Guest guest Posted October 15, 2006 Report Share Posted October 15, 2006 >I also respect the views of Kim and Merrit ( although it came a >little late ), and request them to highlight the trauma, terror and >pain of captive elephants which they have to undergo throughout >their life after their capture from the wild. These things have been >documented on video, but they also need the blessings of 'Animal >People' in a similar way as any other form of animal abuse gets >space on the esteemed tabloid. I believe I first wrote about elephant suffering in captivity approximately 18 years ago, but it may have been five years or more earlier, when I was exposing bad conditions at the Granby Zoo in Quebec. ANIMAL PEOPLE has examined the many issues involved in elephant capture and keeping captive elephants in dozens of articles, beginning in our third-ever edition in December 1992. From the past three years alone-- March 2004 - 15-year-old puts bill to ban circuses on the ballot April 2004 - USDA puts Hawthorn Corp. out of the elephant business October 2004 - Elephas Maximus September 2004 - Live elephant exports from Thailand and South Africa September 2004 - Keeping elephants out of sanctuaries December 2004 - The Tower Menagerie December 2004 - Elephant retirement progress May 2005 - Weaning zoos from elephants November 2005 - Gods In Chains December 2005 - Elephant Sanctuary to get last Cuneo eles Jan-Feb 2006 - So why doesn't the Belgrade Zoo cage the war criminals & & leave the elephant in India? June 2006 - Tuli elephant case reprised July-August 2006 - Thai zoo deals with Kenya and Australia put on hold July-August 2006 - Coping with elephant moods July-August 2006 - PETA, Ringling clash in Austin October 2006 - Thai coup may hit wildlife traffic That's 17 articles in 30 editions, not counting briefer mentions such as obituaries for longtime captive elephants, many of which mention their circumstances of capture and causes of death associated specifically with captivity. Our current edition, October 2006, includes an obituary for the elephant Lucy, 46, whom I visited at the Milwaukee County Zoo only a few days before she was euthanized due to chronic inability to stand. The preceding edition included an obituary for Elephant Sanctuary at Hohenwald senior elephant handler Joanna Burke, 36, who was killed by an elephant who had apparently gone insane during 30 years at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin. Christine Townend has been writing about elephants in captivity for much longer than I have, I believe, though not as often. Inasmuch as both Townend and I have examined and exposed bad situations for elephants in captivity all over the world, in many different places and times, it is ironic for either of us to be accused of indifference to it now. We do, however, have very different roles from the roles of activist advocates. As I previously pointed out, Townend has earned the inside role of attempting to alleviate and improve conditions for the working elephants in Jaipur, for whom there are no sanctuaries available and no wild habitat for them to reoccupy, and would be a very long truck ride across the desert, which some might not survive, even to move them back to the various distant locales from which they came. Captive or not captive is not the debate for these elephants. They are captive, and will almost certainly always be captive, simply because regardless of how they are used, or even if they are used at all, there is nowhere else for them to go. They will be used with the ankus or without, chained or not, receiving regular veterinary care or not, depending on the extent to which their mahouts allow Townend to intervene on the elephants' behalf and allow her to teach them better, gentler methods. Perhaps this is only palliative care. Nonetheless, it is all that can be done for these elephants here and now, and helping them here and now takes nothing away from anyone else's efforts to keep other elephants out of captivity and out of use. My role is to to be fair, be accurate, " comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable, print the news, and raise hell. " Very often this entails pointing out to those who are engaging in smug exercises of group-think that group-think usually amounts to not thinking much at all. Of all the many abuses of elephants going on in India at this very moment, how significant is this elephant polo match? Whether it occurs or not, will it make one elephant dung ball's worth of difference in whether or not elephants in India have sufficient habitat to avoid conflicts that result in their death or capture? Is anyone on this list under the illusion that there is growing demand for captive working elephants, or ever again likely to be, with hundreds of cast-off former logging elephants already shuffling the streets looking for hand-outs, or