mae Perm, is gone from her life. After Mae Perm passed away we brought Jokia to walk out from the enclosure because we don't want her to be too stressed inside her shelter . The first steps beyond her door, she rushed to find her friend , and called every minute, searching her trunk to call Mae Perm. She expected as every time prior that when she spoke her low rumble to call Mae Perm, that she will come to hug and comfort her, as every time before ! But now there is only emptiness and no familiar word. I can feel her emptiness. I can see her tears run down with fear and confusion . My heart is so hurt and devastated with deep pain for my girl lost and for the beautiful one left behind, darkness surround. While Mae Perm was here she was the light behind Jokia's eyes, and the will to live. Since Mae Perm passed away, Jokia spends her time looking for the place, the smells, the memories where they walked together all around where they both used to stay together. She sniffs everywhere, and when she finds where Mae Perm has peed, she stops for a long time to observe and then she displays her sorrow and clearly mourns. I Hope time can help to heal her. Currently she spends her days with Navaan and his family but she is uneasy..Yai Bua and the other elder nannies didn't work out..Please pray for Jokia to find a new precious caring friend, someone who can be her eyes and the light for her. If you don't believe about animals having a strong bond and animals having such deep feeling watch this video.
Google, JetBlue Join Wildlife Alliance. Momentum grows in the fight against wildlife trafficking as four new corporate allies join the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance. The alliance, a coalition of conservation leaders, trailblazers in the technology, travel, retail and communications industries, works closely with the United States government to reduce the purchase and sale of illegal wildlife products. On April 4, Carnival Corporation, Ben Bridge Jeweler, Brilliant Earth and Hidden Treasure Tours joined industry leaders, including eBay, Google, JetBlue and Tiffany & Co. to fight wildlife trafficking. “The Alliance is about an all-of-society approach, which is what we truly need,” says AWF CEO Dr. Patrick Bergin. “We must reach a real tipping point here, and when we have government, NGOs and companies…and their clients coming together it gives me real hope that we will reach that tipping point.”
Time is running out: speak up for elephants!
If they don't act now, the window for this historic achievement will slam shut, and the entire process will start again with the next president, if at all – while 96 elephants a day continue to be slaughtered by poachers.
Elephants can't afford to wait. You've already sent a letter urging the White House to push the ivory ban through – thank you! Now, can you help us sound the alarm? The more people who speak up, the more hope there is for elephants.
Share this urgent action with your friends and family on Facebook today.
Stop Using Animals in Annual Circus Event.
Target: Sheila Bissett, Administrator for Aleppo Shriners
Goal: End the use of animals for entertainment at the Shriner’s Circus.
The Shrine Circus is an annual event held in a town outside of Boston. Unfortunately, this circus still uses wild animals in its acts.
Animals used in circuses are typically held in small cages for long periods of time, neglected, beaten and isolated. It is cruel to continue forcing wild animals to perform unnatural tricks in front of large, jeering crowds. These animals should be in their natural habitat, surrounded by friends and living the life nature intended.
The circus would be great with only the amazing human performers. Sign this petition and demand the circus eliminate its animal acts and to retire its animals to an accredited sanctuary.
Dear Ms. Bissett,
Many people look forward to attending the Shrine Circus yearly. Unfortunately, Shrine Circus still uses animals in its performances.
Animals in circuses are typically held in small cages, neglected, beaten, isolated and denied adequate time to exercise. It is cruel to continue forcing these animals to perform unnatural tricks in front of large, jeering crowds. No matter how many times these animals are forced to perform, the experience doesn’t get any less scary.
Please consider retiring your animal acts and only using the amazing human performers you have. These animals should be surrounded by friends, sunshine, and in their natural environments.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: DirkJan Ranzijn
WWF develops a new technology to stop poachers in their tracks. An innovative camera and software system helps rangers detect human activity in protected areasThis is the first time that infrared cameras and human recognition software have been used to monitor a park’s boundary for conservation and anti-poaching efforts.
