IDA Blog

Animals in Entertainment

Most of the smaller circuses are now in their brief winter break, a good time for an update on some of the elephants we’ve been watching closely this circus season, with your invaluable assistance.

George Hanneford, Jr. (Hanneford Family Circus) was cited by USDA/APHIS early in 2011 for failure to provide veterinary care to his elephant, Liz, who was noted to be extremely underweight (her last weight was noted at 4760 pounds) and to have deformities to one front and one hind leg, which were affecting her gait. Liz stopped performing, but she continued to travel around the country with Hanneford and two other elephants, Carol and Patty, to a variety of Shrine venues. A follow-up by APHIS determined that Hanneford had consulted with a veterinary specialist, as ordered, and that he was complying with the recommendations of the specialist. Presumably, those recommendations included preventing Liz from performing. IDA pressed our position with APHIS that allowing her to travel, even without performing, would cause further mental and physical deterioration in an already sick elephant.

As of this writing, Carol and Patty are performing with a Ringling Bros Circus unit, and we believe that Liz is “at home” in Florida with George Hanneford, Jr. We have asked that APHIS urgently investigate her situation and ensure that she is getting appropriate care and handling to improve her health, and, if not – as we believe to be the case – to confiscate her immediately.

George Carden (George Carden Circus International) apparently manages to fool even the USDA by hauling elephants around in a variety of group sizes and configurations and under an array of mantles including many Shrine organizations and the Jordan World Circus. Three of the elephants listed and at times inspected under George Carden’s license appear to also be licensed by his son, Brett (B and C Ranch). It is extremely difficult to keep track of Carden and “his” elephants for monitoring purposes. We do know that at least three of the elephants – Betty, Bimbo and Tory – have severe problems with their front legs. IDA complained numerous times to APHIS about these elephants, obviously in pain, being forced to give rides and perform. We also pointed to serious stereotypic behavior as an indicator of poor health in other elephants. APHIS then cited Carden for failure to provide veterinary care and ordered a thorough examination by an experienced veterinarian in order to assess their fitness to travel and perform. Unfortunately, Carden was able to obtain statements from a veterinarian with close ties to the circus industry, claiming that all three elephants could continue performing. We continue to monitor Carden’s elephants wherever possible, with an eye toward demonstrating to APHIS that their welfare is severely compromised and that steps must be taken to protect them.

WE NEED YOUR HELP: Getting agencies such as the USDA to act to protect elephants in circuses can be an excruciating process, but it can be very effective. Frequent monitoring of the elephants’ condition is required. We can’t go to circuses all over the country, but the help of wonderful activists has allowed us to check on elephants in New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Illinois and Florida, to name only a few. With more people willing to go to circuses to videotape the elephants, we can accomplish even more. Please email circuses@idausa.org if a circus is headed your way and you can help.

For more information about IDA’s work on elephants in circuses, go to www.helpelephants.com.

To support our work please click here.

Breaking news – NOSEY: Following many complaints by IDA over the past several years regarding Nosey, the USDA  has filed a Complaint against Nosey’s exhibitor Hugo Liebel alleging numerous willful violations of the Animal Welfare Act. These include repeated noncompliance with the veterinary care, handling, housing and husbandry requirements: in all, some 25 violations over a period from early 2007 to early 2011. These are grave violations, the possible penalties for which include fines and suspension or revocation of Liebel’s license to exhibit animals.

Nosey

IDA will continue to monitor Nosey’s ongoing care.

For more information about IDA’s work on elephants in circuses, go to www.helpelephants.com.

To support our work please click here.

Most of the smaller circuses are now in their brief winter break, a good time for an update on some of the elephants we’ve been watching closely this circus season, with your invaluable assistance.

Nosey

NOSEY: After several years of touring with Piccadilly Circus, Nosey’s “owner” Hugo Liebel left the circus after a reported falling out with its owners this spring. Nosey then spent the summer performing several shows a day and giving rides at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Since CWM closed in September, the Liebels have been reported in a few southeastern states, touring as the Liebling Family Circus, with little advance fanfare. Nosey is still performing and giving rides.

