IDA Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Wildlife’

Photo Credit : Mia Kiander

Standing atop a promontory in Taiji, Japan, I’m enduring an agonizing wait to see if today will bring another merciless slaughter of dolphins. I’ve been in Taiji for four days now and have witnessed over 60 dolphins lose their lives at the hands of the Taiji fishermen. On November 29th, a large pod of more than 50 spotted dolphins were killed, while a pod of 10 risso’s dolphins were destroyed the following day. On both occasions, babies were among the victims. I am deeply troubled that almost a year after The Cove won the Academy Award for Best Documentary the fishermen have employed a new killing method that reduces the flow of blood into the cove’s waters. They have also perfected the transfer of dead and dying bodies under blue tarpaulins so that the bodies are rarely seen as they are moved to and from the grisly gutting barge and butcher house.

On previous days, I’ve watched as so-called “banger” boats round up the dolphins at sea by creating a wall of sound with incessant banging on metal pipes, which drives the dolphins into the cove. Once the net has been dropped, they are then driven farther into the cove and up onto the rocky beach beyond public sight for slaughter. In some instances, as with the pod of risso’s dolphins I observed, the pod gets separated in such a way that some dolphins are slaughtered well before others, and those awaiting their gruesome end must listen as their family members are murdered. The scene is a profound horror, and one can only imagine the terror, pain, and fear that these highly intelligent and sentient beings must be experiencing as they are hunted down and their lives extinguished.

Currently there are 50-60 captured dolphins being held in small pens to be trained for a life in captivity. They can spend months in these pens swimming in mindless circles, undergoing daily “training” sessions, in which they learn that food now comes from a human, and only after performing a meaningless trick like jumping in the air, touching a ball with their nose, or waving their fin. I cannot express how desperately sad and disturbing it is to see these incredible beings, who were living free and wild only days and weeks before, suffer such degradation and exploitation in this way. Their lives have been shattered, their freedom and families lost, and now their dignity taken too. It is heartbreaking and shameful.

As for the fate of the dolphins this day, I am happy to report that due to bad weather, they managed to get away and escape the hunters’ conniving trap. For all the dolphins who won’t be as lucky as these were, please take action to help them.

IDA Activists in Action!

Last Thursday, marine mammal activists from all over the world, in over 55 locations, stood together in protest of the Japanese government’s support of the slaughter of dolphins and sale of live dolphins for the public display industry. Events took place at Japanese Consulates and Embassies, sending a resounding message to the Japanese government and a public purposefully kept in the dark that killing dolphins and sentencing the rest to a life of captivity is shameful. How the Japanese government can knowingly allow the human consumption of dolphin meat that contains dangerous levels of mercury and other industrial pollutants is beyond reason. Or how dolphins are mercilessly captured and shipped as cargo all over the world in order to perform demeaning circus-style tricks for food in grossly unnatural, artificial, and highly confined environments.

There is hope for dolphins and other cetaceans through public education and growing interest in finally bringing to an end the appalling dolphin roundups in Japan

Stay tuned for more updates. And if you haven’t already done so, please watch Oscar Award-Winning Documentary, The Cove and Animal Planet’s Blood Dolphins.

In light of the alarming news that Dondi, an elephant who gave rides at the Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon, Mass., died from tuberculosis, IDA sent an urgent letter to the zoo, demanding the immediate release of her report. According to an article that ran in the Shoreline Times (New Haven, Conn.) on Friday, a necropsy revealed that Asian elephant Dondi died from tuberculosis. While the reporter would not reveal his source, he claimed that the source had the necropsy results in hand.

Tuberculosis in elephants presents a serious public health concern as the animals can transmit the disease to humans as well as other elephants. Unfortunately, tuberculosis is difficult to detect in elephants, who can harbor the disease, sometimes for years, and show no clinical symptoms. The USDA is still working to determine how widespread tuberculosis is amongst elephants in the U.S.

Dondi was the second elephant held at the Southwick’s Zoo who had tuberculosis. Before her, Southwick’s used an elephant named Judy, who was not allowed to give rides due to known prior exposure to tuberculosis positive elephants. After her death in 2007, she was found to have the disease.

Please join IDA in calling on the zoo to end the use of elephants for shows and rides by sending a polite email to the Southwick’s Zoo President Justin Brewer. You can use the sample message that follows, but please be sure to personalize it as much as possible.