How it works
WWF designed and installed two systems to identify poachers with infrared cameras: stationary poles lining the border of a park, and a mobile unit atop a truck used by rangers.
The thermal cameras come from the company FLIR and pick up heat emitted by people and animals as they cross their viewpoint. The accompanying software determines whether that heat comes from a human. If a human is identified, the computer sends an alert to the head warden, who then deploys a quick response ranger unit to intercept the intruder. Eric Becker, WWF’s conservation engineer, developed the system from concept to reality.
WWF worked with the Kenya Wildlife Service to design and install the stationary solar-powered system to permanently keep watch on nearly five miles of border road. We mounted the mobile version in another park—Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve working with the Mara Conservancy—where it compliments existing anti-poaching operations, including ranger foot patrols and a sniffer dog team.
What next?
If these pilot projects prove successful in Kenya, WWF plans to work with parks and private landowners across Africa to gain access to this technology. By developing and harnessing new technology, we can boost the effectiveness of rangers on the front lines in the battle against wildlife crime, and help ensure porous park borders become more secure.
Help the men and women on the front lines of conservation. Will you back a ranger today?
Baby elephant trunk massage. This baby elephant is an orphan at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust near Nairobi, Kenya. The trust takes in young elephants and rhinos orphaned by poaching, rehabilitates them and put them back into the wild – mostly into Tsavo National Park.
Black Bean Productions spent a while at the orphanage filming the elephants and came across this delightful scene of an elephant keeper massaging a baby elephant’s trunk. The massage helps to clean the inside of the trunk. The youngster is clearly loving the process and attention.
To adopt an orphaned elephant or rhino click here: https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.or...
To see more from Black Bean Productions visit: https://www.facebook.com/blackbeanpro...
End Cruel Use of Elephants at Temple Festival.Black Bean Productions spent a while at the orphanage filming the elephants and came across this delightful scene of an elephant keeper massaging a baby elephant’s trunk. The massage helps to clean the inside of the trunk. The youngster is clearly loving the process and attention.
To adopt an orphaned elephant or rhino click here: https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.or...
To see more from Black Bean Productions visit: https://www.facebook.com/blackbeanpro...
Target: Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
Goal: Stop parading thirsty, overheated, and stressed elephants through festivals.
Dozens of elephants were recently made to stand for 36 hours at a time in blistering hot weather as part of Thrissur Pooram, a Hindu temple festival in India. The 79 elephants were paraded in front of temples as attractions while bustling crowds, loud music, and even fireworks created extreme stress. This year, Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) veterinarians were reportedly blocked from examining the elephants to ensure their well-being, putting the safety of both the elephants and the festivalgoers at risk.
During the grueling festival, elephants are paraded around the grounds for nearly two days, often without shade or food and with limited access to water. The conditions have caused animals to collapse of exhaustion, dehydration and heat stroke. In another case, the stress caused an elephant to run amok, causing mass panic and injuring over 60 revelers.
Despite the fact that the Indian government has laid strict guidelines for the use of elephants in festivals, several reports have surfaced of organizers not following these rules. For example, denying AWBI veterinarians access to the elephants was allegedly done in direct contradiction of a Supreme Court of India order that elephant parades must be inspected and approved by an AWBI committee.
This festival causes extreme physical and mental stress to highly intelligent animals. It also puts both elephants and humans at risk of extreme danger. Sign the petition below to demand that the use of elephant parades at the Thrissur Pooram temple festival is banned permanently.
Dear Prime Minister Modi,
The Thrissur Pooram festival recently saw 79 elephants paraded through roaring crowds, loud music, and even fireworks. The elephants were made to walk in hot weather, without adequate food, water, or shade. In the past, stressed and unhealthy elephants have collapsed or run amok, causing injuries to over 60 people. Despite this, it was reported that festival organizers were still not following safety regulations laid out for elephant parades.