trying to re-learn feeding themselves in the forest? Does anyone imagine that there is any likelihood of elephant polo ever catching on as a significant spectator sport? There are any number of ways in which people who care about elephants can genuinely help them. Knocking Christine Townend for trying to teach mahouts to work without the ankus is not among them. As to anyone wishing to toss dung-balls at me, you're welcome, but be aware that the mob of true believers in front of you is already so dense that you are very likely to hit others who share your feelings in the back of the head. -- Merritt Clifton Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE P.O. Box 960 Clinton, WA 98236 Telephone: 360-579-2505 Fax: 360-579-2575 E-mail: anmlpepl Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org [ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide, founded in 1992. Our readership of 30,000-plus includes the decision-makers at more than 10,000 animal protection organizations. We have no alignment or affiliation with any other entity. $24/year; for free sample, send address.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 15, 2006 Report Share Posted October 15, 2006 Dear Merrit, Thanks for your mail. So even you do not have much idea of what goes behind the scenes with regards the whole 'method of wild elephant capture'. I wish you could see the film which bagged a Green Oscar for Mr. Mike Pandey on elephants capture where a tusker was captured from the wild, tortured in the process of taming, tusks sawed without anesthesia, prodded with iron rods...and by none other than the 'Elephant Queen', Parbati Barua from Assam ( the title Elephant Queen was given by none oher than Mr. Mark Shand in one of his books on her). Well to make things a little easy for all os us, Godwilling I may be able to upload some pictures of an elephant capture in progress shot in the wilderness of Assam. I am trying my best to get some exclusive video footage. Wish to get back to the debate after I acquire the video, will put it up on the internet for all of us to see. Regards, Azam Siddiqui -------------------------------- You wrote: March 2004 - 15-year-old puts bill to ban circuses on the ballot April 2004 - USDA puts Hawthorn Corp. out of the elephant business October 2004 - Elephas Maximus September 2004 - Live elephant exports from Thailand and South Africa September 2004 - Keeping elephants out of sanctuaries December 2004 - The Tower Menagerie December 2004 - Elephant retirement progress May 2005 - Weaning zoos from elephants November 2005 - Gods In Chains December 2005 - Elephant Sanctuary to get last Cuneo eles Jan-Feb 2006 - So why doesn't the Belgrade Zoo cage the war criminals & & leave the elephant in India? June 2006 - Tuli elephant case reprised July-August 2006 - Thai zoo deals with Kenya and Australia put on hold July-August 2006 - Coping with elephant moods July-August 2006 - PETA, Ringling clash in Austin October 2006 - Thai coup may hit wildlife traffic 107/C, Railway Colony, New Guwahati- 781021, Assam. INDIA Ph: +91 94350 48481 (M), +91 99540 97586 ® www.freewebs.com/azamsiddiqui Stop the Forest Service from killing more wolves, bears, cougars, and other animals in the wild: http://go.care2.com/99055 http://www.Care2.com Free e-mail. 100MB storage. Helps nonprofits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 15, 2006 Report Share Posted October 15, 2006 This message, just received, is how activists erode their own credibility: >So even you do not have much idea of what goes behind the scenes >with regards the whole 'method of wild elephant capture'. >I wish you could see the film which bagged a Green Oscar for Mr. >Mike Pandey on elephants capture where a tusker was captured from >the wild I not only saw the Pandey film, but reported about it and many integrally related issues on page one of the May 2003 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE. The article is easily accessible at <www.animalpeoplenews.org>. To make it even more easily accessible, I am posting it below. From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2003: Elephant captures & rampages spotlight habitat encroachment PRETORIA, NEW DELHI, NAIROBI, SAN DIEGO, BANGKOK, COLOMBO--Pretoria Regional Court magistrate Adriaan Bekker on April 7 found African Game Services owner Riccardo Ghiazza of Brits, South Africa, guilty of cruelty to 30 young elephants in 1998-1999. The verdict reportedly took Bekker four hours to read. Convicted with Ghiazza, but on just two cruelty counts, was student elephant handler Henry Wayne Stockigt. Charges were dismissed against another handler, Craig Saunders, and another company, African Game Properties Inc. Captured in the Tuli district of Botswana during July 1998, the elephants were transported to Brits for training and sale to overseas zoos. Global outrage