PREN CALLS FOR CLOSURE OF CAPTIVE ELEPHANT FACILITIES OFFERING TOURIST INTERACTIONS WITH ELEPHANTS IN SOUTH AFRICA AFTER RECENT TRAGIC EVENTS AT HERD
In South Africa there are a number of facilities which offer human-elephant interactions with captive elephants. Close contact tourism activities raise significant welfare concerns. These interactions also present obvious risks, as elephants are unpredictable and can cause serious injury due to their size. Tourists should be encouraged to observe elephants in their natural environments but should not engage in unnatural activities such as touching or feeding or used as a backdrop for photoshoots.
The Pro Elephant Network (PREN) remains deeply concerned about all human interactions with elephants, including staff, in an unprotected environment. Elephant welfare and well-being and the safety and security of the elephant handlers must always be prioritised.
In South Africa the lives of both humans and elephants depend on meaningful change. The way forward must involve constructive dialogue, stronger policies, and renewed commitment to ensuring elephants live in the wild, where they can thrive safely and naturally. PREN called on the Honourable Minister George, to facilitate an independent and public review of the captive elephant industry with the view of phasing it captive elephant facilities that offer interactions with humans.
Please download a statement from the Members of Pro Elephant Network:
PREN has subsequently received concerning information and images allegedly taken at Adventures with Elephants which seem to contradict the aforementioned website information about how this facility respects and cares for the elephants in their care.
PREN is urgently appealing to the Environmental Compliance and Enforcement at the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) and to the NSPCA to confirm the validity of this concerning information and to offer sound explanation thereof forthwith.
There are apparently seven resident elephant at Adventures with Elephants, these include the previously mentioned Mussina, and her calf Bela, Shan and her calf Zambezi, Naunedi a female elephant and Chova and Chishuru who are the two bull elephants.
According to the information received, Chishuru who has allegedly been used for commercials because he is a beautiful elephant, went ‘rogue’ after receiving a GnRH vaccine treatment. Allegedly he chased his handlers and would not listen to them. He would occasionally raid the food storage, tear up water pipes or simply go join the rest of the herd wherever they were on the property.
Further, according to the information received by PREN in order to control Chishuru the staff were instructed to tie him up because it was believed that he may be a danger to the staff or paying guests. Allegedly the staff have been instructed to attempt to retrain Chishuru and introduce him back to the public for interactions instead of having to send him away.
In 2022, elephants named Tswale and Modjadji were tethered on a property in Mpumalanga where they were being advertised and utilised in the captive elephant industry for human elephant interactions. They were spooked and tried to break free from their tethers. Modjadji was seriously injured as a result and had to be euthanized. This a prime example of why elephants should not be tethered. A urgent solution must be found for Chishuru.
The definition of what is “appropriate and acceptable” is left to the importing country’s scientific authority to determine with no criteria specified other than it has to be satisfied that the elephants are suitably housed and cared for. “Suitably housed” is of particular importance because the elephants are indigenous to their own particular countries and the destinations to which they are being sent can differ in extremes in terms of habitat appropriateness. “Appropriate and acceptable” also does not sufficiently guarantee elephant wellbeing. The country of export must be satisfied that trade promotes conservation of elephants in wild.
Perhaps most critical is that, by definition, these wild elephants will all suffer from multiple traumas including capture, violent separation from family, transport, dwelling in captivity of non-indigenous provenance, and in many cases, those who are less than five years of age, prematurely weaned. All of which causes lifelong pernicious neuropsychological and physiological damage. These traumas transmit intergenerationally, across space, socially, and time.
Since 2012, Zimbabwe has captured and exported more than 100 live wild elephants, mostly young calves, to captive facilities in China. The process of capturing the elephants, removing them from their natal family groups, holding and transporting them, and their arrival at facilities that are clearly inappropriate and at which they will be kept in entirely unnatural social groups and exposed to constant public viewing, is extremely stressful. Some of the captured calves did not survive the process, and those that did have inevitably experienced deep physical and psychological trauma, resulting in unnatural and sometimes violent behavior.
Given the depth of scientific study of these traumatic effects on elephants and the precarious status of all elephant species, it is vital that third party expertise evaluates and enforces elephant wellbeing. CITES offers no independent, objective mechanism of oversight or monitoring of the welfare conditions of elephants when they enter the live export chain. Efforts to ask the Zimbabwean and Chinese CITES authorities about thecondition of the elephants in China or at the Shanghai Animal World have been met with no response.
In December 2016 The Guardian reported that more than 30 elephants, some of whom were as young as three years of age, had been cruelly captured and forcibly removed from their families in the wild in Zimbabwe.Elephant experts and advocates from around the world opposed their capture and preparation for relocation from Zimbabwe to permanent captivity in China.
It was speculated at the time that some of these elephants would most likely be sent to Shanghai Wild AnimalPark. This was confirmed when secret footage was obtained of the Zimbabwean elephants a year later filmed at Shanghai Wild Animal Park, one of the three known recipient facilities of the wild elephants.
Animal protection groups in China have expressed sadness and disappointment about the welfare and wellbeing of African elephants in captive facilities across the country. They have advocated for stronger animal protection laws, in particular raising concern about the export of live elephants to Chinese zoos from Zimbabwe. Their work highlights the ongoing challenges in ensuring the welfare of animals used in entertainment and the need for stronger ethical considerations and legal protections.
In 2024 reports were published in the media of the elephants displaying concerning behavior at Shanghai Wild Animal Park where two elephants were violently harassed by the other elephants. The Zoo responded to the footage that was published suggesting that this behavior was ‘normal’ among young bull elephants. However, further videos were published on Twitter on the 25 June 2025 which suggest that this dangerous and unprecedented elephant behavior is ongoing at Shanghai Wild Animal Park.
The Shanghai Wild Animal Park issued a statement on the 25th June 2025 after the video of the elephants was circulated online specifically showing a female elephant being pushed and forced to kneel against a fence by other elephants in the enclosure.
According to the media article similar incidents have reported since 2022. The zoo said it took immediate action the day the video surfaced: “We implemented temporary interventions for the male elephants and carried out medical checks on the female elephant including bloodwork and behavioral assessments.”
The zoo has since updated its elephant care strategy and will now tailor the management plans based on each elephant’s physical condition, social behavior and natural cycles. The zoo has promised more regular training and health checks and tighter surveillance of the enclosure in order to respond to any abnormal behavior. According to the media article the video has left many questioning whether the current set-up is safe for all the elephants with stricter animal welfare standards continuing to grow.
PREN members campaigned vigorously in an attempt to prevent the capture and export of these and other wild elephants from Zimbabwe and other southern African countries to foreign zoos.
In 2022 Parties to CITES, agreed that any export of live wild-caught African elephants would be limited to in situ conservation programmes or secure areas in the wild, within the species’ natural and historical range in Africa, while African elephant range States tried to find agreement on the conditions for trade in African live elephants.
The outcomes of the discussions that have ensued will be considered at the upcoming CITES meeting in Uzbekistan in November 2025. PREN members will be attending the meeting and pushing for a permanent end to the capture of wild African elephants and their export to zoos and other captive facilities.
Sadly, this doesn’t help those wild-caught elephants that have already been exported to zoos in China and elsewhere.
PREN urges Shanghai Wild Animal Park and national authorities within China to work with international elephant experts to prioritize the welfare of the captive elephants in the country, and to urgently address the issues that have led to the concerning incidences that have been circulating.
