Elephant Polo : celebrated British wildlife artist lodges protest

[Guest guest]

*Dear All,*

* Kindly find attached a statement on elephant polo from celebrated

British wildlife artist, Pollyanna Pickering which I am posting with her

consent. As many of you will know, Mrs Pickering is one of Europe’s leading

wildlife artists and illustrators and is also a noted supporter of the Born

Free Foundation. She has written and illustrated many books on animals and

has also visited India to see tigers. Her books on animals have been highly

acclaimed by noted personalities and she has also been at the forefront of

several human rights/welfare initiatives for epilepsy patients and children.

I will soon be conduc**ting an interview of her amongst several animal

welfare workers in India and abroad as part of my ongoing work.*

* It is nice to note that individuals are still raising their voice against

torture of elephants who are made to play polo(with or without the ankush).

The more people we have speaking out, the more potent our opposition. I

think we are moving closer to phasing out this atrocity in India, it will

happen sooner or later, it is not a question of 'if' but 'when'. Thank you

Mrs Pickering for your very generous support.*

* As Azam says in **his inimitable and charming capital letters, “We have

one more VOICE in our campaign against the use of elephants in

entertainment.”*

 

* Best wishes and warm regards,*

 

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*STATEMENT ON ELEPHANT POLO FROM BRITISH WILDLIFE ARTIST POLLYANNA PICKERING

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* " As a wildlife artist I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to

observe and sketch elephants in the wild in India. I have found a growing

fascination and empathy with these intelligent and majestic animals, with

their complex social structures and remarkable emotional bonds. *

 

* *

 

*I was very distressed to learn of the cruel practises which can be involved

in training elephants to take part in what for them is an unnatural

activity. Elephants who take part in these games do not do so voluntarily,

but are forced to participate through training methods, which in many

instances inflict pain and fear. Although to the casual observer elephant

polo matches may appear entertaining, I feel that a spectacle such as this

only shows animals trained to perform in the same way they would in a circus

ring. While I appreciate that for the organisers of many of the matches the

welfare of the elephants on the day is a priority, we cannot escape the fact

that the movements the elephants are co-erced into making during the course

of the game are not natural for these creatures. There is also the concern

that some of the elephants who are forced to participate in such events are

captured from the wild and taken away from their herds and family members,

and that the continuation of the sport encourages the ongoing capture of

wild elephants. Surely elephants should be celebrated and revered for their

role in both India's society and ecosystem, not degraded as a cheap circus

sideshow.*

 

* *

 

*In the 21st century we no longer need to rely on the spectacle of trained

wild animals for our entertainment, and I feel strongly that we should move

beyond these 'games' and focus on other ways of encouraging people to

appreciate and respect our wildlife, including elephants, other than as

commodities which are only there for our amusement. " *

 

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*With Best Wishes,*

 

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*Pollyanna*

 

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*Pollyanna Pickering*

 

*Brookvale House*

 

*Oaker*

 

*Matlock*

 

*Derbyshire*

 

*DE4 2JJ*

 

*www.pollyannapickering.co.uk* <http://www.pollyannapickering.co.uk/>

 

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*Biography of Pollyanna Pickering*

Pollyanna Pickering is widely recognized as Europe's foremost wildlife

artist, and is the most published fine artist working in Britain today. She

is an honorary patron of The Wildlife Art Society International, and a

signature member of the Artists for Conservation Foundation. Pollyanna was

born in Yorkshire, and is pictured left making an early start on her career!

She began her real art training at Rotherham Art School, where, in her first

year she won the award for most promising student - and met her future

husband, Ken Pickering, an industrial designer. She went on to study for a

further three years at the London Central School of Art, graduating with

distinction.