erupted first over the separation of the elephants from their mothers, and then over alleged rough treatment of the elephants by trainers hired from Indonesia. The South African National SPCA began the long effort to convict Ghiazza after videotape surfaced that reportedly showed Stockigt and others beating the chained elephants. Ghizza, a major supplier of African wildlife to zoos in China, apparently intended to sell some or all of the elephants to China. None are known to have actually gone there. Instead, according to the South Africa-based Wildlife Action Group, nine went to the Marakele Game Reserve in South Africa; nine went to the Sandhurt Safaris hunting lodge in North West Province; seven are held in controversial conditions at the Dresden Zoo, in Germany; and five were sold to former co-defendant Saunders. The " Tuli elephants case, " as the episode became known, was instrumental in rallying protest against the conventional practices of wild elephant capture and training. It spotlighted an increasing dilemma throughout the range of both African and Asian elephants, afflicting both the wild and captive populations: what to do about overcrowded or displaced elephants in a world which allows them only limited wild habitat. The Ghiazza conviction came amid a new worldwide furor over the prolonged suffering and death of an Indian elephant captured on February 5 in Chattisgarh state by the noted female mahout Parbati Barua. Wrote Alex Kirby of BBC News Online, " Witnesses say the elephant was repeatedly jabbed with spikes and struck with bamboo canes, " after being run to exhaustion, tranquilized, and dragged between two tame elephants. " His legs were tied, " Kirby continued, as was the elephant's head. " Then his tusks were sawn off. He was left without food and water, and died 18 days later, apparently of stress, starvation, and thirst. " Videographers Mike Pandey and Amalendu Mishra documented the suffering of the elephant. The International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Wildlife Trust of India distributed the video to news media. People for Animals founder Maneka Gandhi demanded that Barua be criminally prosecuted. " The acts of Barua were not negligent but deliberate, " Ms. Gandhi noted. " Under the circumstances, a clear case has been established. Barua has committed an act of hunting that is punishable by imprisonment for not less then three years and which may extend up to seven years, " Ms. Gandhi added. A federal investigation of the episode began on April 16. The elephant was among a trio who had allegedly killed 33 people since September 2001. According to some accounts the elephants had learned to abscond when wardens hunting them with guns begin to pray for forgiveness before lining up their shots. Chattisgarh chief wildlife warden Anup Bhalla had authorized capturing all three of the elephants in lieu of killing them, but after the controversy over the death of the first elephant captured blew up in late March he ordered that the other pair should be shot. Options The much disputed options for wild elephants include expanding their habitat; allowing trophy hunters to shoot them; culling them for ivory and hides; trying to chemically control their births; capturing them for exhibition; and training them for work. Habitat expansion is costlier than most of the governments which have wild elephants could fund without enormous outside support, and is often politically unfeasible anyway, since elephants' habitat is shrinking in the first place because of human encroachment on their existing reserves. In some regions the encroachment has actually resulted from the success of elephant-focused tourism, creating jobs for lodge staff and safari drivers, who bring their families to villages on the fringes of wildlife reserves that eventually boom into small cities. In other places, the elephant population was poached to abnormally low numbers during the 1980s, allowing farmers and herders to take over temporarily vacated habitat, especially in migration corridors close to water sources, that the elephants are now trying to reclaim--with frequently catastrophic consequences for all concerned. The Nation, of Kenya, reported on March 26 that rampaging elephants kept villagers in Tetu, Nyeri District, from saving a three-year-old boy from a dawn housefire. The elephants then smashed three local schools, just as classes were starting, and critically injured three villagers during a six-hour confrontation that apparently resulted from a botched attempt to chase them back into the forest. Police finally shot several elephants. Repeated elephant forays out of Tsavo East National Park meanwhile put 20,000 people at risk of starvation in Kilifi District, due to crop losses, The Nation said. Reports of similar damage have recently reached ANIMAL PEOPLE from Indonesia and Malaysia. " Fear