This festival is highly exploitative toward these highly intelligent and emotional animals. In order to protect the physical and mental well-being of elephants as well as save festivalgoers from potential injuries, elephant parades at Thrissur Pooram must be stopped immediately. We, the undersigned, urge you to ban the temple festival from using elephants due to reported refusals to adhere to safety regulations.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Megan Coughlin
Breaking News - Rhea has Arrived!Very soon, she'll be reunited with her "sisters" Mia and Sita. We're expecting lots of trumpeting (from the elephants), and lots of tears (from the humans watching).
We'll send you an update with photos and videos as soon as we can. But for the moment, we just thought you'd like to know that she is finally safe.
Thank you for caring, and for making Rhea's reunion with Mia and Sita possible.
If you missed any of Rhea's road trip, you can see all of our pictures, videos and stories on Facebook.
The 'Sisters' Bonding Together. For all our supporters who've been anxiously waiting for the 'Reunion Video'- From the moment the Elephant Ambulance rolled into the #ElephantConservationandCareCenter till the girls were comfortably grazing together, we've compiled the best moments just for you. Share and spread the love!
Despite our many outward differences, elephants are just like us in a number of key ways. They are highly sensitive, intelligent, and emotional animals who care deeply for their young, and have often been witnessed grieving when a beloved friend or family member dies. In the wild, they live in close-knit matriarchal herds, headed by the eldest female and typically composed of her daughters and their offspring. Adult males usually lead solitary lives or travel in separate bachelor groups.
Elephants can roam for a distance of 30 to 50 miles per day, making them one of the widest-ranging land mammals in the world. Their natural lifestyle of traveling, bathing, and playing with friends and family members keeps them healthy and fit … but sadly, this is not the case for elephants who are forced to live in captivity. An estimated 40 percent of captive elephants are considered to be obese. Foot ailments are the leading cause of death for captive elephants: again, due to the lack of exercise and stimulation they receive in small enclosures. In addition, elephants kept in zoos or circuses often display symptoms of stereotypic behavior such as obsessively bobbing their heads, swaying on the spot, or crying out in distress.
African elephants are currently under threat of extinction due to illicit wildlife poaching, driven by the ivory trade. Asian elephants, meanwhile, are often put to work in the illegal logging industry, or forced to spend their lives entertaining tourists in elephant trekking or painting camps. A life spent in a barren enclosure – or a life spent working to the point of collapse – is no life at all for an elephant. However, the inspiring stories of elephants who have escaped from bleak situations demonstrate the true resilience and courage of these amazing animals.
Wildlife SOS, located in Agra, India, recently shared a beautiful picture to their Facebook page, illustrating just how wonderful it is when two former circus elephants who are managing to recover from their trauma with the help of friendship.
The picture shows two residents, Rhea and Sita, sharing their very first meal together after a long time apart! Doesn’t it just melt your heart?
Wildlife SOS are looking for two hundred new donors to pledge $10 a month in order to fund the cost of Rhea’s care. If you are in a position to be one of those donors, click on the donation link here. You can also find out more about their work by checking out their website or Facebook page. Image Source: Wildlife SOS/Facebook.
Last year the Zimbabwe government sold 24 wild baby elephants to China. To capture the babies, helicopters were used to stampede an elephant herd, the babies who could not keep up were brought down, chained and forced into cages – babies that were so tiny they were still breastfeeding.
Several months later those babies who survived – we don’t know how many died – were drugged and flown halfway across the world to China where they will be trained to perform circus tricks in a zoo.
Network for Animals is trying to achieve better living conditions for the babies and a law banning the import of any more baby elephants to China.
If they live, they face terrible cruelty as they are trained to perform circus tricks. Elephant behavioural experts say that training elephants to perform tricks always involves cruelty. Usually, the babies are chained and beaten until they respond to a command.
What is happening to the Zimbabwe 23 is unspeakably cruel but Chimelong Zoo, the combined zoo and circus responsible for the performing Asian Elephants pictured in this page, and owners of the Zimbabwe 23, refuses to even talk about what they are doing to the babies behind bars.