Sample letter:

Dear Ms. Brewer,

I urge you to permanently end the use of elephants for performances and rides at the Southwick’s Zoo because it is inhumane for the elephants and unsafe for the public. Your zoo has held two elephants with tuberculosis, which is a serious public health concern as the disease can be transmitted to humans and other elephants. It’s time to do the right thing for the elephants and for the public and stop displaying elephants at your zoo.

Send your email to: justine@southwickszoo.com

Tell USDA to Confiscate Nosey Now

While you’re taking action, please don’t forget Nosey, who needs your help. You can read more about Nosey, link to videos, and take quick and easy action for this suffering elephant by clicking here.

As anyone who has done protests will tell you, circus demos can be the most difficult. Parents are on guard because they’re with their kids. They’re out for a day of fun and are suddenly confronted with protesters, perhaps where they’d least expect protesters to be. What could be more wholesome than the circus? Unfortunately, circuses with animals are far from wholesome. The animals who travel with these circuses are trucked or taken by train from city to city, spending the majority of their time in chains (elephants) or tight confinement (the other animals) when not being forced to perform completely unnatural and painful acts. So when we found out that Ringling Bros. Circus was heading to Portland for the Labor Day weekend, we were motivated to try and get as many compassionate folks out as we could to help educate Ringling’s patrons.

Ringling has a long history of animal abuse and neglect – everything from animal deaths to a list USDA violations a mile long. The most recent developments in Ringling’s long history of abuse are an undercover investigation  which showed Ringling beating elephants and other animals, and recently released, never before seen photos of Ringling abusing baby elephants.

Portland is a city of compassionate, animal-loving people. It’s a progressive town with no tolerance for abuse of any kind and this protest of circus animal abuse was certainly right in line with this city’s values. We mobilized through Facebook and e-mail and on opening night had the largest crowd ever at a circus demo in Portland – 80 people. It was inspiring. And we weren’t done there – all of the protests we held throughout the weekend were well attended – tripling the numbers of folks we had at last year’s demos.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to come out and help. Someone asked me on Sunday if I thought we were truly making a difference, and I responded that if we were absent, we certainly wouldn’t be, but I do believe these peaceful shows of force do make a difference and hopefully plant a seed of compassion in even the most hardened circus supporter.

RIP Tyke

Sixteen years ago today, Tyke , a 20 year old African elephant “owned” by the notorious Hawthorn Corporation, was killed. On August 20, 1994, she was performing with the Circus International in Hawaii when she killed her trainer and gored her groomer, then bolted from the arena and ran through the city for a half-hour, injuring several people before collapsing from the 86 police bullets fired into her. It took nearly two hours for her to die on the Honolulu street.

Tyke’s legacy, a growing worldwide awareness of the suffering of animals in circuses, continues to gather strength. We are working every day to nurture that awareness, and to transform it into action.  Elephants in circuses endure intense confinement, social isolation and the constant threat of physical punishment. We aim to end these abusive practices and to prevent further injuries or deaths – elephant or human – resulting from the proximity between the public and these traumatized, highly stressed animals.

Tyke’s actions came as no surprise to anyone who was paying attention – at least three times in the 16 months prior to her last stand in Hawaii she had escaped her handlers, causing terror and injury to people and to property. Yet she continued to perform until her final hours.

This was not an isolated situation in which one overstressed, rebellious elephant slipped through the cracks; the “system” in place to prevent such occurrences is flawed almost to the point of nonexistence. An Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Audit released in June found that the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), whose job it is to ensure that exhibited animals are handled in a way that does not put the public or the animals at risk, is failing. Neither the inspection process nor the tracking of exhibitors works to safeguard animals or people.

Today there are at least 10 elephants with documented histories of lashing out or bolting who continue to perform around the nation – in close proximity to the public.  Many of them are used to give rides to children. Since February of this year there have been three incidents that we know of (and who knows how many more that went unreported). Two elephants, Viola and an elephant with Ringling, escaped from their handlers, each narrowly missing crowds of circus-goers when they bolted; Viola was injured when she fell down a steep embankment in her attempt to flee. Another elephant, Dumbo lashed out and killed her longtime handler.

Despite all our efforts to find her, Dumbo’s whereabouts have been unknown since shortly after the killing in Pennsylvania; whether she is off the road or has vanished into the thousands of fairs around the country where anonymous elephants turn up for a few days at a time is anyone’s guess at this point. It does not appear that she is under any official travel restriction.