of being crushed by wild elephants is driving pregnant women in Dumka, Jharkand to give birth on platforms built in treetops, " the Deccan Herald of Mysore, India reported on April 1. The account might have been dismissed as an April Fool, except that approximately 150 people have been killed by elephants in Jharkand since November 2000, including a young woman who was trampled on April 14. Similar problems are anticipated in Sri Lanka, as a 12-year civil war subsides. At least 1,369 elephants were killed during the fighting, many of them poached by rebels who allegedly traded ivory for weapons. Anti-poaching law enforcement in the northern half of Sri Lanka virtually ceased after 1990, and formerly protected elephant migration corridors were extensively encroached. Attempting to reopen the corridors by evicting the people could spark resumed conflict. Sri Lankan newspapers are full of schemes to deal with the problem by diverting the recovering elephant population into zoos, sanctuaries, the export trade, and national parks redeveloped to facilitate ecotourism. Whether any of the ideas will work is a matter of speculation. But there seems to be little chance that elephants will regain much of the habitat they have lost, much to the distress of Kala Santha, DVM, the Sri Lankan animal advocate who brought the controversy to the attention of ANIMAL PEOPLE. Santha fears that surplus Sri Lankan elephants will either be exported or be reduced to servitude like the working elephants of Jaipur, India, whom she has helped to treat at clinics organized by Help In Suffering. Since people vote and elephants don't, human interests tend to take precedence even where the laws are on the elephants' side. Poaching Trophy hunting and culling surplus elephants, practiced in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, can be lucrative for those who control the trade, but for the second time in six years there is increasing evidence that allowing any legal international commerce in elephant parts tends to stimulate poaching, as traffickers use the legal trade as cover. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species banned international sales of ivory in 1989, but allowed Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe to sell some of their stocks of culled and confiscated ivory in 1997. As the vote approached, ivory poaching in Asia, other parts of Africa, and along the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia reportedly was more intensive than it had been in a decade. After the poaching outburst appeared to have subsided, CITES in early 2002 began considering allowing the same nations plus South Africa to sell more stockpiled ivory. Poaching again markedly increased, as shown by the February 2003 seizure of 33 tusks from five alleged poachers in northern Kenya, and by the March 25 massacre of a seven-member elephant family in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda--the first known instance of ivory poaching in Uganda since 2000. Elephant birth control experiments have had some reported success, after initial failures, but the technique is still in develop ment and the concept is not widely accepted yet, especially by politicians, hunters, and some international conservation groups who see elephants as a " sustainable resource. " Exhibition Capturing elephants for exhibition abroad runs afoul of opponents of elephant captivity, even though there is growing demand among zoos for healthy young elephants to replenish the fast dwindling number who were captured and exported from Asia and Africa before the 1972 adoption of CITES and, in the U.S., the 1973 passage of the Endangered Species Act, which effectively ended imports of most listed species. Captive breeding programs have not produced new zoo and circus elephants at even a fraction of the captive elephant death rate. Although the life expectancy of an adult zoo elephant is now as long or longer than life expectancy in the wild, the increasing proportion of geriatric elephants among the zoo and circus herd hints that the death rate will only rise if more elephants are not imported. Walt Disney Inc. in 1996 considered importing a herd of elephants from South Africa who were otherwise slated for culling, but dropped the idea after the International Fund for Animal Welfare bought additional land for elephant habitat on the promise of the South African government that the elephants would be spared. No further attempts to import elephants were made until 2002, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service authorized the San Diego Zoo and the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa to obtain 11 elephants from Swaziland, including six females of breeding age. Swaziland officials said the elephants would otherwise be culled. San Diego Zoo spokesperson Christina Simmons told Catherine