Incredibly, Zimbabwe has announced it intends to sell more baby elephants to China. Animal lovers in China are trying to stop this. Right now, there is a proposal before the National People’s Congress (NPC), the highest organ of state power in China seeking a law banning future baby elephant imports and an improvement in the living conditions of the Zimbabwe 23. Under Chinese laws the government has up to a year to respond. Please sign our petition urging the Chinese government to urgently pass the law.
Fort Worth Zoo Elephant Attack 911 Call |
#4 Worst Zoo For Elephants: What You
Can Do
Un-Natural Elephant Deaths at Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon. For over five years running, Wildlife Safari, a drive-through wild animal park in Winston, Oregon, has featured on In Defense of Animals' list of the Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants. Wildlife Safari claims to be committed to the "conservation, preservation, and research of native and exotic wildlife," but the way the park treats the five elephants who live there reveals its dishonesty.
Visitors do not learn about the wondrous nature of wild elephants - that is not at all what Wildlife Safari promotes. Instead, the zoo sends a damaging message that elephants exist for human entertainment. At a cost per head, the zoo offers elephant encounters that include dangerous elephant "petting" sessions, elephants painting pictures and ornaments for human visitors, and even elephant selfies.
On top of these dangerous stunts, animal advocates object strongly to the park’s training methods, which have included the use of barbaric bullhooks. Handlers have been seen wielding these antiquated and cruel devices to control elephants through fear of painful punishment.
Two female elephants have died at Wildlife Safari over the past five years, at ages 40 and 44 which is just a fraction of their natural lifespans. The zoo claimed that these elephants died of "natural causes," yet these claims were never, sufficiently investigated or challenged. In nature, female African elephants would be in their prime in their forties, so chalking their deaths up to "natural causes" for elephants leading such unnatural lives in Oregon makes no sense. Click here to take action.
COLORADO BILL HB 16-1341 PASSES THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Colorado House of Representatives has passed HB 16-1341, Colorado’s wildlife trafficking bill to protect ten key species from wildlife trafficking. The bill now moves on to the Colorado Senate where we expect increased resistance.
If you haven't signed the petition, please do so. If you already have, then encourage your family, friends, neighbors, and everyone else committed to animal conservation to join us in signing the petition to make this bill Colorado law.
Thank you all for your continued support!Wildlife trafficking is causing the poaching crisis that has put many of the world's most iconic species at risk. Thankfully, Colorado is considering legislation to strengthen conservation efforts in your state.
HB 16-1341 would prohibit the sale of parts from some of the most imperiled and trafficked species of animals, including elephants, rhinoceros, tigers, lions, leopards, cheetahs, pangolins, marine turtles, sharks and rays. While this bill is far-reaching, it is also carefully crafted to exclude the trade of certain antique items and musical instruments, firearms and certain weapons.
State-specific measures are crucial in the battle to protect trafficked animals. The United States is one of the world's largest consumers of these products, and records show that illegal ivory, sea turtle shells and other restricted animal products are being imported into Colorado. HB 16-1341 would help close loopholes in federal laws and protect animals by making anti-trafficking enforcement easier..
FOR COLORADO RESIDENTS ONLY:
Please call or email your Colorado state representative today and urge support for HB 16-1341. You can look up your State Legislator using the following link: http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/ and be sure to select your House Representative. You can say, "I'm a constituent, and I'm calling (or emailing) you to ask that you support HB 16-1341 to crack down on wildlife trafficking and poaching."
Ban the sale of ivory within Colorado.
Elephants need your help. And they need it now! A hundred years ago five million African elephants roamed the wild. Today, there are fewer than 500,000 African and fewer than 40,000 Asian elephants remaining; 100,000 were killed by poachers in the last three years alone. At this rate, elephants will likely be extinct in the wild within 10 to 15 years.
Poachers are slaughtering these majestic creatures for their tusks, which are used to make ivory trinkets for a rapacious world market. More than 35,000 African elephants are being killed for their ivory every year; 96 elephants a day.