 

*Pollyanna's original work has been exhibited in top galleries

internationally, including the Royal Academy. Her paintings hang in private

and corporate collections world-wide from Siberia to Australia, and

celebrity collectors of her work include John Hurt and David Bowie, while Sheik

Mohammed has a specially commissioned series of paintings of his ascot

winners. Her work has been presented to Princess Anne, and she has even been

commissioned to paint Her Majesty the Queens' favourite racing pigeon!*

 

*Pollyanna's work will be familiar to most people through her extensive

range of published work. Her limited edition and fine art prints, books,

ranges of greeting and Christmas cards and gift ware are sold throughout the

UK and exported into over eighty countries world-wide.*

 

*For fifteen years Pollyanna ran a registered hospital for birds of prey

from her home. Caring mainly for injured and orphaned raptors, she also

rehabilitated foxes, hedgehogs, squirrels and other mammals, all of which

feature in her work. This close contact with the creatures in her care is

reflected in the realism and vitality of her work. *

 

*Pollyanna's determination to paint only animals which she has observed in

their natural habitats has lead her into a remarkable and unique series of

journeys into some of the most inhospitable areas of the globe. Click on the

expeditions button above for further information.*

 

*The Pollyanna Pickering Foundation raises funds for world-wide

conservation, animal welfare and disaster relief. Pollyanna continues in her

support of other charities. She acts as patron of several organisations

including The Badger Trust, Raptor Rescue, Naturewatch, the Gamelea

Countryside Training Trust, and FABLE who raise funds for epilepsy

sufferers. Pollyanna is a trustee of the Irish African/Asian Conservation

Trust, and has recently accepted the post of International Vice President of

Bill Jordan's Wildlife Defence Fund. Within her local community she is

Honorary president of the North Derbyshire RSPCA and is a member of the Court

of the University of Derby. *

 

*Pollyanna continues to receive awards and accolades for her paintings,

including the Silver Palette Trophy and the Millennium Trophy bestowed by

the Wildlife Art Society International who have also awarded her two Gold

Medals. In 2004 she was awarded a coveted first prize in the Wildlife Artist

of the Year Awards, and in 2007 won the first National Wildscape Masterclass

Challenge. In 2006 the Artists for Conservation Foundation honoured her with

their prestigeous Conservation Artist Award.*

 

*However in recent years she has also been recognised for her remarkable

accomplishments in both business and conservation. She was a finalist in the

2000 Business Woman of the Year Awards, and has been awarded the Freedom of

Bolsover and District in recognition of her charitable work in the area. In

2003 her name appeared in a list of the ten Greatest East Midlanders as

voted for by the public, the same year in which she received a commendation

for her work in Arts and Media at the European Women of Achievment Awards.

In 2004 she was the winner of the Hera award at at the prestigious NatWest

everywoman Awards which celebrate the achievements of women in business. In

2006 she was awarded the Department of Trade and Investment's Women in

Business Achievement Award.*

*In 2005 The International Fund for Animal Welfare named her Animal

Conservation Fund-raiser of the Year, honouring her with an award at a

special presentation at the House of Lords. In 2008 she is to recieve

an honorary

degree from the University of Derby in recognition of her achievements. *

*Book reviews of Pollyanna Pickering*

 

*The Eye of the Tiger*

 

*Pollyanna and Anna-Louise are proud to present their long awaited fourth

book which will be officially launched at the Christmas Exhibition in

Pollyanna’s private gallery in November 2007.*

 

*The Eye of the Tiger is the beautifully illustrated story of two

expeditions to India recounting their unique experiences – working with

project tiger rangers; being given an orphan sloth bear as a birthday gift;

facing a charging tiger and living to tell the tale. At the heart of this

absorbing travel journal is the majestic tiger and the heroic efforts of all

those who strive to ensure its survival in the wild.*

 

*Pollyanna has long held a fascination for painting this increasingly

threatened species, and in 1990 she travelled to some of the remotest

protected reserves in the jungles of Southern India. Accompanied by her

daughter Anna-Louise and the world-renowned vet Bill Jordan, founder of the

charity Care for the Wild, she braved the heat and discomfort to be rewarded

with a sketch pad full of inspiration. Entertaining and informative extracts

from Anna-Louise’s journals tell the remarkable story of an orphaned sloth

bear cub as well as Pollyanna’s visit to the Bannaghatta reserve to sketch

the ‘Born Free’ tigers. These five tigers were rescued from a roadside

circus in Kent, where they had been kept in horrendous conditions, in cages

with barely enough space to turn round. Following a campaign by the Born

Free Foundation and The Mail on Sunday, enough money was raised to fly them

out to a sanctuary in their ancestral homeland. “The only image I had of

these tigers prior to my visit was the black and white photos of them

confined in their circus 'beast wagon', a squalid prison. To see them

roaming free under the heat of the Indian sun was an incredible experience.”