HAVE ALL THE OPTIONS FOR A RELOCATION TO A SANCTUARY, INSTEAD OF ANOTHER ZOO, BEEN CONSIDERED FOR ELEPHANTS BILLY AND TINA?
On Friday 2nd May 2025, the Pro Elephant Network has sent a letter to the Director of the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, to the President and CEO and the Executive Vice President of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health regarding elephants Billy and Tina.
“The vision of the Pro Elephant Network (PREN) is a future in which all elephants can thrive in freedom and dignity in protected natural habitats as part of naturally functioning and evolving ecosystems.
Our mission is to stop the capture and exploitation of elephants by humans and to advocate for the release of captive-held elephants back into natural spaces. Where freedom and reintegration back into wild areas is not possible PREN seeks the best ethical solutions in the most natural surroundings possible. The acceptability and viability of these ethics and conditions are to be evaluated relative to what the individual elephant would be able to experience in the wild.
The Pro Elephant Network (PREN) is therefore deeply disappointed and dismayed by the decision, formally announced on the 22nd April 2025, to transfer Billy and Tina to the Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma. PREN joins a multitude of elephant experts and advocates calling for a more compassionate outcome for the last two remaining elephants living at the Los Angeles Zoo.
This decision, jointly taken by the Los Angeles Zoo and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, to transfer Billy and Tina to another zoo facility, is, in our joint expert opinion, ill-considered and illustrates a disregard for the wellbeing of Billy and Tina. PREN strongly believes that these elephants deserve to live in peace in a sanctuary after years of being on display in public whilst in solitary confinement and in captivity at a zoo.
There are a number of elephant specific sanctuaries such as the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, in the USA, the Global Sanctuary for Elephants in Brazil, or the Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary to name but a few, that could potentially offer Billy and Tina the opportunity to be introduced to other elephants of different ages and sexes. Have any options for sanctuary been considered for these elephants instead of another zoo facility?
In addition, Billy and Tina desperately require reprieve from constant public gaze, the aforementioned specialised elephant sanctuaries do not operate in a manner where public is integral to the footfall and viability of zoo economics. Elephants blossom in privacy and shrink under the constant public engagements, viewing and loss of private space which all has negative connotations on their health.
Billy is forty years old and Tina is fifty-nine years old, according to the content of a media release by Defense of Animals, “Billy and Tina are in grave distress, suffering from severe medical conditions including foot and joint disease and chronic arthritis, both elephants display profound zoochosis, a condition marked by repetitive behaviours such as swaying, bobbying, and pacing, which are clear signs of psychological trauma and brain damage.”
Whilst the newly constructed elephant facility at the Tulsa Zoo covers 17 acres it does not compare to the space and opportunity for purposeful rehabilitation of many elephant sanctuaries.
Billy and Tina require a vast amount of space to remain physically and psychologically healthy and their continued captivity in a zoo will undoubtedly cause further, immense emotional and physical suffering. PREN unquestionably supports the numerous public requests for the urgent reconsideration of the aforementioned decision, and strongly advocates for the release of Billy and Tina to sanctuary where their care and autonomy will be prioritized.
If the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens and Association of Zoos and Aquariumsmake the ground-breaking decision to release Billy and Tina into sanctuary, this decision based upon the best available science, will lauded by elephant experts from around the world. “
Raman Sukumar is an honorary professor at the Indian Institute of Science, he is the India’s leading elephant ecologist, architect of Project Elephant, former chair of the IUCN Asian Elephant Specialist Group, the author of several books and scientific papers, and member of the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife.
Raman Sukumar has expressed his concerns about the elephants and Vantara.
“With the enormous financial resources available, Vantara could potentially have been a game changer for captive and perhaps wild elephants in the country if they had adopted a more all-encompassing vision. To me, bringing 200 or 1000 elephants to Jamnagar makes no sense.
The main problem is the concentration of a large number of captive elephants, I see no purpose in that. The real role of captive elephants is for them to be integrated with management and conservation of the wild population. I would have favoured Vantara in investing in different models of welfare of elephants in captivity across the country.
The role of captive elephants cannot be reduced to singularity, the welfare of elephants in one location and by one person.
The rescued captive elephants are used by forest department veterinarians to travel through the jungles or are trained to drive away wild elephants from human habitats. These roles would be lost if these captive elephants were kept at a facility like Vantara. It is important to understand the different regions and nuances of diversity of elephant cultures and situations and not feeding all elephants with high protein. It does not work like this. We need a broad and practical vision of how we improve the conditions and determine the future role of captive elephants. There is a lack of focus on what should be done to captive elephants and their welfare management.”
The undersigned organisations are deeply concerned by the announcements by some governments in southern Africa to cull large numbers of elephants and other wild animals, including in National Parks.
In late August 2024, Namibia declared it would kill 723 wild animals, including 83 elephants, and later increased this number to 100. Shortly afterwards, Zimbabwe announced its intention to kill at least 200 elephants.
The justifications given for these threats include a combination of providing meat to drought-stricken citizens, reducing pressure on land and water resources, mitigating human-elephant conflict, and reducing alleged wildlife over-population.
However, while we acknowledge the severity of one of the worst droughts in decades in southern Africa, the killing of large numbers of wild animals cannot be justified for the following reasons:
Hot on the heels of World Elephant Day, Namibia announced that it plans to hunt and kill 723 wild animals, including 83 elephants, and to distribute the meat to people because of the severe drought. PREN argues that Namibia’s plans arecounterintuitive and set a very dangerous precedent.
The elephants to be killed include:
30 from the Zambezi region (10 from Salambala, Lusese, Nakabolelwa, and Kabbe, 10 from the North Complex of Mudumu and 10 from the South Complex of Mudumu).
12 from Kamanjab and Fransfontein areas in the Kunene region
10 from Ruacana, Tsandi and Okahao in Omusati region
8 from Grootfontein in the Otjozodjupa region
7 from the Kavango West Region in the areas of Tondoro, Musese, Maha, Nzize, Agro tour farms and Mangetti Cattle Ranch
5 from Omatjete in the Erongo Region
4 from Kalkveld
3 from EkuloLyanazi, Okasheshete, Uukanga, Ondomb, Tomykunzi and Onoolongo in the Oshana Region
2 from Onanke and Cham Cham in the Oshikoto region
2 from Kavango East region.
These numbers include 21 elephants in an area that is often traversed by a small isolated population of only 62 desert-adapted elephants.
Namibia’s plan to kill elephants and other threatened wild animals is misguided and cruel. Elephants and other wild animals are not the cause of drought or human food insecurity. Killing elephants will not address food shortages and at best will only have a short term and minimal impact on a limited number of people, while setting a dangerous precedent. Elephants are not the cause of drought or human food insecurity and taking aim at elephants will not address the reasons for drought or improve food security.
Where is the environmental impact study to support this so-called cull? Namibia’s pretext that it is because elephant numbers exceed available food and water supplies is not supported by scientific evidence. Instead, this move will have hugely damaging disruption and impact on elephant communities and in Namibia. PREN members also question the criteria upon which the decisions were taken by the Namibian government to trophy hunt the elephants that are listed in the official announcement by the Namibian government.