There was good news when the USDA confirmed to IDA in April that there is an active investigation into Animal Welfare Act violations by Liebel. This can result in serious sanctions against Liebel including loss of his license to exhibit. IDA filed numerous complaints leading to that investigation and, with the help of many people, we continue to monitor Nosey, and to focus the USDA’s attention on serious ongoing problems related to veterinary care and handling.

It does not appear that Nosey is getting any respite from circus life, so please keep your eyes and ears open, particularly in the Southeastern states, for appearances by the Liebling Circus or for elephant rides, and contact circuses@idausa.org if you think she’s coming to your town.

Makia

DOLLY, LOU, LOVEY AND MAKIA – UNIVERSOUL CIRCUS: The four African elephants touring during the past few seasons with UniverSoul are exhibited by Jorge and Louann Barreda. As in past seasons, IDA this year filed several complaints concerning the condition and the handling of these elephants. In April, the Barredas were cited for inadequate veterinary care due to lack of proper foot care. Foot and joint problems are the leading cause of death for elephants in captivity.

A USDA inspection following an IDA complaint in July found “no noncompliances”. Armed with photographic evidence that, in the opinion of the expert we consulted, demonstrated a lack of appropriate foot care, IDA pressed the USDA to investigate further. This resulted in the issuance of an Official Warning to the Barredas for failure to provide adequate veterinary care. This should mean that heightened attention is being paid by APHIS inspectors; failure to improve their care could well bring about legal sanctions and confiscation (rescue) of these suffering elephants.

WE NEED YOUR HELP: Getting agencies such as the USDA to act to protect elephants in circuses can be an excruciating process, but it can be very effective; frequent monitoring of the elephants’ condition is required. We can’t go to circuses all over the country, but the help of wonderful activists has allowed us to check on elephants in New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Illinois and Florida, to name only a few. With more people willing to go to circuses to check on the elephants we can accomplish even more. Please email circuses@idausa.org if a circus is headed your way and you can help.

For more information about IDA’s work on elephants in circuses, go to www.helpelephants.com.

In a great win for elephants, the Toronto City Council voted to send the Toronto Zoo’s African elephants, Thika, Iringa and Toka, to the PAWS Sanctuary in Northern California. The council voted in May to close the zoo’s elephant exhibit, but decided to send the elephants to another zoo and not to a sanctuary—though a sanctuary was not out of the question if an appropriate zoo was not located.

But things turned around last week when Councilor Michelle Berardinetti presented an urgent motion to move the elephants to PAWS amid rumors that the Toronto Zoo was zeroing in on a facility that would not meet the council’s criteria for the elephants. The council had specified that they be sent to a warmer climate and to a facility that did not use bulhooks on any elephants. Councilor Berardinetti’s motion passed by a resounding 31-4.

Thanks to the compassion of the Toronto City Council and the hard work of Zoocheck Canada, Thika, Toka, and Iringa are now assured a permanent home in a facility that offers far more space than any zoo, a climate suitable for elephants, and only positive reinforcement training.

IDA is very proud of its role in helping these elephants. We sparked the effort to save them in 2009, when IDA called for closure of the Toronto Zoo’s elephant exhibit following the unprecedented deaths of four elephants in less than four years, and urged the Toronto City Council to send the elephants to a sanctuary. The story was widely covered by the Canadian media. IDA kept the pressure on when we made Toronto the first Canadian entry on IDA’s annual Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants list. And it is thanks to the perseverance of Zoocheck Canada that this wonderful victory was finally achieved.

Now it’s time to turn our attention to the plight of solitary Lucy in Edmonton, and assure that she, too, can live out her life in a sanctuary in the company of other elephants. And we can’t forget all the other elephants living in inadequate conditions in Canada and elsewhere. With your help and support, we can bring about the mammoth changes they need.