Ivey of Associated Press that Swaziland would be given " several million dollars " for anti-poaching work. As of early April 2003 the elephants were in holding pens awaiting transfer, but People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other activist groups were pursuing legal action in hopes of blocking the deal. Keeping them home Capturing elephants for either exhibition or work in their own nations is a non-starter. Prasanta Paul of the Deccan Herald News Service reported on March 19 that the West Bengal forest department is hoping to raise funds by selling 26 elephants to Indian zoos, but even if the zoos had the money to purchase the elephants, there are already more captive elephants in Asia than anyone knows what to do with--most of them trained for logging or carrying tourists, but out of work due to the advent of tractors and the global tourism slump resulting from the U.S. recession and fears of terrorism. The Thai cabinet on March 11 approved a scheme to employ as forest guards an estimated 200 elephants who have been illegally roaming Bangkok. Proposed by King Bhumibol Aduladej in his 2002 birthday speech, the idea outraged the volunteers who now patrol the Thai national forests for an allowance of a fifth as much as the elephants and their mahouts will get--but the elephants have markedly greater food needs. Elephants whose mahouts bring them back to Bangkok are to be seized, if the recommendations of the Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation for implementing the king's idea are followed. Bangkok officials, however, say they do not have the budget, staff, or impound facilities to seize elephants, which is part of why so many are at large in the city despite previous expulsion orders. Elephant captures continue in Thailand, and elsewhere in Asia not because there is market demand for the elephants, but rather because, as brutal as the captures and subsequent training tend to be, there is widespread opposition to killing even the most problematic elephants wherever there exists either a tradition of worshipping Ganesh, the half-elephant Hindu god in charge of placing or removing obstacles, or of practicing Buddhism. The symbol of Buddha was a white elephant, whose name in the U.S. is synonymous with being an unwanted gift. --M.C. -- Merritt Clifton Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE P.O. Box 960 Clinton, WA 98236 Telephone: 360-579-2505 Fax: 360-579-2575 E-mail: anmlpepl Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org [ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide, founded in 1992. Our readership of 30,000-plus includes the decision-makers at more than 10,000 animal protection organizations. We have no alignment or affiliation with any other entity. $24/year; for free sample, send address.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 This exchange only proves that the organisers of this elephant polo match are beginning to feel the pressure. Something they possibly did not reckon with when they went ahead with their plans without consulting other animal welfare groups and concerned individuals. On 10/15/06, Merritt Clifton <anmlpepl wrote: > > >I also respect the views of Kim and Merrit ( although it came a > >little late ), and request them to highlight the trauma, terror and > >pain of captive elephants which they have to undergo throughout > >their life after their capture from the wild. These things have been > >documented on video, but they also need the blessings of 'Animal > >People' in a similar way as any other form of animal abuse gets > >space on the esteemed tabloid. > > > I believe I first wrote about elephant suffering in captivity > approximately 18 years ago, but it may have been five years or more > earlier, when I was exposing bad conditions at the Granby Zoo in > Quebec. > > ANIMAL PEOPLE has examined the many issues involved in > elephant capture and keeping captive elephants in dozens of articles, > beginning in our third-ever edition in December 1992. > > From the past three years alone-- > > March 2004 - 15-year-old puts bill to ban circuses on the ballot > April 2004 - USDA puts Hawthorn Corp. out of the elephant business > October 2004 - Elephas Maximus > September 2004 - Live elephant exports from Thailand and South Africa > September 2004 - Keeping elephants out of sanctuaries > December 2004 - The Tower Menagerie > December 2004 - Elephant retirement progress > May 2005 - Weaning zoos from elephants > November 2005 - Gods In Chains > December 2005 - Elephant Sanctuary to get last Cuneo eles > Jan-Feb 2006 - So why doesn't the Belgrade Zoo cage the war criminals > & & leave the elephant in India? > June 2006 - Tuli elephant case reprised > July-August 2006 - Thai zoo deals with Kenya and Australia put on hold > July-August 2006 - Coping with elephant moods > July-August 2006 - PETA, Ringling