In its press release of 26th August, Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism claims that the cull “will assist in managing the current grazing pressure and water availability by reducing wildlife numbers in some parks and communal areas where we feel numbers exceed available grazing and water.” However, the announcement has not been accompanied by an environmental impact study to support this so-called cull. The claims by MEFT are not supported by scientific evidence. Instead, the cull is likely to be hugely damaging and disruptive to elephant communities and those of other species in Namibia. PREN members also question the decision to allow safari outfitters to participate in the culls, raising concerns that trophy hunters will be offered the opportunity to target some of the elephants that are listed in the official announcement, and calling into question the true motivation behind the culls.
We note that some of the areas in which elephants are due to be culled are the same as those where a tender was advertised in December 2020,for the capture and sale of a total of 170 elephants with hunts sold to hunters ostensibly to control “damage-causing animals”.
A report published in November 2021 questioned the success of Namibia’s wildlife conservation model, and its adherence to sustainable utilization of wildlife through community based environmental management. This report confirmed that wildlife numbers are declining in Namibia and that the elephant population in the Kunene Region of Namibia is collapsing.
At its core, this so-called cull is a populist political action that ignores ethics, science, conservation, and fails to adhere to and One Health and One Welfare principles, for short-term political gain.
According to a published research article titled Strengthening Africa’s Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems Through Enhanced Policy Coherence and Co-ordinated Action, Africa as a region, is particularly vulnerable and exposed to the negative impacts of climate change. The activities of elephants have been shown to help mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration. Killing elephants will only exacerbate the impacts of climate change and make the situation worse in the longer term.
Drought conditions in Namibia are exacerbated by climate change. Climate change and extreme weather are posing severe threats to humans and elephants. The removal of these elephants will have a negative impact on the resilience of the entire arid ecosystem and ultimately on vulnerable communities. Instead, the government of Namibia should be building resilience by fostering sustainable food systems and biodiversity regeneration through equitable and democratic climate justice practices, and by rethinking conservation paradigms. This is especially relevant given the increasing frequency of droughts and extreme weather events and the urgent need for solutions.
Protecting farmers by building resilience to climate change within the agricultural sector is therefore paramount to the food security agenda. Climate resilient food systems are the focus of a new $2.3 billion regional programme approved by the World Bank in June 2022, available to Eastern and Southern African countries in support of efforts to tackle the underlying structural challenges of food insecurity and address their vulnerability to unpredictable shocks.
PREN members question whether the SADC governments and Namibia have adequately prepared their farmers for climate change and extreme weather which are posing severe threats across Eastern and Southern Africa?
Hunting and killing of elephants is particularly cruel, especially single elephants as indicated by the small take-off numbers, is particularly cruel. They experience trauma and are highly intelligent social beings that live in particularly large and complex social networks with a highly organised structure involving strong family bonds that last a lifetime; these complex connections include vital relationships within family members, bond groups, coalitions and clans. The hunting of individual elephants results in stress and trauma for the targeted individuals and their wider family members, which can result in disruption of their complex social networks leading to increased conflict with people.
The removal of these 83 elephants will not mitigate human-elephant conflict, nor will it provide long-term relief for people or wildlife affected by the current drought.
PREN members call on the Namibian government to rescind its plan to kill 83 elephants and other wild animals, and instead to consider more effective and humane ways of tackling the current drought conditions affecting parts of the country.
[Johannesburg: 08 August 2024]: The vision of the Pro Elephant Network (PREN)is a future in which all elephants can thrive in freedom and dignity in protected natural habitats as part of naturally functioning and evolving ecosystems. Our mission is to stop the capture and exploitation of elephants by humans and to advocate for the release of captive-held elephants back into natural spaces. Where freedom and reintegration back into wild areas is not possible PREN seeks the best ethical solutions in the most natural surroundings possible. The acceptability and viability of these ethics and conditions are to be evaluated relative to what the individual elephant would be able to experience in the wild.
On the 29th July 2022, the South African Government made a ground breaking decision to pursue options for the retirement of Charley, a bull elephant, from the zoo in Pretoria to a suitable wildlife sanctuary or a similar setting. This progressive decision was based on the best scientific and ethological evidence provided to them by elephant experts and civil society.
Offering all South Africans a fair and equitable opportunity, on the 17th of May 2023, interested parties were requested to publicly submit proposals in response to an advertised call for an Expression of Interest to find a suitable retirement home. The EMS Foundation and Shambala Private Game Reserve submitted an extensive response which was accepted in March 2024.
Following Charlie’s comprehensive expert behavioural and medical assessments it has been noted that due to his advanced age and the physical complications associated with being in captivity for over forty years that the preparation for his relocation, the relocation itself and his rehabilitation to a natural secured environment is not without risk. In March 2024 the government confirmed their acceptance of the generous offer EMS Foundation and Shambala Private Game Reserve made to Charlie.
In preparation for Charlie’s relocation from the zoo, the EMS Foundation and Shambala are partnering with a highly qualified and experienced team of international elephant trainers with oversight from South African and international veterinarians. Charlie is receiving excellent round the clock care during his preparation for his evacuation from the zoo, with ground support from international and South African organisations. South African wildlife translocation specialists will transfer Charlie with his team, to a state-of-the-art rehabilitation boma that has been designed and built to cater for his every need as he is gently transitioned into a more natural, protected environment.
As this project progresses more specialists will be invited to take part in assisting with, and recording his progress.
PREN has, since 2020, played a significant role in the negotiation process for the release of Charley from the zoo, furthermore, distinguished expert members of PREN have attended the zoo and compiled important reports which were submitted to the South African government. This important South African and international project is supported by the elephant experts from the Pro Elephant Network.
The Pro Elephant Network (PREN) consists of a significant international community of diverse individuals and organizations involved with wild and captive African and Asian Elephants and comprising specific expertise, including, but not limited to, the fields of science, health, conservation, welfare and well-being, economics, community leadership, indigenous knowledge, social justice and the law.
Members of PREN have been informed that during a recent meeting between the Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr Pusha Kamal Dahal, and the Qatar Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Prime Minister of Nepal offered two juvenile Asian elephants to Qatar as a gift.
According to information provided by Manipuran Chaudhary, Chief of the Breeding and Training Centre at Sorsor in Sauraha, these elephants are a five year old male elephant known as Khagendra Prasad and a six year old female known as Rudrakali. Both juvenile elephants were born and trained at the centre, they are the offspring of a wild elephant, known as Ronaldo, who regularly meets with the herd at the centre.
An article published in the National Newspaper “Rising Nepal”, confirms that Rudrakali and Khagendra Prasad were offered to the Qatar Government as gifts under the Nepalese “Conservation Policy”.
Badri Raj Dhungana, spokesperson at the Ministry of Forestry, has confirmed that the proposal to gift two elephants by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has yet to be formally confirmed by the Nepalese Cabinet. “Elephants fall under the category of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), no side can give and accept elephants without prior approval from CITES headquarters in Geneva. We have already obtained permission, but as far as I know, the Qatari side was waiting for Geneva’s approval. As soon as the permission is obtained, we will present the elephants to the Emir,” said Dhungana.
The mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan, Mayor Mr Balen Shah has strongly criticised the proposed elephant gift and has questioned the legality and morality of “transporting wild animals to environments like deserts”.
Qatar is not a natural range state for either African or Asian elephants. The humid subtropical monsoon influenced climate of Chitwan National Park, where these elephants were raised, is characterised by high humidity all through the year and yearly precipitation fall of 2,500 mm. In winter temperatures of 5°C to 18°C are the norm.