IDA has long been fighting to end archaic, circus-style training in zoos because it’s inhumane for elephants and lethal for keepers. We are happy to tell you that the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) has announced a profound change in policy that would bring an end to cruel training practices in zoos. The AZA announced that by September 1, 2014, keepers in AZA zoos will no longer be able to share the same unrestricted space with elephants, with some exceptions. The new policy allows for exceptions, including medical procedures and testing (which is already being done by zoos using “protected contact” training that uses only positive reinforcement and no bullhooks). Zoos also will be required to document all instances of aggression by elephants and to report annually on all injuries or fatalities related to elephants (no such record-keeping now exists). This new directive is a significant step forward, but many elephants in zoos are still kept in woefully inadequate conditions that cause them to suffer and die prematurely, so there still is much work to be done.

More details to come!

To join IDA’s efforts to help elephants – Click Here to  Join our Elephant Task Force!

Seems like IDA has mostly been urging people to avoid movies this year because of the use of elephants and other wild animals who are cruelly trained and confined. But here’s an award-winning film about wild animals that we highly recommend: The Elephant In The Living Room. (Note: There are no elephants in the film but don’t let that stop you from seeing it!)

The Elephant In The Living Room is a documentary feature-length movie, produced by Michael Webber and featuring our new hero for the animals Tim Harrison, that examines the subculture of exotic animal owners and dealers in the U.S. The film takes a balanced approach to the issue, showing compassion for the animals and for a misguided human whose dysfunctional love for two lions is sure to end badly. Its main focus is Harrison’s efforts to help the lions and their owner by convincing him to let them go to a sanctuary. The story takes some unexpected twists and turns, and I’ll warn you that there is one heartbreaking scene. But this film is so important that everyone should see it.

The ownership of exotics is unfortunately alive and well in the U.S., as we know all too well at IDA. We are fighting right now to stop an elephant from being brought to a proposed pseudo-sanctuary in Maine. Despite altruistic claims, it’s just one more story about someone wanting to possess a wild animal, no matter how detrimental it is for that animal’s welfare. Like many parts of the U.S., there is no law in Maine banning the ownership of exotic animals.

The Elephant In The Room is by far is one of the most compelling and enlightening films ever made about the issue, and it’s one you should not miss. It’s not in major theaters, but you can own it on DVD (a bargain for $19.99) or Blu-Ray by visiting the film’s website and ordering a copy (it says “pre-order” because the actual release is next week). And be sure to “like” the film by visiting its Facebook page.

Disclaimer: IDA has had no involvement in the making or distribution of The Elephant In The Living Room. We just think it’s such a significant film that we’re helping to spread the word about it. Buy a copy and share it with friends or arrange a special in-home screening to educate people about this important issue.

Join IDA’s Elephant Task Force to find out what you can do to help elephants!

On July 10, Chico, the oldest bull elephant in captivity in North America died in the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, Texas. Information is exceedingly sparse: Like so many other elephants in zoos, he was “found unresponsive” in the morning when keepers arrived for work. No one knows how long he had been down or what he went through before they arrived and euthanized him. He was only 46. Chico’s death marks the end of a tragic and disgraceful chapter in captive elephant history, but one that is in constant danger of being repeated.

In 2003, Chico was one of four elephants living at the San Diego Wild Animal Park (now called San Diego Zoo Safari Park). He, along with females Peaches, Wankie and Tatima, had been there for around three decades. Though all originally had been taken from the wild.

Between the four elephants, they had managed to produce five calves for the zoo; two died within a month of birth, and the three that survive to this day were wrenched from their mothers at the ages of one and two years, and shipped to other zoos. Moja is in the Pittsburg Zoo, and Tavi and her half-brother Tsavo remain the only two African elephants at the Canton Zoo in China.

In 2001, San Diego joined forces with the Lowry Park Zoo in Florida to import eleven young, wild-born elephants that were captured at the zoos’ request. They were part of a group of 37 cull orphans and their offspring who had been relocated to Swaziland and were living as established herds in protected parks there – the entirety of Swaziland’s small elephant population at the time. International elephant trade by zoos had been suspended for a decade when San Diego first contacted Swaziland authorities to arrange for the shipment of these elephants.

