Tag Archives: Elephants

PETA vs. Ringling Bros.

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The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star published a story in March on the ongoing debate between Ringling Bros. and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

In the profile, Ringling Bros. accuses People for the Ethical Treatment of animals of putting forth a fictional representation of the circus, while PETA accuses Ringling Bros. of being one of the cruelest circuses and of being \”Baby Killers\” after a young elephant at the circus died in July 2004.

PETA\’s Brandi Valladolid told the Daily Free Lance-Star,

We\’ve been protesting Ringling Bros. for a very long time. Ringling Bros. is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to animal welfare and animal care.

. . .

[Parents should not bring their children to a Ringling Bros. circus because] Kids pick up on things we don\’t think they see. They see the animals getting whipped. They see the ringmaster hitting them. It teaches a very dangerous lesson — that it\’s OK to abuse animals; OK to exploit them for entertainment.

Meanwhile Ringling Bros. spokesman Darin Johnson told the newspaper that PETA\’s web site attacking the circus is filled with misinformation. For example, Johnson says video footage there distorts the events surrounding the birth of an elephant at the circus. According to the Daly Free Lance-Star,

He [Johnson] said the online video of the birth only shows the calf being pulled away from the mother for its own protection and doesn\’t show it being returned to her when she calmed down.

Johnson said the calf was taken away, checked and returned, just as human babies are examined by doctors then returned to their mothers.

Johnson also told the Daily Free Lance-Star that online video at PETA\’s site purports to showing elephants being whipped by Ringling Bros. employees, but that the video is in fact not of Ringling Bros. elephants or employees. The Daily Free Lance-Star quoted Johnson as saying,

They took footage from every zoo and animal park in the world and spliced it together.

Source:

PETA decries circus\’s ethics. Michael Zitz, March 25, 2005.

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IFAW Needs Basic Economics Lesson

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In order to protest the sale of ivory, the International Fund for Animal Welfare publicly destroyed a giant elephant tusk constructed from various pieces of ivory in London\’s Trafalgar Square. But it seems a bit confused about its motivation.

According to IFAW\’s wildlife campaigner, Jenny Hawley,

Elephants are intelligent and sociable animals, capable of enormous suffering. Many populations are also at risk of extinction. People must remember that every ivory item they buy increases the demand, which is met by poacher. IFAW believes ivory belongs to elephants. The only way to stop elephants being killed for their tusks is to make ivory worthless.

Where did Hawley get her economics degree from? By publicly destroying ivory, the IFAW sends a clear signal that the amount of ivory available for sale, legally or illegally, has just declined. And what happens when the quantity of a commodity for sale declines (all other things being equal) — its value increases.

Hawley continues,

By destroying its own \’stockpile\’, IFAW is calling for all countries with ivory stockpiles to put them beyond use for ever. If we want to safeguard the future of elephants, then all international discussions must focus on proper long-term conservation measures rather than trade.

But, again, destroying such stockpiles would simply send the price of ivory skyrocketing which would make elephants an even more lucrative target for poachers.

Protecting elephants from poaching by strangling the supply of ivory will work just as effectively as stopping illegal drugs by attempting to strangle the supply has.

Source:

IFAW destroys giant tusk of unwanted ivory in its campaign to protect elephants. Press Release, International Fund for Animal Welfare, April 12, 2005.

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API Goes Mobile With Anti-Circus Billboard

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Unable to find an outdoor billboard company willing to display its latest anti-circus billboard, the Animal Protection Institute has created a mobile 22-foot mobile billboard, presumably attached to the side of a truck, to drive around areas where circuses appear.

The mobile billboard made its debut in January protesting a Jacksonville, Florida, appearance of Ringling Bros. Circus. The billboard shows a chained elephant with the text, \”Would you chain your dog for most of her life? Why Pay a Circus to do it to Elephants?\”

In a press release announcing the mobile billboard, API\’s Michelle Thew said,

If the depiction of life for these animals is too graphic to be shown on a billboard, the reality is too graphic for them to endure in the circus. Protestors will be outside the arena on Wednesday with a clear message — the catalog of misery that circus animals endure must come to an end. This is not family entertainment.

Source:

Opening Night of Ringling Bros. Circus to Attract Protest. Press Release, Animal Protection Institute, January 26, 2005.

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In Defense of Animals Can\’t Count to Two

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In January, In Defense of Animals released a list of what it called the \”10 Worst Zoos for Elephants.\” Among those zoos listed was the Cameron Park Zoo, in Texas. IDA complained that,

Even though companionship is essential to elephants\’ psychological health, this Texas zoo displays and keeps a single elephant.