The two young elephants grew up having access to the rich vegetation of the Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests which include Sal trees, Chir pine, Beleric, Rosewood, Axlewood, Elephant apple, Grey downy balsam and creepers such as Bauhinia vahlii and Spatholobus parviflorus.
The Elephants will be exported to a desert climate and to an alien arid environment where their future is uncertain. Elephants in captivity rely on knowledgeable carers who are experienced with regard to their complex needs. Moreover, the elephants who live at the Breeding and Training Centre at Sorsor in Sauraha have daily access to indigenous habitats and communities of wild elephants.
In addition, PREN members who are guided by elephant well-being and welfare experts, academics, scientists, and conservationists are particularly concerned about this transaction because these young and vulnerable Asian elephants will be prematurely separated from their mothers and families.
Elephants are large-brained mammals who display complex cognitive capabilities, and sentience, and demonstrate social needs and empathy, but most importantly, determination.
The Asian Elephant is able to use tools and, together with only a few other non-human species, such as some great apes, dolphins, rays and the Eurasian magpie, passed the mirror test, proving self-recognition abilities and a sense of self-awareness.
When grown males inevitably come into their annual musth cycle, their testosterone levels rise steeply making them more aggressive; all attempts to manage captive males during this process through isolation, separation and confinement, will impact their welfare.
All Elephants require access to expansive, diverse habitats and move across long distances. They also need to be provided with opportunities for individual autonomy and socialization. These essential needs typically cannot be met in captive environments, leading to health deterioration and stereotypic behaviours reflecting the welfare-compromised environment. Stereotypic behaviour, the invariant restrictive and purposeless repetition of motor patterns, remains the most widely used welfare indicator for captive Elephants in poor welfare conditions exposed to psychological stress and has direct physiological consequences on the body’s ability to function.
In terms of the social aspect, elephants are highly social mammals and live in particularly large social networks with a highly organised structure involving strong family bonds that last a lifetime; these complex connections include vital relationships within family members, bond groups, coalitions, and clans and are extremely difficult if not impossible to replicate in captivity.
The members of PREN who signed the enclosed letter strongly recommend the urgent review of the gifting of these or other Elephants with a view to prioritising the welfare of the animals and urge the Cabinet to permanently reject this plan.
EXPERT OPINION OF THE SANPARKS PURSUIT OF A SCIENTIFIC-BASED STRATEGY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE KNYSNA FOREST ELEPHANT
The Pro Elephant Network (PREN) consists of a significant global community of diverse individuals and organisations. The PREN network boasts a wealth of expertise, related to wild and captive African and Asian Elephants, including but not limited to the fields of science, health, conservation, welfare and well-being, economics, community leadership, indigenous knowledge, social justice and the law, these experts have enjoyed a successful collaborative function since 2019.
On the 22nd March 2024 members of PREN offered their expert opinion about SANParks pursuit of a scientific based strategy for the management of the Knysna Forest elephant.
The Knysna elephant(s), Loxodonta africana, represent the most southerly group of savanna elephants in Africa; they are remnant of larger populations which occupied this region of South Africa in the past. Due to the influx of humans over the last century, the range of these elephants was largely confined to the approximately 200 km2 forest area around Knysna. The decline of this population of elephants to a single adult female presents a major challenge to the national conservation agency, South African National Parks (SANParks).
On the 7th of March 2024, SANParks issued a public statement confirming their intention to pursue an evidence-based management approach for the female elephant, located in the Knysna forest. More specifically, the Knysna forest is an area located in the Garden Route District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa which falls under the management of SANParks.
According to the content of the media statement, SANParks has embarked on a sociological and ecological assessment that will guide their decision-making process. A targeted survey confirmed that, while the majority of respondents were in favour of the introduction of more elephants to the Garden
Route elephant range, they were cognisant of the fact that it would be a complicated process requiring expertise.
The reason for the statement issued by SANParks on the 7th of March 2024 is that a filmmaker who tracked, photographed and published photographs of an elusive female elephant in Knysna forest for twelve weeks in 2023 is trying to convince SANParks that a herd of elephants should be introduced to the Knysna forest to provide company for the lone female and to restore the ecosystem in the Knysna forest.
Since his brief single encounter with the elephant, he has been championing the introduction of an imported herd of elephants to the forest. He has formed an action group called Herd Instinct. The group, described on their Facebook page, as free-spirited environmentalists who believe that the lone female elephant desperately needs company. On the 14th of March 2024, the group organised a meeting in Knysna to galvanise support.
SANParks has captured the female elephant on camera every two to three weeks and they have, as a result, accumulated over 15000 photographs and high-quality videos of her, using strategically placed camera traps. Through the measurement of stress hormones in her dung it has been confirmed that, in areas where there is intense human activity or when she is being tracked, she becomes stressed.
Background
Historically, elephants occurred widely along the Southern Cape region using a variety of habitats until their population numbers were decimated by ivory hunters. Unfortunately, the Knysna elephants, the only remaining free-ranging elephants in South Africa, have failed to flourish in that location even after official protection was afforded to them in 1908.
According to the study entitled The Decline of the Knysna Elephants – Pattern and Hypothesis it is estimated that of the 3000 elephants that roamed the Cape Floristic Region in pre-colonial times, it is likely that about 1000 elephants occupied the Outeniqua-Tsitsikamma area. Between 1856 and 1886 Knysna experienced a marked influx of humans and a boom in development which increased human- elephant conflict at a further detrimental cost to the elephant population.
During the late 1800s, an estimated 400 to 500 elephants lived in the area but by 1900 only 30 to 50 individuals were left. The aforementioned study highlights the knowledge and management challenges which exist for small, threatened populations of elephants where the long-term demographic data are sparse. The study also provides the first, unbiased evaluation of multiple drivers that may have caused the decline of the Knysna elephants.
The Knysna forest elephants have been the subject of mystery and conjecture for years. Gareth Patterson an award-winning environmentalist, wildlife expert, author and public speaker, published a book called Beyond Secret Elephants which highlights his extensive experiences based on the seven years that he spent examining the Knysna forest on foot.
In 2007 and 2009 his physical research samples were examined by Professor Lori Eggert, the Director of Graduate Studies in the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of Missouri, who has developed a method of genetic censusing specifically for the study of African and Asian elephant populations. According to Professor Lori Eggert, the Knysna forests contain more than one elephant. The results of this study, The Knysna Elephants a Population Study Conducted Using Faecal DNA were published in 2007.
In contradiction to Patterson and Eggert’s published findings, were the results of a study that was conducted in 2016 and 2017 led by SANParks scientist Lizette Moolman using 80 cameras deployed at nearly 40 locations over the entire range. The cameras were all active for 15 months and during this time the same female elephant was identified in 140 capture events, always by herself. No other elephants were photographically captured. The conclusion of the study titled, And Then There Was One: A Camera Trap Survey of the Declining Population of African Elephants in Knysna was that it must be recognised that the Knysna population is functionally extinct. Future management must reflect either supplementation and or the addressing the welfare issues regarding the one remaining elephant.
On Wednesday, 20th March 2024, an urgent appeal was sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and to U.S. Minister of the Interior to implement an immediate ban on the import of elephant trophies from Africa, after US citizens were found responsible for the killing of some of Africa’s last big tuskers.