clash in Austin > October 2006 - Thai coup may hit wildlife traffic > > > That's 17 articles in 30 editions, not counting briefer > mentions such as obituaries for longtime captive elephants, many of > which mention their circumstances of capture and causes of death > associated specifically with captivity. Our current edition, > October 2006, includes an obituary for the elephant Lucy, 46, whom > I visited at the Milwaukee County Zoo only a few days before she was > euthanized due to chronic inability to stand. > > The preceding edition included an obituary for Elephant > Sanctuary at Hohenwald senior elephant handler Joanna Burke, 36, > who was killed by an elephant who had apparently gone insane during > 30 years at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin. > > Christine Townend has been writing about elephants in > captivity for much longer than I have, I believe, though not as > often. > > Inasmuch as both Townend and I have examined and exposed bad > situations for elephants in captivity all over the world, in many > different places and times, it is ironic for either of us to be > accused of indifference to it now. > > We do, however, have very different roles from the roles of > activist advocates. As I previously pointed out, Townend has earned > the inside role of attempting to alleviate and improve conditions for > the working elephants in Jaipur, for whom there are no sanctuaries > available and no wild habitat for them to reoccupy, and would be a > very long truck ride across the desert, which some might not > survive, even to move them back to the various distant locales from > which they came. Captive or not captive is not the debate for these > elephants. They are captive, and will almost certainly always be > captive, simply because regardless of how they are used, or even if > they are used at all, there is nowhere else for them to go. > > They will be used with the ankus or without, chained or not, > receiving regular veterinary care or not, depending on the extent to > which their mahouts allow Townend to intervene on the elephants' > behalf and allow her to teach them better, gentler methods. > > Perhaps this is only palliative care. Nonetheless, it is > all that can be done for these elephants here and now, and helping > them here and now takes nothing away from anyone else's efforts to > keep other elephants out of captivity and out of use. > > My role is to to be fair, be accurate, " comfort the > afflicted, afflict the comfortable, print the news, and raise > hell. " > > Very often this entails pointing out to those who are > engaging in smug exercises of group-think that group-think usually > amounts to not thinking much at all. Of all the many abuses of > elephants going on in India at this very moment, how significant is > this elephant polo match? > > Whether it occurs or not, will it make one elephant dung > ball's worth of difference in whether or not elephants in India have > sufficient habitat to avoid conflicts that result in their death or > capture? > > Is anyone on this list under the illusion that there is > growing demand for captive working elephants, or ever again likely > to be, with hundreds of cast-off former logging elephants already > shuffling the streets looking for hand-outs, or trying to re-learn > feeding themselves in the forest? > > Does anyone imagine that there is any likelihood of elephant > polo ever catching on as a significant spectator sport? > > There are any number of ways in which people who care about > elephants can genuinely help them. Knocking Christine Townend for > trying to teach mahouts to work without the ankus is not among them. > > As to anyone wishing to toss dung-balls at me, you're > welcome, but be aware that the mob of true believers in front of you > is already so dense that you are very likely to hit others who share > your feelings in the back of the head. > > > -- > Merritt Clifton > Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE > P.O. Box 960 > Clinton, WA 98236 > > Telephone: 360-579-2505 > Fax: 360-579-2575 > E-mail: anmlpepl > Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org > > [ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing > original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide, > founded in 1992. Our readership of 30,000-plus includes the > decision-makers at more than 10,000 animal protection organizations. > We have no alignment or affiliation with any other entity. $24/year; > for free sample, send address.] > > > > For more information on Asian animal issues, please use the search feature > on the AAPN website: http://www.aapn.org/ or search the list archives at: > aapn > Please feel free to send any relevant news or comments to the list at > aapn > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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