Appalling as the slaughter of innocent, highly intelligent animals for trinkets, is, the impacts on people are equally horrific. Money from illegal poaching and illicit trade directly funds terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab, the Janjaweed, and the Lord’s Resistance Army who kill, enslave, and terrorize thousands of defenseless people and destabilize vulnerable nations. As elephant populations dwindle, the price of ivory rises, and so will the terror the ivory trafficking engenders. To stop the senseless slaughter of elephants and the rising tide of terror and destabilization, the world needs an international ban on ivory trafficking.
Two simple questions are before us:
1. Is a world with wild elephants better than a world without them?
2. Do we want to be the generation that stood by as elephants were driven into extinction or do we want to be the generation that stopped it?
Ivory Free Colorado calls on the State of Colorado to do its part and ban the sale of ivory within Colorado by 2016. By doing so, Colorado not only joins with the states of New York and New Jersey in banning the sale of ivory, but also sends a strong and clear message to Congress to do the same.
Please sign this petition! Get everyone you know to sign it as well!
LAST CALL Demand Bravo TV to Stop Supporting Elephant Crushing & Other Animal Abuse!
Click to help!
TARGET: Bravo Executives: Andy Cohen, VP Lara Spotts Jenn Levy and Kathleen French
13,261 of the Goal of 14,000
overview petition
Update #5 about a month ago
Hello ele-friends, I have an update. As of this week, Bravo has pulled Tour Group series in order to "revamp" it. It will be edited and re-released on May 10th. Although I can't confirm whether Bravo will be removing the ele trekking episode, it is unprecedented for Bravo to pull an entire series to edit it two episodes in. Please continue to sign and share. Tweet @bravotv or post a message on Tour Group's fb page: https://www.facebook.com/TourGroupBravo/?fref=ts
Update #4 1 months ago
Hello elephant lovers! The letter to Bravo TV has been mailed. Visit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DlLw-BtRChbqgGmoRCrtgWLyof8f2umRQSCtG5vHEmc/edit?pref=2&pli=1 to check it out! Tues is the series premier, I do not know when the elephant trekking episode is scheduled to be aired. Fingers crossed it isn't. Keep signing and sharing! <3<3<3
Update #3 2 months ago
seemingly coming to a screeching hault. remember to share! The elephants are trained to be ridden after going through the breaking process pictured above.
Update #2 2 months ago
You guys are the BEST! I <3 reading your comments & have been tweeting many to Bravo. To be clear, the episode will not show the elephants being beaten. During the show, the cast visits an ele trekking co in Thailand and rides the elephants. In order for them to be manageable to give rides, they go through a "breaking process" which is pictured below.
Update #1 2 months ago
TY for signing my petition to have Bravo TV pull it's episode from 'Tour Group' which promotes riding elephants in Thailand.I am very happy to see nearly 1700 sigs in a little over 2 days. Plz sign & share to as many as possible. Remind them registration to this site is not needed and they can fill in a fake address if they'd like. I've been posting the comments you're making to Bravo's FB account and will include them in a letter I'm sending off to Bravo's Viewer Relations Department.
About This Petition
This petition demands that Bravo TV pull it's upcoming episode of 'Tour Group' which promotes elephant riding in Thailand.
Background info: Bravo Television has a new reality series entitled 'Tour Group' which documents the travels of a group of people to attractions across the world. One episode features riding elephants in Thailand. Bravo TV is watched by millions of people across the world and is most known for 'The Real Housewives' franchise.
What's Wrong With Riding Elephants? Elephant rides recently topped World Animal Protection's list of the world's 10 most cruel animal attractions. In order to train elephants to give tourists rides, babies are subjected to what is known as phajaan, or "elephant crushing". This heartbreaking process leaves the babies scarred by physically and mentally for life.
What Will Pulling the Episode Do? With millions of viewers globally, this episode will effectively serve as a giant advertisement for the 'elephant trekking' industry. You can't pay for more premium ad space anywhere. Airing the episode will not only inspire people to go elephant trekking on their vacation, it will also send the message that this type of violence against animals is ok.