The appeal from members of the Pro Elephant Network was endorsed by concerned wildlife conservation organisations and individuals from around the world.
The African Elephant was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1978. At the time, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a rule under section 4(d) of the ESA to regulate the import and certain interstate commerce of the species in the United States.
Section 4(d) of the ESA provides the Secretary of the Interior with broad discretion to publish appropriate regulations tailored to the specific conservation needs of a species. The 4(d) rule has been amended multiple times to address changing threats to African elephants. The fourth and most recent amendment, made in 2016, was in response to increased poaching of elephants for ivory and led to a near-total ban on the trade in ivory in the United States.
In 2021, the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) was classified as Critically Endangered and the African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
The Amboseli population of savanna elephants includes adult males with some of the largest tusks on the African continent due to the particular genetic makeup of these elephants and the many years of protection they have been afforded from trophy hunting and poaching.
In late 2023, however, two adult males from the Amboseli population, with tusks reportedly weighing over 100 lbs. were shot south of the border in Tanzania, ending a 30-year trophy hunting moratorium in the Enduimet Wildlife Management Area. A third elephant was shot in the same area in late February 2024 and, as of 10 March, a further three licenses are said to have been granted putting the integrity of the Amboseli elephant population in serious jeopardy.
Introduction to the Pro Elephant Network
The Pro Elephant Network (PREN) consists of a global community of diverse individuals and organisations, united in their common concern for Nature, their deep association with the natural world and their commitment to apply their experience for the greater good.
These individuals and organisations embrace expertise from both within Western academies (including the fields of science, conservation, animal welfare, human and non-human rights, philosophy and ethics, advocacy, economics, community leadership, writing, the media, social justice and the law) and the indigenous paradigm.
PREN provides a strong framework for cooperation and networking and aims to end and reverse the impacts of harmful practices towards Elephants including but not limited to capture, imprisonment, captive breeding, abuse, training, exhibition, commercial contact and trade in live Elephants and body parts. Employing evidence- based information, PREN promotes the intrinsic value and self-determination of free-living elephants for the purpose of ending all exploitation of elephants.
Zoos are becoming less attractive to customers because the demand for animal performances and exploitation is decreasing, according to the director of the welfare organisation Animal Asia. This is despite the fact that the demand for animal exploitation is exaggerated by those who provide it.
Zoos are increasingly searching for alternative revenue streams. For example, the Pretoria Zoo hosts public parties, festivals and after-hours events which often feature live music, DJ line-ups and alcohol.
The administrators and advisors of the Pretoria Zoo continue to justify the captivity of elephants for conservation purposes. However, this argument is questionable as there are already large populations of elephants living in natural environments in South Africa.
Public conservation education is a requirement for membership in professional zoo associations. However, in recent years, zoos have been criticized for failing to educate the public on conservation issues and related biological concepts.
Background of the development of the Modern Zoo
Carl Hagenbeck was a prominent animal trader animal and ethnographic showman in the 19th century. He was known for his enormously popular displays of humans, animals and artefacts gathered from all over the world, and he supplied many European zoos with wild exotic animals. In 1907, he created the first modern zoo: a zoo featuring wild animal enclosures that were designed without any bars.
The Hagenbeck revolution, as it was known, included enclosures using moats and artfully arranged rock displays to discreetly confine animals. In this manner, Hagenbeck attempted to artfully disguise their captivity and in doing so created the illusion that the animals on display were living in a natural environment.
David Hancocks, a well renowned British zoo director, architect and consultant, envisioned and oversaw the creation of a revolutionary gorilla exhibit in 1976 which featured amongst other, mature trees and an abundance of natural foliage at the Woodland Park Zoo. David Hancocks has subsequently become an outspoken critic of zoos and similar institutions. In an interview, commenting on zoo architecture and enrichment he concluded:
“The exhibits today may now look more natural, but in terms of animal needs they are typically not much better than the old menagerie cages (which, incidentally, still remain in every detail in many holding facilities and off-exhibit zoo areas). Concrete trees, vegetation that is sealed off by electric wires, acres of fake rockwork that does not feel or act like real rocks in its thermal capacities, substrates that just get packed down harder and harder, are never tilled and become like concrete. A few dead trees perhaps, that are dried up and hard as iron, and just as useless to the animal occupants. More disturbingly, nothing ever changes in these useless zoo spaces. Zoo animals step out into the very same unchanged space every morning day after day after year after year”.
And also:
“The zoo passion today for ‘enrichment’ is, to me, a public admission of defeat. In a space that gives the animals what they truly require there is no need to litter the place with junk and other distractions. Animals in the wild don’t require ‘enrichment’. They have agency and can choose to interact with the living components of their natural habitats (physical, living and social). They are able to engage the repertoire of behaviours that they evolved for use within their natural habitat and to do so without being artificially enticed to mimic a few aspects of those behaviours by a keeper.
Animals in the wild do not require a keeper’s stimulation to be active; they have places worth exploring and have their natural, social mix of compatriots, and that is a sufficient stimulus for them to be active. They can dig, fly, run, climb, soar and do all manner of natural things denied to most animals in most zoos”.
PREN members are of the strong opinion that in keeping with the vision of a secured, restored, and rewilded natural landscapes with thriving populations of Elephant, Lion, Rhino, and Leopard, as indicators for a vibrant, responsible, inclusive, transformed, and sustainable wildlife sector, the policies related to elephants in captivity in South Africa should be closely examined. The aforementioned vision was determined following two years of work carried out by the Ministerial appointed High Level Panel of Experts, Minister Barbara Creecy released the HLP Report on the 2nd of May 2021.
In order to prevent further exploitation of elephants currently held captive in South Africa an entire section should be included in the Draft Policy Position on the Sustainable Use of Elephant, Lion, Leopard and Rhinoceros. Facilities in South Africa in which elephants are held in controlled environments for profit must be persuaded to provide the government with verifiable updated data on each elephant held in captivity including the purpose of the facilities. Facilities advertised as sanctuaries or rehabilitation facilities for elephants must provide details of such.
The United Kingdom remains the top European source market of tourists visiting South Africa. The Animals Low-Welfare Activities Abroad Act of 2023 is a new law which aims to protect animals used in tourism, the legislation which applies in England and Northern Ireland will also allow the British government to bring forward a ban on selling or advertising specific types of wildlife tourism. This is likely to include unethical activities where elephants are forced to take selfies with tourists, where elephants have been subjected to brutal training methods, and where elephants are ridden or drugged for human interaction. In South Africa, facilities offer elephant back riding, feeding, walking, touching, riding, partying, getting married and even sleeping over, with the elephants.
PREN is currently supporting a number of initiatives to release elephants from unsuitable captive facilities in South Africa, including providing scientific evidence, highlighting issues of concern and suggesting best solutions for the release of Charlie the elephant, held at the SANBI National Zoological Garden (NZG) and recently showcasing distressed and stereotypical behaviour; PREN has also supported the relocation of Tswale the elephant, who is used for close human interaction on private property in the Mpumalanga province.
PREN is of the strong opinion that all tourist attractions that keep or breed elephants for commercial purposes and promote direct contact with elephants, including rides, shows or tricks, should be phased out. PREN elephant specialists would be happy to work with the South African authorities to identify the most appropriate solutions for these elephants.
