Pachyderms

"Elephants are sensitive, gentle, intelligent, caring, patient, altruistic, and highly social mammals. Most so-called "bad behavior" in captive elephants can be traced directly to maltreatment and archaic "training" methods. Elephants shackled for life become demented, as would any sentient being. Every captive elephant suffers from a broken spirit. Perhaps, someday, this "civilized nation" will learn that we are not the only creatures on this planet who have feelings and a right to life and freedom. Perhaps in learning to live morally with other creatures, we will also learn to live better lives with each other."

From: Elephants Cry Too
Florence Lambert
Founder and Director of the Elephant Alliance

Billy - My Inspiration

"I recently visited the Los Angeles Zoo and met Billy and was very saddened by what I saw. He displayed behaviors that of a sick and stressed elephant and this broke my heart. After extensive research, I have learned a lot about elephant behavior and how zoos are just not capable to maintain such an intelligent giant. As of May 2007, he is now the only elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo and on exhibit. He will be moved onto a new expanded exhibit in 2009, but Billy will remain sick and stressed, living a life unfit for an elephant. I have written several letters to city officials to free Billy to a sanctuary where he can live the rest of his life free. Billy is just one example...there are many others, including those who travel with circus shows and amusement park shows. Six Flags is a frequent violator of elephant laws and has been cited thousands of dollars, but agencies continue to allow this establishment to "own" these creatures and use brutal force to get them to do what they want. Zoos are wonderful places to learn about the animals around us, but for the largest land mammal on the planet, it is no place for an elephant." **** UPDATE: Billy's petition, with 1,843 signatures, was submitted to the zoo on 09/13/08. ****Please see "Billy News" to the right for new developments!**** Due to the recent media news regarding Billy's exhibit, I have reopened his petition! 12/07/08 **** Please go to http://www.helpbilly.org to take further actions to help Billy! He needs our help NOW more than ever! *** OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LAST RALLY TO SAVE BILLY What: Demo At the Los Angeles Zoo for Billy WHEN: Saturday, January 24th, 11am WHERE: Los Angeles Zoo, 5333 Zoo Drive, L.A. (in Griffith Park) MEET: In front of main entrance; parking is free Signs and flyers will be provided. For more information, contact: [email protected] or 323-301-5730. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Scheduled City Council Meetings - Billy's Final Chance at Freedom Tuesday, January 27th, 3pm and Wednesday, January 28th, 10am L.A. City Hall, 200 N. Spring Street, L.A., 90012 John Ferraro Council Chamber, Room 340 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Please view Mayuka Thais' heartwarming video about Billy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl-LQtOdEpg&eurl=http://wflendangeredstreamlive.org/shows.html

"PLEASE join me and support elephant-free zoos." - Marcy

::Billy:: Taken 5/5/07

::Stop Construction - Send Billy to a Sanctuary!::

::Maggie - Walls of Stone::

::Pearl - St. Louis Zoo:: Taken September 2007

::Stereotypic Behavior of Animals Confined in Circuses::

Help Elephants Today

You can help elephants like Billy now, by signing one of the following petitions or by starting your own.

*Say No to the Bullhook
*Ban the Bullhook/Nebraska Only
*End Elephant Abuse at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
*Send Lucy and Samantha to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee
*Send Toni the Elephant at National Zoo to the Elephant Sanctuary
*Help send Bamboo to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee
*Send Donna the lone Asian elephant to The Elephant Sanctuary in TN
*URGENT: Save El Paso Zoos Elephant!
*Send Clara and Pearl to Sanctuary NOW! **Sadly, Clara was euthanized on March 14, 2007. Please visit www.clarasvoice.org for more information. PEARL STILL NEEDS OUR HELP!!
*Re-Introduce HR 2929 the Captive Elephant Accident Prevention Act of 1999
*Save Rhanee & Toto - Valwo Zoo Spain
*Urge 'CARTIER Inc' to withdraw sponsorship from 'Elephant Polo' in India
*Save the Elephant Habitat in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
*Free Pregolja! Give her sanctuary
*Speak Out Against the Trade of Ivory
*Free Lucky from the San Antonio Zoo
*Stop the Culling of Elephants in South Africa
*Oppose South Africa's Plan to Kill Elephants
*LET ANNE THE ELEPHANT RETIRE TO A SANCTUARY

Circus Animals Need Help Too!