When is the episode supposed to air? The series premiers on March 1st. I am unsure about the exact date this particular episode is supposed to air. Hopefully it never does.
What Else Can I Do?
Tweet Sheet: https://occupy4elephants.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/tweet-sheet-demand-bravo-tv-pull-i....
STOP Animal ABUSE - NO MORE ELECTRIC prods and BULL Hooks on baby elephants!!!
Click to help!
TARGET: The head of circus organisations around the world
789 of the 1,000 Goal
Bears, elephants, tigers, and other animals do not choose to ride bicycles, stand on their heads, balance on balls, or jump through rings of fire. They don’t do these tricks because they want to but only because they are scared of the consequences. To perform these tricks the animals are forced to be beaten with whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, bullhooks, and other painful tools! “In many circuses, elephants are beaten, hit, poked, prodded, and jabbed with sharp hooks, sometimes until bloody!” If the animals don't listen, the circus trainers do all of those horrible things just for entertainment! Most of the animals from the circus are imported from their natural habitat and all that happens is torture.
Elephants lifestyle is extremely similar to ours. In many circuses elephants are forced to breed at the age of 8 years old! Once the elephant is born it has to be separated from its mother before even being weaned. The mother is tied up by all four legs so that when the trainers take away the baby elephant the mother doesn't attack them. The baby elephant is taken away and tied up for at least 23 hours a day! After the elephant gets older the beating process begins, the process is so brutal that some circuses are not aloud to have videos taken on a security camera!
During training the animals are beaten until bloody with electric prods,bull hooks and other torture devices.
Incredible moment when this guy say elephant name “Kham-Lha”. You will not believe your eye at Elephant Nature Park. Leran More : www.saveelephant.org
Poachers are slaughtering these majestic creatures for their tusks, which are used to make ivory trinkets for a rapacious world market. More than 35,000 African elephants are being killed for their ivory every year; 96 elephants a day.
Appalling as the slaughter of innocent, highly intelligent animals for trinkets, is, the impacts on people are equally horrific. Money from illegal poaching and illicit trade directly funds terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab, the Janjaweed, and the Lord’s Resistance Army who kill, enslave, and terrorize thousands of defenseless people and destabilize vulnerable nations. As elephant populations dwindle, the price of ivory rises, and so will the terror the ivory trafficking engenders. To stop the senseless slaughter of elephants and the rising tide of terror and destabilization, the world needs an international ban on ivory trafficking.
Two simple questions are before us:
1. Is a world with wild elephants better than a world without them?
2. Do we want to be the generation that stood by as elephants were driven into extinction or do we want to be the generation that stopped it?
Ivory Free Colorado calls on the State of Colorado to do its part and ban the sale of ivory within Colorado by 2016. By doing so, Colorado not only joins with the states of New York and New Jersey in banning the sale of ivory, but also sends a strong and clear message to Congress to do the same.
Please sign this petition! Get everyone you know to sign it as well!
LAST CALL Demand Bravo TV to Stop Supporting Elephant Crushing & Other Animal Abuse!
Click to help!
TARGET: Bravo Executives: Andy Cohen, VP Lara Spotts Jenn Levy and Kathleen French
13,261 of the Goal of 14,000
Update #5 about a month ago
Hello ele-friends, I have an update. As of this week, Bravo has pulled Tour Group series in order to "revamp" it. It will be edited and re-released on May 10th. Although I can't confirm whether Bravo will be removing the ele trekking episode, it is unprecedented for Bravo to pull an entire series to edit it two episodes in. Please continue to sign and share. Tweet @bravotv or post a message on Tour Group's fb page: https://www.facebook.com/TourGroupBravo/?fref=ts
Update #4 1 months ago
Hello elephant lovers! The letter to Bravo TV has been mailed. Visit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DlLw-BtRChbqgGmoRCrtgWLyof8f2umRQSCtG5vHEmc/edit?pref=2&pli=1 to check it out! Tues is the series premier, I do not know when the elephant trekking episode is scheduled to be aired. Fingers crossed it isn't. Keep signing and sharing! <3<3<3
Update #3 2 months ago
seemingly coming to a screeching hault. remember to share! The elephants are trained to be ridden after going through the breaking process pictured above.