Members of the Pro Elephant Network have once again expressed their dismay about the treatment of Charlie at the Pretoria Zoo. Videos of him stereotyping while loud music is heard in the background have been published by a visitor to the Pretoria Zoo on Tik-Tok.
PREN has previously expressed concern about the negative effects the continuous loud and live music played at the well attended SANBI Pretoria Zoo party events are having on the welfare and well-being of resident animals, especially Charlie.
PREN addressed an urgent letter to:
Honourable Barbara Creecy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, SANBI Chairperson Professor Edward Nesamvuni and theCEO of SANBI Shonisani Munzhedzi
Filmed and published on the social media platform TikTok, the Elephant known as Charlie showcases stereotypical behaviour at the Pretoria Zoo. The video is posted by TikTok subscriber Anell Eelox with the caption “This elephant is feeling the music, the cutest thing I saw today #elephantdancing #majestic #pretoriazoo”
Stereotypies are repetitive, seemingly functionless actions. In Elephants, they typically involve repeated rocking from side to side, swaying, and head bobbing and appear in those animals who are strictly confined such as, for example, chained.
The presence of stereotypic behaviour is widely[1] acknowledged to be an indicator of poor animal husbandry, and suffering. Stereotypic behaviour also indicates social isolation, or conflict, anxiety, frustration or fear and severe anxiety. Dr Bob Jacobs, a member of PREN, neuroscientist at Colorado College and an expert in comparative neuroscience in particular the brains of Elephants, has highlighted how Elephants and cetaceans share several characteristics that make them especially vulnerable to impoverished artificial environments, which affect and damage the fine structure and function of their brain. Stereotypy, which reflects dysregulation in the brain’s motor control systems, has been observed in both humans and non-human animals.
The aforementioned post on TikTok, with its one billion subscribers, contradicts SANBI’s commitment to science and technology.
While members of PREN can forgive the comments of an uneducated visitor to the zoo, they cannot ignore the fact that the board of the South African National Biodiversity Institute condones the conditions under which a captive Elephant is forced to endure. It is for this reason that on the 28th of August 2023, members of the Pro Elephant Network wrote an URGENT letter of concern about the wellbeing and welfare of Charlie at the National Zoological Gardens in South Africa.
Concern for Charlie was expressed in light of the fact that the zoo is utilized for party events where alcohol is served and DJs present a line-up of music which lasts for several hours. This is not appropriate for animals that are forcibly held in captivity.
PREN members note that, despite raising concerns in previous correspondence, numerous other events have continued to be held at the Pretoria Zoo in September and October 2023.
Did the Zoo conduct any precautionary welfare assessment on the impacts of loud music on the animals? Were precautions taken to minimise negative impacts? Were areas accurately chosen? Were impacts monitored, and recorded? Did the zoo measure sound? Did the zoo observe impacts? Were sound-reducing barriers utilized? Did the zoo’s Ethics Committee evaluate all these factors before the decision to host many events was taken?
Studies have indicated that increased visitors and noise or light levels at the zoo can have a negative impact on the welfare and stress levels of animals, particularly mammals. Research confirmed that events at zoos change the behaviour of animals and that animals, if allowed, choose from crowded and loud events, therefore zoos should at least conduct credible welfare assessments and follow all the steps to effectively mitigate impacts for every species affected.
If the zoo has conducted all these assessments, would they be willing to publish the assessment results and impact analysis? If instead they were not conducted, the undersigned members of PREN are requesting that future events be urgently cancelled.
[1]Greco BJ, Meehan CL, Hogan JN, Leighty KL, Mellen J, Mason G, Mench JA. The days and nights of zoo elephants: using epidemiology to better understand stereotypic behavior of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) and Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in North American zoos. PLoS ONE 2016. doi: pone.0144276.
Haspeslagh et al 2013 A survey of foot problems, stereotypic behaviour and floor type in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in European zoos in Animal Welfare22(4):437-443 DOI:10.7120/09627286.22.4.437
Mason, G. J. 1991. Stereotypies and suffering. Behavioural Processes, 25(2-3), 103–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/0376-6357(91)90013-P
Kurt F & Garaï M. 2001. Stereotypies in captive Asian elephants- a symptom of social isolation. Scientific Progress Reports in: A Research Update of Elephants and Rhinos. Proceedings of the International Elephant and Rhino Research Symposium, Vienna June 7-11,2001. pp.57-63
Mason G. J. 1991. Stereotypies: a critical review. Animal Behaviour, 41:1015-1037
Romero LM. 2004. Physiological stress in ecology: lessons from biomedical research. TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution, 19(5):249-255
Bondi CO, Rodriguez G, Gould GG, Frazer A & Morilak DA. 2008. Chronic unpredictable stress induces a cognitive deficit and anxiety-like behavior in rats that is prevented by chronic antidepressant drug treatment. Neuropsychopharmacology, 33:320-331
The National Zoological Gardens of South Africa needs to ensure the well-being and welfare of all the animals in their care. If this basic requirement is achieved, the mission and vision of SANBI’s scientific goal of conservation, research and education can begin to be addressed.
According to scientific studies zoos negatively impact the well-being of the animals they house. This is due to inherent aspects such as unvarying husbandry routines (Lyons et al.,1997) and constantly exposing the animals to the public (Young, 2003, Davey 2006, Davey, 2007).
One obvious and significant stressor is the noise/sound environment in the zoo. From time to time zoo animals can be exposed to potentially intense noise, for example, noise arising from automated gardening equipment or maintenance activities. Studies have demonstrated that unnatural noise can elicit stress responses in animals, especially Elephants and that whilst animals in zoos can adapt to many noises that they hear on a regular basis, a noise that is intense or unpredictable may negatively impact the welfare and induce a chronic stress response.
The National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004) Minimum Standards for the Management of Captive Elephants, S4.22 suggests that Elephants are particularly sensitive to sound.
Noise pollution and sound pressure are increased with audience size, scientific studies analysed the behaviour of mammals at zoos and noted that zoo visitors, in general, have a negative welfare impact on individual zoo-housed mammals, especially groups of noisy visitors where levels were recorded outside of the recommended limits for human well-being.3 This study recommended that zoos needed to address this issue through a combination of visitor education campaigns and acoustic modification to enclosures.
Members of the Pro Elephant Network (PREN) have monitored the Pretoria Zoo closely since 2020, because of our interest in Charlie and our support for the negotiation process between the Honourable Minister, SANBI and the EMS Foundation, to release Charlie into a natural environment.
We have therefore taken note and recorded a rapid increase in the zoo facility being utilised as an organised music festival and party venue in 2023.
It is truly wonderful to see South Africans relaxing and enjoying themselves in a safe space and the Pretoria Zoo offers such a venue, however, we do not believe that animals, especially animals that are confined to enclosures should be forced to endure these festivities.
In 2015 the London Zoo was forced to shut down its alcohol-fuelled Friday night zoo parties because sources at the zoo were concerned at the impact of visitors’ rowdy behaviour on the animals. These revelations prompted a series of petitions signed by tens of thousands of people calling on the zoo to end the parties and an investigation by the Westminster council.
For your convenience, below we have highlighted a few of the recent events held at the Pretoria Zoo. We are extremely concerned with the location of Charlie’s enclosure with regard to the proximity of the parties.