Both Viola and the elephant with Ringling, at last report, are still traveling, still performing, still stressed and miserable – and still putting crowds of people at serious risk.

Sixteen years ago today a person was killed, others were injured, and an elephant died in agony. The public is exposed daily to elephants who have clearly signaled their frustration with circus torture, and to others who have endured years of anguish and stress. We continue to honor Tyke’s memory and her legacy by working to end the use of elephants in circuses and traveling shows to end their suffering and before tragedy strikes again.

This blog was contributed by Deborah Robinson, IDA’s Captive Elephant Specialist.

IDA's Barbara Stagno at The Rally for Canada Geese in NYC

A rally for the Canada geese of New York City. It could have been a dream, with all those people lining the steps of City Hall, but it was real. A day before, I had prepared my talk, and wrote about how wildlife does not belong to government agencies. I asked the crowd – the then imaginary crowd – to join with me in demanding changes for how our government deals with wildlife.

When I wrote those words I had no idea that one day later, more than 150 people would join the IDA rally for the Canada geese. I couldn’t have imagined the passionate and enthusiastic voices of Councilmember Letitia James and State Senator Eric Adams, who spoke about growing up with the geese in Prospect Park…. playing with them, learning about them. Or, as Senator Adams so eloquently said, learning that, in essence, they are really not that much different from us.

When I saw that spirited crowd, I knew that it was true. That people cared deeply and had come to speak up about putting a stop to the government killing of wildlife. To demand change.

Those words I spoke on Thursday August 12, 2010, could be addressed to any mayor in any city. They reflect the feelings of communities all across America, who have had their precious birds taken from them and slaughtered.

Mayor Bloomberg made the ludicrous statement that it comes down to people or geese.

It’s not about people or geese.

It’s about ways to co-exist peacefully with the animals of this earth.

It’s not about making airline flights safer. Killing resident Canada Geese has absolutely nothing to do with airline safety, as these geese don’t fly that high! There are, however, real ways to make airline flying safer, ways that do not require us to kill – and ways that other cities around the world currently engage in.

We will not stand by while you kill the geese who were over bred to satisfy hunters, and who flew away from the hunted areas to come live in the cities where they are safe.

We welcome them in our parks where they can be protected.

If there are too many geese today in Prospect Park, or Central Park, or Flushing Meadow Park, it’s because of government mismanagement, and we will not stand by while you make excuses to wipe out these wonderful flocks that live in our parks.

The people here in front of City Hall today are sending a message. The government’s war on wildlife needs to end and it needs to end now. Humane solutions exist and we demand that they be used.

Let’s start right here in New York City, home of a diverse community of compassionate and tolerant citizens, who have welcomed millions of people from around the world to take refuge in our city.

Out of this heritage of kindness and tolerance, let us reverse the senseless killing of animals perpetrated by government and herald in a new era for wildlife.

Please take moment right now to send a letter to Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City Council and Save Our Geese!

Closeup of a Bullhook

Zoos often use “spin” to give their interpretation of an event in order to sway public opinion or maintain a particular image. Spin is exactly what the Toledo Zoo attempted to do after the July 1 attack on keeper Don RedFox by a seven-year-old African elephant named Louie. RedFox was gravely injured in the incident. If it wasn’t spin, it calls into question the knowledge that zoo experts possess when it comes to elephant behavior.

At a July 21 press conference, Toledo Zoo Director Barbara Baker, accompanied by an expert hired by the zoo, suggested that rather than an attack on RedFox, Louie had been “sparring” with him, and that he may have been “play fighting.” She explained, “It’s not a very equal sparring match,” noting that Louie weighs 4,000 pounds. At least one major media outlet came away from the press conference with the message that Louie’s behavior was “normal young elephant activity.”

Yet every independent expert IDA consulted with disagreed with the zoo experts. Dr. Joyce Poole, who has studied African elephant behavior and communication for more than 30 years, just released her expert assessment of the incident. After viewing the video of it, she says that Louie clearly was not displaying play behaviors. Dr. Poole states:

“It is, furthermore, our perspective that the various statements and reactions from the zoo community are a public relations exercise rather than a real effort to explain, truthfully and accurately, what took place in Louie’s small stall. Based on decades-long experience, our viewpoint is that Louie was not behaving in a playful manner toward Mr. RedFox and neither was he exhibiting sparring behavior. Rather, the video shows Louie acting with intention to harm. That he was doing so is yet another reason for us to urge the zoo community to rethink the keeping of elephants captive.”