Update #2 2 months ago
You guys are the BEST! I <3 reading your comments & have been tweeting many to Bravo. To be clear, the episode will not show the elephants being beaten. During the show, the cast visits an ele trekking co in Thailand and rides the elephants. In order for them to be manageable to give rides, they go through a "breaking process" which is pictured below.
Update #1 2 months ago
TY for signing my petition to have Bravo TV pull it's episode from 'Tour Group' which promotes riding elephants in Thailand.I am very happy to see nearly 1700 sigs in a little over 2 days. Plz sign & share to as many as possible. Remind them registration to this site is not needed and they can fill in a fake address if they'd like. I've been posting the comments you're making to Bravo's FB account and will include them in a letter I'm sending off to Bravo's Viewer Relations Department.
About This Petition
This petition demands that Bravo TV pull it's upcoming episode of 'Tour Group' which promotes elephant riding in Thailand.
Background info: Bravo Television has a new reality series entitled 'Tour Group' which documents the travels of a group of people to attractions across the world. One episode features riding elephants in Thailand. Bravo TV is watched by millions of people across the world and is most known for 'The Real Housewives' franchise.
What's Wrong With Riding Elephants? Elephant rides recently topped World Animal Protection's list of the world's 10 most cruel animal attractions. In order to train elephants to give tourists rides, babies are subjected to what is known as phajaan, or "elephant crushing". This heartbreaking process leaves the babies scarred by physically and mentally for life.
What Will Pulling the Episode Do? With millions of viewers globally, this episode will effectively serve as a giant advertisement for the 'elephant trekking' industry. You can't pay for more premium ad space anywhere. Airing the episode will not only inspire people to go elephant trekking on their vacation, it will also send the message that this type of violence against animals is ok.
When is the episode supposed to air? The series premiers on March 1st. I am unsure about the exact date this particular episode is supposed to air. Hopefully it never does.
What Else Can I Do?
Tweet Sheet: https://occupy4elephants.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/tweet-sheet-demand-bravo-tv-pull-i....
STOP Animal ABUSE - NO MORE ELECTRIC prods and BULL Hooks on baby elephants!!!
Click to help!
TARGET: The head of circus organisations around the world
789 of the 1,000 Goal
Bears, elephants, tigers, and other animals do not choose to ride bicycles, stand on their heads, balance on balls, or jump through rings of fire. They don’t do these tricks because they want to but only because they are scared of the consequences. To perform these tricks the animals are forced to be beaten with whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, bullhooks, and other painful tools! “In many circuses, elephants are beaten, hit, poked, prodded, and jabbed with sharp hooks, sometimes until bloody!” If the animals don't listen, the circus trainers do all of those horrible things just for entertainment! Most of the animals from the circus are imported from their natural habitat and all that happens is torture.
Elephants lifestyle is extremely similar to ours. In many circuses elephants are forced to breed at the age of 8 years old! Once the elephant is born it has to be separated from its mother before even being weaned. The mother is tied up by all four legs so that when the trainers take away the baby elephant the mother doesn't attack them. The baby elephant is taken away and tied up for at least 23 hours a day! After the elephant gets older the beating process begins, the process is so brutal that some circuses are not aloud to have videos taken on a security camera!
During training the animals are beaten until bloody with electric prods,bull hooks and other torture devices.
Incredible moment when this guy say elephant name “Kham-Lha”. You will not believe your eye at Elephant Nature Park. Leran More : www.saveelephant.org
Watching elephants perform may look like family fun, but for elephants and other wild animals, the experience is anything but! Join us and the voice of this video, Selma Blair, at http://www.whatelephantslike.com/ in the fight against performing animal abuse; and keep animals where they belong, in the wild.