You can help Circus Animals now, by signing one of the following petitions or by starting your own.

*End the use of animals in Ringling Bros. Circuses!
*Stop Supporting Animal Act "Entertainment"
*Stop Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey's Circus, one city at a time!
*Save Elephants in Captivity
*Abuse of Circus Animals!!!!!
*Ban Circus Cruelty
*END THE EXHIBITION AND EXPLOITATION OF ELEPHANTS IN CIRCUSES,ZOOS AND AMUSEMENT PARKS
*Urge your Representative to help Tina and Jewel
*PLEASE Urge federal government to send Tina and Jewel to a sanctuary
*URGENT!!!Circus Animals Need Your Help in 2008
*BAN RINGLING CIRCUS SHOW OF CRUELTY FOREVER
*HELP NAYSA, THE LOUISIANA MARE - URGENT!

2008 - List of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants

Worst Zoos for Elephants - Hall of Shame IDA's 2008 Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants list includes a special category for repeat offenders that have made little or no progress improving conditions for elephants.

2004 - List of Elephant Free Zoos

Elephant Stories & Poems

February 2008
THE STORY OF JANET - A CIRCUS ELEPHANT

"I PRAY" Written by Rose K. at Care2

I've dreamt of peace from the human, who has no love for me..
I've trumpeted out to God, have you forgotten me?
I fall to the ground in agony, from the bullets in my spine
Run my family run! you can not save me, my life is done
I pray to you dear God in heaven, please keep my family safe..
From the hunters and their guns, who kill us for fun
I lay on the ground with tears in my eyes, they saw off my tusk while I'm still alive!
I close my eyes take one last breath, it's peaceful now the pain has left.

"I AM AN ELEPHANT"
- Stu Bykofsky
4/2007

I am an elephant.

I was not born for your amusement any more than you were born for mine.

If you see me in the zoo, and especially in the circus, which arrived here yesterday, I am not there willingly.

I was kidnapped and carried far, far away from my home and my family. I might have been an adult, but was more likely a baby when captured. Some "brave" hunter might have killed my mother - who could be dangerous - and sold me to a zoo or circus as an orphan.
Elephants have large families, as you may know, each headed by a female. When a female is born into the family herd, she never leaves.

Closely and happily, we travel together, eat together, play together, rest together. For elephants, every herd is a "village" in which the baby is cared for by its mother, and her sisters, and her mother. Being connected to family is as much a part of our being as our floppy ears. It harms us to be separated from our family. Can you understand that?

Do you think I cannot feel loneliness and despair?

As you may know, we elephants grieve for our dead. We mourn for our family. Being disconnected from our family is like death for us.

That is what we suffer when we are captured, and kidnapped, and sold.

I am an elephant.

I know you love seeing me, in the circus or in the zoo.

I know some of you feel that, "It isn't a circus without elephants," or, "It isn't a zoo without elephants."

You are thinking about yourself - what you want, what you like.

Please think about me.

I am an elephant.

Do you think I was born to be chained to a stake, when my spirit cries to cross vast savannas? Do you think I was made to be pushed into cramped circus railway cars, to be hauled around the country like furniture?

I perform for eight minutes for your pleasure, then spend endless hours in misery.

Some zoos try hard to accommodate my physical and psychological needs, but few succeed.

My first need is spiritual and that was crushed when they stole me from my family in Africa.

In Africa, my numbers are dwindling as poachers slaughter my kind for a few pounds of ivory.

Imagine killing a majestic, five-ton animal for scraps of ivory. Does that offend your sense of decency?

And yet you don't think twice about the slow death of imprisoning me in a barren cage.

You believe letting your children get close to a captive elephant will make them appreciate me. Must that come at my expense? Can't they learn from videos, DVDs and Web casts, without my suffering?

Can't you teach them about the dignity of living animals by leaving us alone?

When you and your children see me do a circus "trick," you are delighted.

You don't ask yourself, "How did they make that elephant stand on his head?" I never stand on my head in the wild.

Was it positive reinforcement, as Ringling says? Was it through abuse, as undercover videos have shown?

I am an elephant.

My second need is for physical stimulation, by walking. My long legs are built to move. I walk a dozen or more miles a day, when I am free to.

No circus, and few zoos, give me what I need.

And still I hear you want to see me in a zoo, you want to see me perform circus "tricks."

You want to see me because you love me, you say.

If you love me, don't do this to me.

I am an elephant.