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Elephant in the Room, B-52's, Annual King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament,Illinois Bans Sale of Ivory,Champa, Buffalo Zoo,The Great New York State Fair and the Eastern States Exposition (aka "The Big E")

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The B52s Know Circuses Are No 'Love Shack' for Elephants
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) 
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B-52s Hit Circus With Cease-and-Desist Letter for Using Songs Durin...
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) 

Each September marks a very special anniversary for all of us at Wildlife SOS. It's the month we said goodbye to our dear Champa, the first elephant we ever rescued. Let's take a moment to remember her big, beautiful spirit, and the legacy she left.
We want to talk to you about the reason we started rescuing elephants. Her name is Champa. Although Champa's stay with us was all too brief, in that short time she taught us so much: the power of patience, the beauty of forgiveness, and the strength to leave a devastating past behind and live happily despite all the scars.
When we first laid eyes on Champa in the summer of 2001, she was limping along the scorching pavement of the Delhi-Agra Freeway. She looked exhausted and ill. She was in obvious pain. We were deeply affected by the sight, and we sent our animal ambulance out to meet her right away — then again and again, month after month, doing what we could to ease her pain. Champa's trainer (or "mahout") started telephoning us whenever she needed help. The mahout was torn; he couldn't afford to get her the care she needed and still feed his own family. But the ravages of working the hot roads were taking a greater and greater toll on Champa every year. 

Champa, before and after her rescue
We needed to help them both. But we'd never undertaken anything like this. We didn't have the land or the facilities for Champa. We didn't have the resources for her ongoing care — or for her food (more than 400 pounds a day). And we also needed to find a way to bring her trainer along, for both their sakes.
So we reached out to our donors, and the support flooded in. Eventually we were able to move Champa from the scorched city tarmac to four acres of green land with her very own clump of shade trees and a pond. At last, she could just relax — and perhaps learn how to be an elephant again. It was then that Champa's true personality began to bloom: the so-called elderly, exhausted elephant was actually a sweet child at heart. She was playful, funny, and sometimes even a bit mischievous — she loved unexpectedly spraying the staff down with pond water. She also loved to pretend-chase her trainer around the grounds, a twinkle in her eye. And she was the first to befriend and comfort any newly rescued elephant we brought in later. This is how Champa lived out her life, together with her mahout and an adoring staff in a peaceful place far, far away from the noise and clamor of the city. Our supporters gave her this life. 
Champa and her (soaking wet) trainer
One deeply sad September day Champa left us. But the inspiration she left with us continues to change the world for thousands of injured or imperiled animals — not just her fellow elephants but also the bears we look after, the tigers we protect, the leopards we take care of, and all the birds, turtles, monkeys, and other precious animals we rescue. And though there are still many elephants like Champa out there begging on noisy city streets, or suffering in circuses or in the very temples that are meant to celebrate them, every one of them has a story that we can rewrite together.

Help Elephants Who Are Beaten With Bullhooks for Thailand's King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament
A PETA Asia eyewitness investigation has revealed that elephants are repeatedly struck and gouged with bullhooks – sharp steel-tipped weapons resembling a fireplace poker – and that their ears are violently yanked in training for the cruel King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament in Thailand. Click here to help and to read more about it.

You can break the chains for elephants
In the baking heat, amidst the deafening chatter of thousands of tourists at an entertainment venue in Thailand is Phet, meaning “diamond,” a three-year-old baby elephant, who is performing senseless tricks and parading around for no reason other than entertainment.  

Born into captivity and torn from her mother far too early, Phet was cruelly trained to be ridden or ‘pose’ for the perfect selfie that tourists crave. Already this baby spends long nights chained and alone, a true torture for social creatures like elephants. Few realize the true horror that she has already endured and what the rest of her miserable life will be: endless back-breaking rides, degrading tricks, and long nights chained and alone. 

A tourist’s few moments of fun at the expense of Phet's entire life in agony. 
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As more and more tourists travel the world, World Animal Protection wants to draw attention to the plight of innocent elephants in these cruel venues, where thousands of elephants just like Phet grow up in a life of abuse. We are working to reduce demand such as for cruel animal attractions like this by working with travel companies and raising tourists’ awareness.  Only by reducing demand, can we put an end to these venues.  We are also working with venues who realize that this is not a good practice to transition them to elephant-friendly sanctuaries, where tourists can see elephants living their natural lives. 

How can I help? 
By adding your name, you are fighting for elephants to live a natural life. You are ending their suffering. YOU are breaking their chains. 

Please make your gift now to improve the lives of elephants, and help protect suffering animals everywhere, especially during this high peak tourist season. 


Sri Lanka's Shameful Elephant Abuse. More and more elephants are suffering in Sri Lanka because of the growth of tourism. Used for rides, they're forced up and down busy roads day after day and often worked to exhaustion in the sweltering heat, living in constant fear of violence.

In Defense of Animals
Victory! Buffalo Zoo Shuts Down Its Frigid Elephant Exhibit. We welcome the news that Buffalo Zoo is shutting down its miserable elephant exhibit after appearing five times over the last ten years on our list of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants. Read More
elephant rides

Animals Are Broken Emotionally, Shackled With Chains, and More for Fairs. Circuses are shutting down or dropping their animal acts, and hundreds of venues are banning them. However, The Great New York State Fair and the Eastern States Exposition (aka "The Big E") are falling behind the times by planning to host wild-animal shows in which animals are caged, transported from city to city, and forced to perform. Read More and Help Out!

elephants, Thailand
 
No winners, just suffering
 
While elephants suffer in poor living conditions, being forced to carry people on their backs, mahouts are experiencing very low pay and suffering injuries. There are no winners in the elephant tourism industry.
 
Learn more