Written by PETA
Less than two months ago, PETA called on the Little Rock Zoo to retire its lone elephant, Ellen, (Mary, her companion, had just died), and send her to a sanctuary where she could spend her remaining years in peace and comfort. Now it's too late: Ellen is dead.
Rather than trying to find out what caused Ellen's rapid decline, zoo officials shut the gates to the public and buried Ellen at an undisclosed location. PETA is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to investigate what really happened and to order a necropsy because of the suspicious handling of Ellen's death. Here are some questions that demand answers:
Please join PETA in asking the USDA to investigate the circumstances surrounding Ellen's death.
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
Bear expert Else Poulsen flew to Fayetteville, North Carolina, to join PETA and concerned area residents in calling on county officials to uphold a local law prohibiting the possession of exotic animals and send a neglected bear named Ben to a sanctuary.
After reviewing footage of Ben's behavior, Poulsen described what Ben was trying to tell us:
Ben is communicating with whomever is on the other side of the fenceline. When he is head butting the fence he is showing that he cannot move forward. He demonstrates that the fence is impervious to his biting and he cannot get out. He demonstrates that he cannot walk forward as he puts his paws under the fence. If Ben had understood that he could get out himself he would be doing these things with greater gusto, but he seems to understand that he/himself cannot do it. … Judging by the bite marks in the fence Ben has tried to appeal to others his wish to get out.
Ben has been kept in substandard, inhumane conditions in a cramped, barren cage at the Jambbas roadside zoo in Fayetteville, North Carolina—for years.
The zoo's owner, James Bass, faces charges for violating the county's exotic-animal ordinances, but after Bass went in front of the commission and asked its members to amend the law in an attempt to exempt him, the commission—without much ado and in a stunning display of favoritism—obliged.
Please ask Cumberland County Commissioners to send this curious and intelligent bear to the roomy and stimulating environment of a sanctuary—PETA has lined one up that is awaiting Ben with open arms!
Knut, the polar bear cub who was the toast of the Berlin Zoo four short years ago, is dead. He was only 4 years old.
trespassers william/cc by 2.0
Months ago, PETA Germany had warned the head of the zoo that Knut was being terrorized by his three female companions, one being his mother, Tosca, (who had once been used in a circus.) He was under constant stress. PETA Germany repeatedly asked zoo authorities to move Knut away from the three females to a different location. Like most captive polar bears, Knut paced incessantly and bobbed his head repeatedly, signs of captivity-induced mental illness common in bears. One German zoologist termed Knut a "psychopath" but zoo officials insisted Knut was “fine.”
Previously, the zoo had tried to unload the less-cute (and less lucrative) adult Knut to another zoo. "It's time for him to go--the sooner he gets a new home the better. Anything else would be financially irresponsible,” said the zoo’s senior bear keeper. The plans were scrapped in the face of public opposition. Polar bears naturally roam vast Arctic expanses and open water—which no zoo can provide. An Oxford University study found that polar bears suffer physical and mental anguish in captivity and noted that a polar bear’s typical enclosure size is about one-millionth of his or her minimum home-range size.
People who care about bears should refuse to buy a ticket to any zoo that profits from their misery.
A federal inspector determined that a tiger named Tatiana was provoked before she leapt out of her enclosure and attacked three young people—killing one—at the San Francisco Zoo in 2007. The inspector noted in her initial report, "With my knowledge of tiger behavior I cannot imagine a tiger trying to jump out of its enclosure unless it was provoked," and that the sticks, rock, and other objects that were found in Tatiana's cage indicated that "someone may have thrown these items into the enclosure at the tigers."
Her conclusions, originally stricken from the final report, have come to light three years after the fact, but one of the men had previously admitted that the three had been standing on a metal rail, waving and shouting. Animals in zoos are easy targets. Less than a year later, a man was cited for misdemeanor animal taunting for allegedly throwing acorns at a rhinoceros, and another man was cited for disturbing animals when he jumped into the rhino enclosure. Both incidents happened at the same zoo.
PETA filed a complaint with federal authorities after Tatiana was killed in a hail of bullets, and the zoo was assessed a fine of $1,875 for unsafe enclosures.
People who care about animals should refuse to buy a ticket to any zoo, where, in addition to the daily frustration of living in a concrete box, visitors sometimes add insult to the animals' injury—and get themselves or the animals injured or killed in the process.
In the space of just one week, three giraffes have died at zoos in the Southwest. Zookeepers found Slim, an 18-month-old baby giraffe dead when they showed up for work at the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin, Texas. After only four months at the Hillcrest Park Zoo in Clovis, New Mexico, a giraffe named Jay was found sick and lying down in his pen and was euthanized. At the Albuquerque BioPark, a 3-year-old giraffe named Renna collapsed without warning and had to be euthanized.
Like bears and elephants, giraffes are particularly ill-suited to life in captivity. In the wild, giraffes have a life expectancy of about 25 years, but they rarely live that long in captivity, where they are highly prone to health problems and injuries. Zoos like to claim that breeding giraffes helps to sustain the population, but many of these animals die as young adults after the zoos have profited from patrons wanting to see the new baby. Even if they survive long enough, no captive giraffes have ever been released into the wild.