In fact, the Cameron Park Zoo has had two African elephants since its elephant exhibit opened in 1993, except for a brief period in 1996 after an aging elephant died.

IDA says it got the information from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association\’s database of zoo animals, but didn\’t bother to call the zoos it listed as the \”10 Worst\” to verify that information. IDA\’s Catherine Doyle told the Waco Herald-Tribune,

It wasn\’t meant to be a scientific study. It was an opinion piece. . . . The most important thing is that the public be educated about issues with elephants in zoos. These animals are suffering in zoos and dying in zoos because of captivity-induced conditions.

Certainly one should never expect to receive anything scientific from IDA, just as you shouldn\’t expect anything historic from the t-shirt they sell with a bogus quote from Abraham Lincoln.

Its the activism that counts — screw the accuracy.

Source:

Animal rights group wrongly harangues Cameron Park Zoo. J.B. Smith, Waco Herald-Tribune, January 11, 2005.

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Clyde-Beatty Cole Brothers Circus Stops Using Elephants

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The Clyde-Beatty Cole Brothers Circus announced in April that it would no longer feature elephants in its traveling circus shows. It will, however, continue to rent out its two remaining elephants for television commercials and educational performances.

Cole Brothers Circus\’ marketing director Bill Tebbetts told the Baltimore Sun that the decision to retire the elephant act was based solely on economics, noting it cost more than $60,000 per year to take care of each elephant on the road. According to Tebbetts,

Our business has been going down over the past few years, and we wanted to add some more flair to the show.

Humane Society of the United States\’ Richard Farinato, however, chalked up the move to animal rights protests and pressure against the use of circus elephants. Farinato told the Baltimore Sun,

I do think what we\’re seeing with the circuses is that they\’re deciding that it\’s not worth taking the heat. To change the way they\’re doing business, they\’ve realized they need to get elephants out of sight.

Source:

Big void under the big top. Molly Knight, Baltimore Sun, May 6, 2004.

Cole Drops Elephants. Press Release, I-SPEAK, April 2004.

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PETA Protests Zoo In Truly Fitting Way

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PETA\’s basic argument in a nutshell.

On August 22, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals protested outside of the San Diego Zoo.

The activists were angered over the zoo\’s decision to import African elephants from Swaziland. Swaziland had scheduled the elephants to be culled, but instead the zoo offered to import the animals as part of its breeding program.

Anyway, along with activists holding signs, PETA chose a method of protesting completely appropriate to its views — it unloaded a truckload full of manure in the zoo\’s driveway in order to block the entrance. An unidentified man in an elephant suit locked himself inside the truck, but was pulled out and arrested by police.

PETA has pulled this sort of stun before. For example, during the 2000 presidential campaign it dumped a truckload of manure at a restaurant where then-Republican candidate George W. Bush had just finished having breakfast.

Not a pleasant way to protest, to be sure, but at least for a change PETA\’s argument was intellectually honest.

Source:

PETA protests pachyderms with poo. TheSanDiegoChannel.Com, August 22, 2003.

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Hippo Population in Congo Crashes

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The World Wildlife Fund recently publicized a Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature survey of the hippopotamus population in the Democratic Republic of Congo. That survey estimates that the hippo population has declined from a high of 29,000 in the early 1970s to only about 1,300 specimens today.

Of course the Democratic Republic of Congo has been racked by war and corrupt governance during much of that period, so it is hardly surprising that poachers and others have been killing hippos with impunity. What is genuinely surprising is the perverse effect that the ban on the trade in ivory has had on hippo populations. According to New Scientist,

In recent years, hippo meat has become a delicacy in parts of central Africa. Furthermore, the present worldwide ban on the trade in elephant ivory has meant hippo teeth, which can grow to 60 centimeters or more long, have become a valuable substitute.

This switch is darkly ironic, because hippos are now much rarer than African elephants. The global hippo population is now estimated at about 150,000, but there are more than half a million African elephants.

African nations where elephants are plentiful have repeatedly petitioned for a resumption of the world ivory trade (limited lifting of the ban, usually to sell pre-ban ivory stocks, has taken place occasionally since 1989).

Sources:

Poaching causes hippo population crash. NewScientist.Com, August 29, 2003.

Poachers will wipe out hippos in Congo, WWF warns. Reuters, August 28, 2003.

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PETA Activists Arrested at Zoo Protests

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Four activists with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were arrested in California and Florida on August 14 while protesting the planned importation of African elephants from Swaziland.

PETA and other groups had unsuccessfully tried to block the importation of 11 elephants from Swaziland that were destined for the Lowry Park zoo in Florida and the San Diego Zoo in California. The elephants will be part of breeding programs at both institutions.

