Three Animal Rights Groups Protest Abusive Treatment of Elephants by the Ringling Brothers And Barnum and Bailey Circus

Good to see the groups still raising awareness to the abuse suffered by elephants in circuses.

For more detailed information on the abuse of elephants in circuses see http://www.idausa.org/facts/circusfacts.html

Article:

Animal Rights Groups To Protest Treatment Of Circus Elephants

http://www.10news.com/news/13848316/detail.html

SAN DIEGO -- At least three animal rights groups will protest what they call abusive treatment of elephants by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus Wednesday outside its opening night performance at the San Diego Sports Arena.

"These people treat them like the devil would," Florence Lambert of the Elephant Alliance said. "They've been abused."

Circus officials have long denied allegations of mistreatment, claiming it exceeds all federal animal welfare standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Animal Welfare Act.

Lambert went to the circus' annual walk from the train to the Sports Arena Tuesday, checking on the condition of the elephants, but said she was forced to remain in her car because employees know her as the woman who unmasked them.

"Fourteen years ago, I took a lot of photos that were incriminating. They (circus employees) shout at me," she said.

Lambert said she watched from her car, making sure the elephants were all right, and to see if she could report any violations to Animal Control.

"They (circus employees) were shouting and punching them with the bull hook," Lambert said. "But they weren't using the hooks to break the skin."

Although Lambert was a witness to the walk where she said the animals "looked so sad and just so abused," Animal Control was parked nearby, and she said the trainers were doing nothing illegal.

Other animal advocates will be in attendance tomorrow to protest elephant training practices among other issues.

The San Diego Animal Advocates said they will pass out fliers in English and Spanish on Wednesday, as well as have banners in both languages, the group's Jane Cartmill said.

During the protest, a person dressed inside a flat screen television suit will be displaying videos of what Cartmill calls elephant training.

Circus official Andy Perez said Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey encourages the public to see the elephants and other animals for themselves.

"We don't have bad trainers," he said.

The circus has trainers available 90 minutes before the show. The audience can see trainers and the animals at that time, Perez said. The circus is especially proud of its Asian elephant breeding program, Perez said.

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus operates a 200-acre facility in Florida where the elephants can retire, breed and become a part of a research project to ensure their species' survival, Perez said.

Cartmill said her group will be protesting the circus for false statements of breeding elephants for conservation purposes.

"Captivity equals conservation is absurd," Cartmill said. "They should buy habitat in Asia where the elephants belong. Breeding them in a U.S. environment is not conservation."

St. Louis Zoo Kills Oldest Elephant: Clara Euthanized After Suffering Severe Health Problems Caused By Life in Captivity

The deteriorating health of Clara and others at the St. Louis Zoo was written about by IDA at http://www.helpelephants.com/st_louis_zoo.html

The zoos lack of concern has been proven now, as they did nothing to attend to these issues and alleviate the suffering caused by life in captivity.

It is commonly held now that it was captivity that led to her death as she was forced to stand on concrete and hard surfaces. Over time, an animal this size will suffer from this type of treatment. Eventfully, her legs gave out and then poisoning occurred due to circulation issues. I’m sure she was in severe pain when it occurred.

For more on the health issues caused by putting large animals like elephants in zoos see http://www.helpelephants.com/



Article:

TEXT: Clara Euthanized

Zoo's Oldest Elephant Euthanized

http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/News/
Detail?contentId=2666147&version=1&locale=EN-
US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI-myFOXstl.com) --

The oldest elephant at the St. Louis Zoo was put to sleep after midnight. Clara, 54, was the matriarch of the zoo's herd. She had been suffering from arthritis and foot problems. Clara is receiving a necropsy Wednesday, which is an autopsy for animals, and she will be buried at an undisclosed location. The zoo calls Clara's death "a sad part of the circle of life."

Zookeepers say she was humanely euthanized. Clara was 54 years old, which zookeepers say is pretty old for Asian elephants. The average life expectancy is 44 years, either in zoos or in the wild.

Clara had arthritis and her painkillers were no longer working.

Clara was born in Thailand and brought to St. Louis in 1955 with seven other elephants to perform in the elephant show, which has since been phased out. In five decades at the zoo, Clara danced in elephant shows and also was there for the construction of two elephant facilities.

Clara was a "great aunt" to Raja, the first Asian elephant born at the zoo in 1992. Clara was also there for the birth of Mahlia, who was born seven months ago, and Jade, who was born three weeks ago.

One More Elephant Retired to Sanctuary: Unfortunately though, Los Angeles Zoo Doesn’t Learn Lesson: Has Plans for Large Elephant Captivity Development

We wrote last year about the premature and unnatural death of the 48-year-old Asian elephant named Gita at Los Angeles zoo - http://geari.blogspot.com/2006/06/
another-premature-and-unnatural.html

Of course, much is still to be determined about the cause of death, but those who truly understand elephants know that captivity literally killed her. Fortunately, the same fate may not await Ruby, another elephant at the Los Angeles zoo. By a sheer miracle, she will go to the Performing Animal Welfare Society's Ark 2000 elephant sanctuary in San Andreas, southeast of Sacramento - http://www.pawsweb.org/site/media/index.htm

It is surprising beyond belief that the Los Angeles Zoo allowed this. It looks like it was a political move as they likely didn’t’ want to face bad press again. Unfortunately though, one elephant remains behind and the zoo - Billy, a 22-year-old Asian bull. And, the zoo in its arrogance plans on huge future developments for elephant captivity. As stated below, “In fact, the zoo has embarked on an ambitious, $39-million capital project to build a new pachyderm habitat that is expected to be devoted to keeping and breeding Asian elephants.”