The National Zoological Gardens is a Party Venue for Hire
Our research cannot provide the results of any scientific studies conducted on the negative effects on the well-being or welfare of the animals living at a zoo when amplified music is played over a nine-hour period. Quite obviously no such study has been carried out because wild animals should not be forced to endure such invasive and unnatural conditions.
Pretoria Zoo Women’s Day Party – 5th August 2023
The Woman’s Day party event started at 09H00 and ended at 20H00 and offered an exciting line-up of DJs. The entrance tickets were sold at Computicket, according to the promoters the event was sold out.
When studying all these images and videos, we fail to establish examples of SANBI’s mission to champion conservation or provide the enjoyment of South Africa’s rich biodiversity. “SANBI’s mandate is primarily derived from NEMBA and includes managing the National Botanical and Zoological Gardens as windows to South Africa’s biodiversity for enjoyment and education.”
The zoo animals, especially Charlie the Elephant, whose enclosure is visible in some of the images, are confronted with a constant barrage of music. The noise is related to all the partygoers who are so obviously fuelled by alcohol. There will be additional noise pollution related to the set-up of these events and clean-up operations of the zoo after the events.
Read about the other events and see the images in the attached letter.
Conclusion
The undersigning members of PREN are deeply concerned about the impact these events are having on Charlie’s physical and psychological health, his sleeping patterns and his stress levels.
PREN is of the learned opinion that SANBI and the zoo management are not demonstrating adequate consideration for his welfare. A recognised scientific organisation should never condone the behaviour demonstrated in these videos and images.
We note that there are three further party events planned in September alone.
We have noted that the visitors are obviously not interested in the animals living at the zoo as there is not a single image of the animals amongst the images proudly splashed across various social media platforms.
No animal should be subjected to this type of continuous suffering and abuse. We are, quite frankly taken aback that the SANBI scientific community could possibly condone these activities in such close proximity to Charlie’s enclosure.
Excerpts from the latest correspondence between PREN and TripAdvisor reads as follows:
The undersigned members of PREN are of the view that TA should consider implementing a red-light or alert system of the facilities known to exploit elephants or not conforming to animal welfare standards, therefore disabling TA to “sell ticketsfor or generate booking revenue from” the facilities. This approach might incentivise such facilities to improve their criteria.
The consideration of the development of a methodology able to detect keywords in order to penalise tourist attractions with low or non-existent animal welfare standards will be a lifesaving tool for the Elephants.
The development of an overarching system that is able to detect keywords in order to penalise touristic attractions with low or non-existent animal welfare standards, could be an effective and impactful solution that is worthy of further consideration.
A NOTEWORTHY SCENARIO: THE BUDDHIST KANDE VIHARAYA TEMPLE, SRI LANKA
In 2001 the Thai government donated an Elephant called Muthu Raja to Sri Lanka. On the 2nd of July 2023, following complex but determined negotiations, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand Varawut Silpa-archa, repatriated the Elephant, after reports of abusive conditions in Sri Lanka.
The associated negotiations led to the Thai government rescinding and revoking its gift to Sri Lanka and removing the Elephant from a well-known Sri Lankan Buddhist temple in Kande Viharaya.
Concerns persist for the remaining single Elephant, a female known as Kumari, kept at the Kande Viharaya Temple. These concerns result from multiple reports and publicly available photographic evidence of Kumari being utilised in noisy religious and culturalparades, during hot weather, being chained with spiked shackles, standing for long periods of time often in her own urine and faeces, being utilised for rides and as selfie-props.
According to reports from eye-witnesses, local mahouts have used bullhooks in the Elephants’ eyes and on wounds to enhance dominance and control. Elephants at this Temple have been recorded as having purulent wounds, cracked and infected nails and visible scars and abscesses. There is seemingly an absence of proper veterinary care, therapy or pain relief.
Kande Viharaya Buddhist Temple is positively rated on TripAdvisor’s website and images showcase Kumari while kept chained on concrete, away from any other Elephant. She is utilised as a prop for visitors to take photographs or for Elephant rides.
All Elephants require the opportunity to access expansive, diverse habitats in order to traverse long distances and exercise individual autonomy and socialization. Failure to meet these needs inevitably leads to health deterioration. The development of stereotypic behaviours generally reflects a welfare-compromised environment.
Stereotypic behaviour, the invariant restrictive and purposeless repetition of motor patterns[4], remains the most widely used welfare indicator[5] for Elephants in poor welfare conditions, exposed to psychological stress that had direct physiological consequences on the body’s ability to function.[6] This includes neural dysfunctions, brain damage and compromised survivorship.[7]
PREN members acknowledge TA’s efforts to achieve best practices. The TA Animal Welfare Policy could make a greater difference to wild animals utilised in the tourism industry if the institutions where these guidelines are not respected are effectively penalised.
TA could further promote positive change for wild animals utilised in the tourism industry, by setting higher standards and by persuading countries with inadequate animal welfare policies to introduce regulations for the protection and compassionate treatment of those animals.
We would appreciate your considered response to this communication. We are available and welcome the opportunity you have offered, to engage further on this important subject matter.
Members of PREN could form a working group of experts in order to engage with TA specialists on a Zoom forum, as you kindly suggested.
The correspondence between PREN and TripAdvisor is supported by the members of PREN who signed the letter, a copy of which is hereby attached.
The EMS Foundation and Shambala Private Game Reserve have announced that they have jointly submitted an “Expression of Interest” as requested by South African Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy and the South African National Biodiversity Institute.
Members of the Pro Elephant Network have supported the negotiation process initiated by the EMS Foundation with Minister Barbara Creecy since December 2020.
The Thai Royal family gifted three Elephants, including Sak Surin, to Sri Lanka, in 2001, in order for the Elephants to be trained and perform Buddhist religious rituals. Sak Surin was then renamed and is known in Sri Lanka as Muthu Raja
The members of PREN applaud the difficult decision taken by the Government of Thailand to lead the repatriation of Sak Surin from the Kande Viharaya Buddhist Temple in the Kalutara District of Sri Lanka, following concerns relating to his mistreatment. Thai authorities had to embark on a logistically, financially and politically challenging project to safely return the Elephant to Thailand.
The four-tonne male Elephant’s rehabilitation will include the treatment of his extensive injuries including abscesses, wounds and scars, which are an indication of prolonged abuse and neglect.
Elephants are large-brained mammals who display complex cognitive capabilities, and sentience, and demonstrate social needs1, empathy2, and determination3.
The Asian Elephant is able to use tools4 and, together with only a few other non-human species, such as some great apes, dolphins, rays and the Eurasian magpie, passed the mirror test, proving self-recognition abilities and a sense of self-awareness.
When males come into their annual musth cycle, their testosterone levels rise steeply making them more aggressive; all attempts to manage captive males during this process through isolation, separation and confinement, impact their welfare.
All Elephants require access to expansive, diverse habitats and move across long distances.5 They also need to be provided with opportunities for individual autonomy and socialization. These essential needs typically cannot be met in captive environments, leading to health deterioration and stereotypic behaviours reflecting the welfare-compromised environment. Stereotypic behaviour, the invariant restrictive and purposeless repetition of motor patterns6, remains the most widely used welfare indicator7 for captive Elephants in poor welfare conditions exposed to psychological stress and has direct physiological consequences on the body’s ability to function.8 This includes neural dysfunctions, brain damage and compromised survivorship.9
Extensive research highlights how Elephants can suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and refers to how humans and elephants share the parts of the brain that are susceptible to trauma and the connections between the right prefrontal cortex and the limbic system and how this influences and can compromise individual’s ability to regulate stress and emotions. Research also refers to“hyperarousal” or the inability to respond adequately, which could manifest as depression and severe agoraphobia, or on the other hand, “hyperarousal”, which is hyper-vigilance, such as, for example, in
Elephants, when they charge with no provocation, or, in captivity, when they react aggressively even if there is no actual danger.