>You can see the video and read Dr. Poole’s full statement and letter to Barbara Baker here.

Animal behaviorists with the company Active Environments also weighed in with their assessment of the incident, with a focus on the “free contact” elephant management system used by the Toledo Zoo. In free contact, the keeper must dominate the elephant at all times and uses negative reinforcement to achieve this. Handlers use the steel-pointed bullhook, a device resembling a fireplace poker, to prod, hook and strike elephants and force compliance with commands. Even when not in use, the bullhook is a constant reminder of the physical punishment that can be delivered at any time, for any reason.

According to the Active Environments statement:

“The video dramatically illustrates the purpose, and meaning of the bull hook to both trainer and elephant.  Much effort has been expended by Free Contact (FC) proponents to downplay the nature and purpose of the bull hook. The renaming of the bull hook to “guide” was the most blatant (and brilliant) public relations maneuver to achieve this objective. Statements are frequently made about the gentle use of the hook and that it doesn’t hurt and it is hardly even needed. Yet, when the trainer was chased out of the stall, he immediately went to get his bull hook to gain control over Louie.  And the presence of the hook caused Louie to immediately assume an extremely submissive posture.”

So why would the Toledo Zoo “spin” the story? The first line of a report in the Toledo Blade says it all: “The Toledo Zoo’s star elephant, “Baby Louie,” isn’t quite so cute these days.” Not only do zoos rely on elephants as major attractions – young elephants typically draw large crowds and increased revenue – it also wanted to divert attention away from its use of archaic and inhumane elephant management practices that were being rightfully attacked by groups like IDA.

In the reports that immediately followed the attack, the zoo focused on the “special relationship” between RedFox and Louie. News stories reported that he supervised Louie’s conception, attended his birth and worked with him ever since. In one report, the zoo’s hired expert, who viewed the video before it was made public, never even addressed the aggression that Louie displayed, and instead directed the story to the positive interactions between RedFox and the elephant, saying that it was “akin to a parent tending to a young child” and “much like a father-son” bond. He dismissively called the incident “a fluke at this particular time.” In a later story he opined that it didn’t appear that Louie intended to seriously harm RedFox.

It’s important to note that during this time the zoo also underplayed the extent of RedFox’s injuries, which were life threatening.

In the last six years of IDA’s campaigns for elephants in zoos, we can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard representatives from zoos and from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) adamantly declare that any decisions regarding elephants should be left only to them because they’re “the experts.” They constantly send this message to the media, the public and elected officials. In the case of the Toledo Zoo, either the zoo experts were way off the mark in their assessment of Louie’s behavior, or they put their integrity aside and substituted “spin” for the truth. Either way, it doesn’t bode well for elephants in zoos.

IDA filed a complaint today with the USDA, urging an investigation into the death of Dondi, an Asian elephant held at the Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon, Massachusetts. She died on Wednesday, after suffering an unidentified illness. Dondi’s unexpected death raises a red flag because at age 36 she should have been in the prime of life.

The Southwick’s Zoo has a history of using elephants for performances and rides during the summer months. Before Dondi, an elephant named Judy was leased from the notorious Hawthorn Corporation (one of the many elephants the company was forced to relinquish due to serious violations of the Animal Welfare Act). She died in 2007, and was found to have tuberculosis.

Dondi, who is “owned” by Phil Schacht, also was used for performances and to give rides at the Southwick’s Zoo during the summer. During the winter, she performed and gave rides at places like Flea World, a giant flea market and amusement park in Florida. It was a sad and unnatural life for an elephant.

Because of the unusual nature of Dondi’s death and the fact that she was in contact with the public, IDA has asked the USDA to investigate the circumstances surrounding it as a matter of public interest and public safety. Elephants can harbor diseases transmissible to humans, including tuberculosis, which can be difficult to detect. Release of the records would hopefully allay any public health concerns.

In a separate letter sent to Southwick’s Zoo President Justine Brewer, IDA urged the zoo to publicly release Dondi’s veterinary records and necropsy reports, saying, “The public has a right to know the cause of Dondi’s death.”