I guess they didn’t really learn.

One key fact to remember –

The average life span of Asian elephants in captivity is 42-years. In the wild, Asian elephants live about 70 years. Unless you’re an idiot, you can see the obvious difference.


Whatever happens it’s clear that the lives of elephants in zoos are unnaturally short and painful.

For more on the Los Angeles zoo and it’s questionable practices as well as additional facts about elephants in captivity see http://www.lcanimal.org/cmpgn/cmpgn_elephant_zoo.htm

Article:

L.A. Zoo to retire elephant to animal sanctuary

Animal rights activists praise decision on Ruby, which ends months of speculation on her fate.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ruby
12mar12,0,4279339.story?coll=la-home-headlines

By Carla Hall, Times Staff Writer
March 12, 2007
The Los Angeles Zoo is expected to announce today that it is retiring its female African elephant, Ruby, to an animal sanctuary in Central California.

The decision ends months of speculation over whether the pachyderm would go to another zoo or a sanctuary, and was praised by animal rights activists who lobbied for several years for her retirement to a preserve.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has expressed concern about the conditions for elephants at the L.A. Zoo, plans to discuss the decision to relocate Ruby at a news conference today.

"I am very pleased that the city and the zoo recognize that it's best to send Ruby to a sanctuary, which unlike a zoo can provide the vast space and natural conditions that elephants need," Catherine Doyle, elephant campaign director for In Defense of Animals, said Sunday night.

Activists have made the zoo's elephant habitat a rallying cry, long arguing that the giant land animals, which roam miles in the wild and form social bonds, simply do not have enough space at the L.A. Zoo.

State Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), who has tried to mandate space minimums for elephants in captivity, has said that L.A. Zoo elephants simply don't have enough space to be content. Levine is also expected to appear at today's news conference at the zoo.

But zookeepers and L.A. Zoo director John Lewis have insisted that space alone is not the issue in caring for captive elephants. Zoo officials had no comment Sunday.

Currently, Ruby is off-exhibit and solitary, having lost the closest thing she had to a companion in the female Asian elephant Gita, who died last summer.

After Gita's death, Lewis said he would consider either transferring Ruby — at 46, her breeding years behind her — to another zoo or sending her to a sanctuary.

The advisory L.A. Zoo Commission voted at a meeting earlier this year to urge that Ruby go to a sanctuary. Ruby's departure will leave the zoo with only one elephant, Billy, a 22-year-old Asian bull, in residence and on exhibit.

Ruby will go to the Performing Animal Welfare Society's Ark 2000 elephant sanctuary in San Andreas, southeast of Sacramento.

Like a kind of Leisure World for elephants, PAWS offers some 75 acres of rolling hills to wander, plus a 3-acre lake and mud holes.

"Here, she'll be able to bathe when she chooses to bathe, mud when she choose to mud, and graze," said Pat Derby, co-founder and co-director of PAWS.

"We're really happy the zoo has made this decision," Derby said Sunday night.

Like any other relocation for an elephant, Derby said, this one will take some adjustment.

"There's the popular misconception that you put them in the truck, drive to the sanctuary, let them out and they all live happily ever after," said Derby, who has been caring for elephants at a sanctuary for 21 years.

"Every move is traumatic and stressful for an elephant. They're grounded in routine. They don't adapt well to a change. It will be a real experience for her…. I will say she's healthy and she doesn't have any major medical problems, and she has a really lovely personality. I feel she will move more quickly."

The L.A. Zoo joins a small but significant list of institutions that have decided, for the good of the animals, to retire elephants.

Eight zoos accredited by the Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums — including San Francisco and Detroit — have placed a total of 11 elephants in sanctuaries, Doyle said.

The L.A. Zoo, however, is in the interesting position of retiring one elephant to a sanctuary but not getting out of the elephant-keeping business. In fact, the zoo has embarked on an ambitious, $39-million capital project to build a new pachyderm habitat that is expected to be devoted to keeping and breeding Asian elephants.

Ruby came to the L.A. Zoo from Circus Vargas in 1987, but was sent off to Tennessee's Knoxville Zoo in 2003 to serve as a maternal example to other elephants. In her wake, she left outraged animal rights activists who said the zoo was breaking the bond between Ruby and Gita, and even filed a lawsuit to get her returned. She did come back to L.A. in 2004 after her introduction to the herd in Knoxville proved unsuccessful. But she has been off-exhibit ever since, a result of construction on the zoo grounds.

The zookeepers and the director have always staunchly defended their management of and devotion to the elephants. Principal elephant keeper Jeff Briscoe has spent years caring for the zoo's elephants and travels to see them in the wild.

Animals in captivity are well-cared for, Briscoe said, and not subject to "incredible humanelephant conflict issues" that plague pachyderms in the wild, Briscoe said last year.

"There are space issues and poaching. It's important to keep them in people's eyes so they pay attention…. These guys are safer here than out there."