Despite the best efforts of IDA and the Coalition to Save Wild Elephants, the young Swaziland elephants were brought to the zoos in 2003, but not before San Diego had moved its four long-term resident elephants Chico, Peaches, Wankie and Tatima out to make room for them. Already ailing, Peaches, Wankie and Tatima were shipped out of sunny San Diego and into Chicago’s frigid winters at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

The three elephants did not last even two years there. Tatima died in October 2004; like Chico she was found collapsed on the floor when the keepers arrived in the morning. Cause of death was infection with a bacterium similar to tuberculosis (Mycobacterium szulgai). Peaches followed only three months later, purportedly due to “old age.” She was 55; African elephants can live to be 65.

During the ensuing uproar by elephant welfare advocates, Wankie was secretly loaded onto a truck during the last chilly night of April 2005 and shipped to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, Utah, despite the fact she was recovering from colic (a painful condition that can cause an elephant to collapse). She was found kneeling in the truck, a potentially dangerous situation, somewhere around the midway point of the 22-hour trip, with temps in 20 to 30 degree range and no heat. After one more stop, the decision to continue driving sealed her fate, and she was euthanized upon arrival at the zoo. A final report showed that Wankie died of the same bacterial lung infection that killed Tatima, and that the infection coupled with “stress of shipping” may have caused her collapse.

All these elephants – Chico, Peaches, Tatima and Wankie – were victims of a zoo industry that values female elephants over males, babies over adults, and, always, money over the animals that they claim to care for. Their story should never be forgotten. Nor can we let our guard down when it comes to the capture of wild elephants for the purpose of restocking zoos – a practice that continues today.

Check back for IDA’s blog on the recent import of African elephants to the Pittsburgh Zoo’s breeding center, and how the public never had a clue!

Join IDA’s Elephant Task Force to find out what you can do to help elephants!

This year’s International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos (IDAEZ) on June 11^th was an outstanding success, featuring events in 27 cities and a virtual protest that used social networking technology to circulate more than 9,000 messages about the suffering and premature deaths of elephants in zoos. Thanks to everyone for your involvement!

Elephant advocates held demonstrations from the U.S. to Canada to the UK and Spain, educating thousands of people attending their local zoos. Media reports on IDAEZ events carried our message to even more of the public. Scores of colorful banners and posters, and the 30,000 informative flyers that were handed out, opened people’s eyes to the lifetime of misery elephants endure in inadequate zoo displays.

We welcome the many IDAEZ events in new cities this year, including the Houston Zoo, Fresno Zoo, Honolulu Zoo, Rosamond Gifford Zoo, Birmingham Zoo, Milwaukee Zoo and Ft. Worth Zoo.

We’re also pleased to report that events could not be held at the Central Florida Zoo and the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago because those zoos no longer have elephants! And it looks like there will be even fewer zoos holding elephants in the years to come.

The virtual protest, also held on Saturday, was a great success. This special cyber-demo allowed everyone to participate in IDAEZ by Tweeting zoos and posting enlightening messages on zoos’ Facebook pages about the physical and psychological suffering that Earth’s largest land mammals endure in cramped zoo enclosures. Rather than allow their members to read the truth, at least seven zoos shut down their Facebook pages in different ways.

IDA thanks everyone who participated in IDAEZ in person and on-line. You helped educate people around the world about the terrible plight of elephants in zoos, bringing us a step closer to ending their suffering. And we also thank this year’s celebrity supporters, Lily Tomlin, Jorja Fox and Mariana Tosca, for their commitment to helping the elephants.

You can visit www.HelpElephants.com to read more about IDAEZ and our campaigns for elephants in zoos and circuses.

Don’t forget to join IDA’s Elephant Task Force to learn what you can do to help elephants year round!