Zoos should stop breeding giraffes and close down their giraffe displays, as some reputable zoos are doing with elephants. You can help by refusing to patronize any establishment that breeds and displays captive exotic animals.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
A Tucson, Arizona, restaurant owner has decided that the best way to drum up business for his taco stand is to serve lion meat. Hasn't he ever heard of coupons? About six months ago, Bryan Mazon, owner of Boca Tacos y Tequila, started featuring what he calls Exotic Taco Wednesdays, during which he serves up turtle, kangaroo, alligator, python, and other exotic animals. Now, in a move that we're pretty sure would make Mufasa toss him right off of Pride Rock, Mazon wants to serve tacos made with lion meat.
As appalling as this idea is, it gets worse: Those tacos may include someone's former "pet." Lion meat in the U.S. comes from lions who have spent their lives in backyard cages, zoos, pseudo-sanctuaries, roadside menageries, and circuses. When the novelty of keeping them wears off or when zoos need to make room for cute new babies, lions are sold at auction, where they may be purchased by slaughterhouses or canned hunting ranches.
Mazon says he has heard from protesters and people who want to know if serving meat from exotic animals is legal. (Unfortunately, it is, if the species in question isn't endangered.) "In all reality, what I want is just people to know that I'm here," he said. "That's the way to do it." Really? Funny, because I bet loads more people have heard of yummy and meat-free Boca burgers than have heard of you. Hmmm.
shannonyeh.photography/CC by 2.0
China is saying "lights out" for all animal shows at its 300 state-owned zoos, telling zoos that they can either stop abusing animals in this way or be shut down. The circus act ban—which China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development passed in September 2010, earning it PETA Asia's Advancement in Animal Welfare Award—officially goes into effect this week, and already two zoos have shut down their circuses. Some of the cruel stunts used in these shows featured lions standing on horses' backs, bears walking tightropes, monkeys fighting each other, and live animals being fed to predators.
Banning these cruel shows could lead to improved conditions for other zoo animals as well. Last year, an investigation by the State Forestry Administration (SFA) revealed "more than 50 zoos where animals were suffering severely because of abuse." The SFA also received a PETA Asia Advancement in Animal Welfare Award for its investigation and the ban that it imposed in July 2010 on cruel circus acts.
Chinese zoos had defended the circus acts, saying that they made the animals "stars." But we're pretty certain there's not an animal out there who would prefer being beaten and forced to perform stupid, dangerous tricks to relaxing and playing with his or her family.
PETA Asia has been sending undercover investigators to zoos across China since July 2010 in order to monitor the zoos' compliance with the new policies, and the group is reporting violations to authorities.
The following is a cross post from PETA Asia-Pacific's blog, The Hot and Sour Scoop.
Mention China and animals in the same sentence and visions of foxes and raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for fur often come to mind. But in what many hope signals the beginning of a turnaround, China's State Forestry Administration (SFA) has placed a landmark ban on animal shows in zoos and circuses throughout the country. This major milestone is why the SFA has been named the 2010 recipient of PETA Asia's Advancement in Animal Welfare Award.
The SFA's latest move means that the cruelest shows—ones that feature live feeding, tigers forced to jump through burning hoops, and motorbike-riding bears—will disappear. In fact, in order to give itself time to weed out the worst zoos and circuses, the SFA has imposed a moratorium until the end of the year on domesticating or breeding wild animals for these shows.
Moreover, all forest departments must review and reform their local regulations, management, and facilities regarding animal entertainment venues. New regulations are also expected to cover confining and breeding animals in zoos and circuses.
SFA's progressive action will do a lot to help animals in China, and you can do your part too. Don't patronize shows that feature live animals for entertainment—take a stand by signing our pledge against imprisoned animal "entertainers" today!
Written by Agnes Tam
After learning that a 9-year-old girl was bitten by a bear at Chief Saunooke Bear Park (CSBP) in Cherokee, N.C., PETA hand-delivered a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) asking that the zoo's exhibitor's license be revoked immediately. According to a USDA inspection report, the girl was scratched and had tooth marks on her wrist bone after being allowed to get up close to the bear to feed the animal Lucky Charms and cat food. Let me get this straight: The bear's diet includes junk food and little girls. The incident was the second documented bite at CSPB in that week. Last December, a 75-year-old caretaker was attacked by a bear at this crummy roadside zoo.
PETA is working to close the filthy bear pits in Cherokee, N.C., and get the animals shipped to sanctuaries. The shoddy enclosures and the lax approach to human-animal interactions pose a threat to humans, and the bears live a miserable life that can't remotely be termed "humane." CSBP was recently cited for risking serious injury to animals by maintaining unsafe enclosures, feeding bears cat food and sugary cereal, reusing filthy food trays, and other violations.
Please ask the USDA to pull the plug on this dangerous and cruel operation.
Animals suffered and died left and right at a shabby Florida roadside zoo, which is aptly called Vanishing Species Wildlife. The outfit routinely took animals on the road to fairs, schools, and summer camps even when they were sick, hungry, dying, and stressed. Good news: Federal authorities have revoked this zoo's license!
Schools and parents, take note: Paying animal exhibitors to hold presentations for your children supports cruelty to animals. Don't patronize any business that exploits animals for profit—please remove field trips to zoos and circuses from your school's curriculum.
Educators who would like free materials designed to teach students to be compassionate toward all living beings can click here.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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