In Tampa, Florida, police arrested three activists. Jayson A. Bayless, 29, of Norfolk, Va., and Valerie Lee Silidker, 28, of Davie, Florida, were arrested on burglary and disorderly conduct charges. Alan Hugh Berger, 57, of Charleston, South Carolina, was arrested on a trespassing charge.

The three PETA activists entered the offices of the zoo and apparently began screaming at the staff members and refused to leave when asked.

In San Diego, meanwhile, Lisa Ann Wathne, 42, of Washington state was arrested on a charge of trespassing after she unsuccessfully (!) tried to chain herself to an office building at the San Diego Zoo.

Sources:

Elephant protest leads to arrest. Tallahassee Democrat, August 15, 2003.

Four PETA members arrested at Tampa, San Diego zoos. Associated Press, August 14, 2003.

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Hunting African Big Game . . . With Darts

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National Geographic New recently reported on a new practice in South Africa where hunters are paying a lot of money to track and shoot elephants and rhinoceros with tranquilizer darts.

National Geographic profiled South Africa\’s Timbavati Nature Reserve which has an ongoing five-year project to monitor the population dynamics of elephants in the reserve. Under Timbavati\’s program, big game hunters pay in order to track and shoot the animals. As soon as their tranquilized, staff move in and tag the animal with a radio collar so its movements can be tracked.

The Reserve has a similar program with rhinoceros where a microchip is implanted in the animals horn both for identification purposes and to deter poaching.

Although it seems like a win-win situation for both hunters and conservationists, not everybody is thrilled by the idea. Newly elected president of the International Rangers Federation David Zeller worries that animals will be tranquilized repeatedly in such hunts simply for commercial purposes,

What if someone decided to have the same animal hunted over and over? It goes down, staggers back to its feet, only to be brought down a month or two later by another dart. People are capable of canned-lion hunting. What would stop them doing this? . . .This is a new thing, and we need to have a national policy set that will help our provincial authorities to apply the right criteria for issuing permits.

Still even with those caveats, this seems like an excellent program. At least until People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals points out that you wouldn\’t let people shoot children up with tranquilizers for research so why should people be allowed to do it to animals?

Source:

In Africa, Hunters Pay to Tranquilize Game for Research. Leon Marshall, National Geographic News, June 16, 2003.

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African Elephant Moved to Tennessee Zoo Over Animal Rights Objections

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In May, animal rights groups lost their bid to prevent the Los Angeles Zoo from moving a 42-year-old female African elephant to the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee.

Los Angeles resident Catherine Doyle had sued to get a temporary restraining order blocking the move, but the zoo moved the elephant two days before the scheduled hearing on the restraining order.

Animal rights groups that had opposed the move, including The Humane Society of The United States (HSUS), In Defense of Animals, Last Chance For Animals and Venice Animal Allies Foundation, blasted the move. In a joint press release, the groups complained,

In its attempt to keep [elephants] Ruby and Gita together, Doyle\’s lawsuit accuses the Los Angeles Zoo of violating public policy and trust, as well as the California Administrative Procedure Act. It does not cite any violation of the Endangered Species Act. This outrageous ploy on the part of the zoo and the L.A. City attorney was a blatant delaying tactic designed to leave Ruby\’s fate in legal limbo and enabled the zoo to carry out their plan of transferring Ruby to the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee, regardless of the elephants\’ mutual welfare.

\”I believe the L.A. Zoo, with Mayor Hahn\’s endorsement, has shown its true colors with this covert operation of moving Ruby under the cover of darkness over a holiday weekend,\” declares Gretchen Wyler, VP HSUS Hollywood Office. \”The zoo has resorted to reprehensible legal maneuvering to achieve its intractable goal of separating these elephants, and like thieves in the night, has spirited away city property from the residents of Los Angeles.\”

\”Shame on the zoo for sneaking Ruby away in chains in the middle of the night, taking her away from her home and her best friend, while our request for a temporary restraining order was to be ruled on today,\” states Yael Trock, the attorney for the plaintiff Catherine Doyle. \”We are not giving up on this and intend to take further legal action.\”

The Los Angeles Zoo moved the elephant because the Knoxville Zoo has an interest in developing an African elephant breeding program whereas the L.A. Zoo is in the process of focusing on Asian elephants in a process that could eventually lead to a breeding program as well.

Sources:

Animal Protection Groups Blast L.A. Zoo for Spiriting Away Elephant Under Cover of Darkness. In Defense of Animals, Press Release, May 27, 2003.

Despite protests, L.A. Zoo Sends Elephants to Tennessee. Carla Hall, Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2003.

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