IDA further appealed to the zoo to end the practice of displaying elephants, as its tiny exhibit utterly fails to meet elephants’ needs. Dondi was held alone, in a small circle of dirt with no shade and no access to a pool. Elephants are highly social animals who, in the wild, live in large family groups in which females remain with their mothers for life. Asian elephants have a natural lifespan of 60-70 years. Recent scientific studies show that elephants in zoos die decades earlier than those in relatively protected wild populations.

What you can do

1. You can help ensure that the Southwick’s Zoo does not replace Dondi with another elephant by emailing the zoo president Justine Brewer at Justine@southwickszoo.com. Please be polite, as we are trying to convince Ms. Brewer to take this positive action. Tell her that the zoo should hold itself to a higher standard and do away with circus style elephant performances and rides that do nothing to educate the public about elephants’ natural lives.

2. If you live near enough to attend a demo at the Southwick’s Zoo, please contact Melissa at melissa275@netzero.com. A vigil is planned for Sunday, August 1^st at the zoo.

Wild horses gallop in the Rocky Hills HMA, southeast of Battle Mountain, Nevada. PHOTO CREDIT : USAToday

Despite tremendous public opposition and legal actions the Department of Interior is moving forward with the ill-conceived plan to remove more than 6,000 wild horses and burros from our public lands by October 2010. The Obama Administration’s policy has proven to be both deadly and devastating for wild horses. The Calico Complex roundup, which IDA fought in federal court, has to date taken the lives of 186 horses including 30 foals who have died and 40 spontaneous abortions as reported by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
On July 10, 2010 the BLM began this horrific roundup of wild horses in the summer desert heat in northeast Nevada – the Tuscarora Complex roundup. (See USA Today article.) The BLM reports, given the lack of public access to observe there is no way to verify any BLM-provided information, that 22 wild horses have been killed at the trap site and three have died at the holding facilities. After a lawsuit was filed by Nevada horse advocate Laura Leigh, the BLM began to claim the first part of the Tuscarora roundup (in the Owyhee herd management area) was a “rescue” operation – claiming there was not enough water on the range and that horses were dehydrating. Just last week, IDA had a representative on the ground in Owyhee and observed water, cows and plenty of fencing in and around the Owyhee area.

If dry conditions were so severe one would expect wildlife and cows to be suffering from the same dehydration – yet this was not the case. Rather only wild horses were in need of “rescue.” As one local rancher told IDA – antelope and other wildlife can get under and over fencing, but wild horses cannot. If a need to “rescue” horses occurred – it was clearly a BLM-created problem.

Indeed, in mid-May, the BLM conducted an on-the-ground observation at Owyhee; the promotional video resulting from it, actually titled “Extreme Terrain Requires Extreme Diligence,” stated among other things that “There is little water available to sustain more than 800 horses.” (Also see transcript.) Meanwhile, the BLM warned in its own Environmental Assessment that “Given the dry conditions and the expanding wild horse numbers, along with the limited perennial water sources in the Owyhee HMA, the BLM has a very strong concern that wild horses could suffer from dehydration and possible death in the Owyhee HMA this summer” to justify the disastrous July 10 roundup.

Clearly, the BLM should have taken actions (i.e. fence removal, water delivery, etc.) to mitigate any possible problems. The Tuscarora situation is a classic case whereby the BLM refuses to conduct on-the-range management and reverts to the roundup-removal practice which has already been acknowledged by the Interior Secretary to be an unsustainable practice.  In the case of the horses at Owhyee, just like the horses at Calico, the result is needless suffering and death. Thanks to this broken system, we have more wild horses in government holding facilities (36,000) than free on the range (33,000).

In addition to the BLM-created problem in Tuscarora, the BLM proceeded with using helicopters to roundup these horses in summer-desert temperatures while foals continue to be born. This means newborns and weeks-old foals and still-pregnant mares were run up to eight miles in desert heat. IDA has called for a moratorium on summer roundups and filed an administrative appeal to stop the Tuscarora roundup. We recently received the denial on the appeal and are reviewing our legal options.

We knew fighting the deeply-entrenched BLM would not be easy. We pledge to all the wild horses and burros who have lost their lives, families and freedom that we will continue to fight until these magnificent beings are truly protected and finally given their fair share of our public lands.

Stay tuned for our next action alert – another step in this long fight to bring about the change these animals deserve and need.