Pollyanna commented “In the sanctuary they can run for the first time in

their lives, roam and even swim in the river” .*

 

*Pollyanna and Anna-Louise fell in love with the country, the people, the

wildlife and the constant chaos that is India

In 2002 they made a second expedition, this time into the foothills of the

Himalayas in the North of India to paint Bengal Tigers. Here they stayed and

worked with anti-poaching rangers in the heart of a project tiger reserve.

In order to see and sketch her subjects first hand Pollyanna was bounced,

jolted, cut, bruised, scratched stung and bitten - and even charged by a

wild tiger. " I have had one or two scary moments over the years of

travelling to paint endangered species” Pollyanna commented " but I have

never experienced a fear like looking into the eyes of a snarling wild tiger

from a distance of four feet. " *

 

*The book is lavishly illustrated throughout with Pollyanna’s sketches, and

Anna-Louise’s photographs, and features 20 superb colour plates selected

from the paintings completed by Pollyanna following her inspirational

journeys. *

 

*I feel I have travelled every step of the way with Pollyanna and

Anna-Louise on their Indian Journey. Shared with them

the exhilaration,, wonder, fun and all the other myriad experiences they had

as they sought the elusive tiger, symbol of India…..I hope this illuminating

book will open many eyes and stir many hearts”*

 

 

*Virginia McKenna,

Actress and founder of the Born Free Foundation *

 

*A Brush with Wildlife*

 

*Pollyanna's third book 'A Brush With Wildlife' tells the story of the

wildlife sanctuary which Pollyanna ran from her home for fifteen years.

Lavishly illustrated with sketches, paintings and photographs on every page,

it tells the heart-warming, amusing and inspirational stories of many of the

birds and animals cared for by Pollyanna and her team of helpers. the book

provides a unique insight into Pollyanna's life and work, and reveals the

real life stories of many of the birds and animals featured in her most

famous paintings. The book also includes a portfolio of thirty paintings of

British Wildlife and landscapes, and a faithful reproduction of the

'Millennium Triptych' - the remarkable work painted by Pollyanna to

celebrate the start of a new century.*

 

*The book ends with an extended biography, tracing the fascinating rise of

Pollyanna's career - from scouting jumble sales to find frames for her

paintings, to selling her work in eighty countries world-wide.*

 

*The forward to the book has been written by respected naturalist David

Bellamy, and the preface by Twiggy, who is patron of the Halcyon Haven

Animal Sanctuary.*

 

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*'A wonderfully rich addition to any art or nature-lovers library'*

 

 

*David Bellamy*

 

*Giant Pandas and Sleeping Dragons*

 

*This lavishly illustrated book, tells the remarkable story of Pollyanna's

unique journey into China to study and paint the giant panda. It will

enchant art and nature lovers alike while providing an insight into the an

area of the world which is shrouded in mystery. *

 

*The book is written as a travelogue, based on extracts from Anna-Louise's

diary, each page illustrated with her photographs and Pollyanna's sketches.

the rewards of the journey can be seen in the stunning portfolio of 21

original paintings reproduced at the end of the book. *

 

*In 1998 Anna-Louise was honored to be a finalist in the cosmopolitan

magazine Woman of Achievement awards for the writing and photography of this

book. *

 

*Giant Pandas and Sleeping Dragons*

 

*“It is rare to find a book that captures the essence of a place so vividly

as Giant pandas and Sleeping dragons... as close as one can get to boarding

a flight to western China tomorrow and then traveling to the shrinking

habitat of the Giant panda in the most easterly edge of Tibet's plateau, a

delve into this book is the next best thing. " *

 

*Stuart Chapman,

Conservation Officer WWF*

 

*“I opened the book and saw the endearing, enchanting images of Pollyanna's

pandas,. I began to read Anna-Louise's fascinating, amused and informed

diaries, and I knew I was about to travel with them both on an unforgettable

and perhaps unrepeatable journey.......” *

 

*Virginia McKenna,

Actress and founder of the Born Free Foundation *