The extraordinary efforts to repatriate Sak Surin are highly commended by all the members of PREN, as well as the decision by the Thai authorities to stop sending Elephants abroad.
Reports by Elephant experts, including members of PREN, illustrate that the population of captive Elephants in Thailand in the tourism industry has increased steeply since the use of Elephants in the logging industry was banned. Microchipping and a better-maintained Elephant database are important tools to prevent the laundering of wild Elephants into captivity; nevertheless, the illegal capture and movement of live Elephants across the Myanmar-Thai border for use in tourism continue to be an issue, and the captive breeding of Elephants continues to lead to an increase in the captive Elephant population used for commercial purposes.
The negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global tourism industry presented huge challenges for Thailand and clearly demonstrated that this new industry is unsustainable in times of crisis and a liability to the well-being of Elephants relying on profits from tourism. Some camps struggled to feed and care for the Elephants, leaving many isolated and starving.
Also, a growing number of global travel companies are changing their excursion offers to exclude facilities that offer Elephant riding and Elephant shows, and are instead prioritising wildlife-watching experiences or observation-only experiences of captive Elephants. Thailand’s captive population of Elephants needs to be carefully managed as increasing numbers of captive Elephants compete for scarce resources, such as limited food for the Elephants, fragmented land use and reduced availability of skilled labour in mahouts; in addition, an increased dependency on income from tourists has led to a lower quality of care.
The global trend away from the utilisation of Elephants in tourism will negatively affect the mahouts. An unpublished study by Chiang Mai University has shown that over one-third of the mahouts have no life savings and depend on a minimum wage job while bearing significant risks of serious and sometimes fatal injuries. Efforts need to be focussed on providing alternative livelihood opportunities for people who currently rely on the exploitation of captive Elephants.
IVORY
Sak Surin, one of the three Elephants donated, grew to become a large tusker. Most male Asian Elephants have tusks, Sak Surin developed extremely large tusks which reach the ground when the Elephant walks. Such tuskers are prized for their ivory. The members of PREN recommend that the authorities take all precautions to make sure that Sak Surin/ Muthu Raja is not exploited for his exceptional features.
Please find a copy of the correspondence between the undersigned Members of the Pro Elephant Network and the Honourable Minister Varawut Silpa-archa, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand:
The controversial and highly irregular import of twenty-two wild-caught Namibian Desert Elephants into permanent captivity to two zoos in the United Arab Emirates is a clear example of lax CITES enforcement. The current status all these Elephants is unknown.
Since December 2020 when the sale of these Elephants was announced the Members of PREN have repeatedly attempted to engage with the Namibian CITES authorities as well as the CITES Secretariat in an attempt to prevent the capture of these Elephants.
CITES authorities have had every opporuntiyt and have been provided with sufficient evidence to stop the sale and capture of the wild rare desert-adapted Elephants in Namibia. The CITES Secretary General, Chair of the Standing Committee and Chair of the Animals Committee were provided with detailed information which could have used to prevent the Elephants from being exported from Namibia and imported into the UAE.
READ THE FULL LETTER addressed to the Head of CITES in the UAE, the CITES Secretary General, the CITES Legal Officer, Chair of the CITES Standing Committee, Director General of the Al Ain Zoo, Operations Manager for Animals at Sharjah Safari Park, Executive Office of EAZA and IUCN African elephant Specialist Group:
The Pro Elephant Network (PREN) consists of a significant international community of diverse individuals and organizations, comprising specific expertise, related to wild and captive African and Asian Elephants, including but not limited to the fields of science, health, conservation, welfare, economics, community leadership, social justice and the law.
Bunka is an Asian bull Elephant, he was born in captivity at the Tbilisi Zoo, in Georgia. His mother, Malka, was captured from the wild in 1997 in Laos and arrived at the Tbilisi Zoo as a calf in 2000. Malka gave birth to Bunka when she was only ten years old. Bunka’s father, Bacho, of unknown origin arrived at the Tbilisi Zoo in 1999, where he died prematurely in 2009. Malka was separated from Bunka in 2014 when he was sent to the Yerevan Zoo. Elephants have strong social bonds and suffer tremendously when separated from family members.
PREN wrote a letter of concern to the Administrator of the Yerevan Zoo on the 21st of September 2021 after it was alerted about Bunka the Elephant’s solitary life in the zoo. PREN members requested access to Bunka in order for experts to assess and establish his health and well-being and offered assistance to the zoo administration.
The Friends of Bunka organisation, a member of PREN, has subsequently attracted significant global support for Bunka, this includes a petition signed by 78,000 conservationists and concerned members of the public, who are calling for his safe release from captivity.
The undersigned members of PREN are grateful that Mark Stratton and Tina Papadopoulou, from the Friends of Bunka organisation and a team of Elephant specialists, comprising Dr Marion Garaï, Ingo Schmidinger, Brett Mitchell and Tenisha Roos, were granted access to Bunka in order to conduct a comprehensive, physical and behavioural assessment of him at the Zoo in November 2022.
The results of this expert assessment have been published in a well-referenced Report which includes the following important concerning information:
Concern for life-threatening physical well-being, in particular, Bunka’s feet which indicate the presence of an abscess and cracked nails;
Concern that Bunka is malnourished;
Bunka’s eyes are visibly inflamed which is an indication of poor health and below-standard living conditions;
Bunka exhibits extremely dry skin;
Abrasions on his tusk which could be an indication of self-harm;
Concern for the abnormal behavioural indications for example stereotyping, his repetitive behaviours such as walking in circles, the exhibition of pathological boredom and depression.
The Members of the Pro Elephant Network (PREN) and the EMS Foundation have submitted Expert Assessment Reports of Charlie, the solitary elephant at the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria, to the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy.
Charlie, is an African male elephant, who was born in Hwange National Park in 1982, was captured and exported to the Brian Boswell Circus in South Africa in 1984 and was sent to the National Zoological Gardens on the 30th of July 2001.
The EMS Foundation and members of PREN have been in discussions with Minister Barbara Creecy since the 16th of December 2020, negotiating the very best retirement options for Charlie, based upon the recommendations of the most experienced elephant experts in the world.
Charlie’s expert psychological and medical rehabilitation, his relocation to, and his reintegration into a protected natural environment would arrive at no cost to the South African Biodiversity Institute, the South African government, or the South African taxpayer.
Charlie’s Behavioural Assessment Report was co-authored by Dr Marion Garai, Dr Keith Lindsay, Dr Toni Frohoff and Dr Joyce Poole.
Dr Keith Lindsay is a Conservation Biologist and Environmental Consultant with over 40 years of professional experience, he is the author of the Solitary Elephants in Japan Report and co-author with Dr Rob Atkinson of a Report endorsed by 25 leading specialists which explains why expansive, diverse habitats are critical to keeping captive elephants physically and psychologically healthy.
Dr Toni Frohoff is an Ethologist and Behavioural Biologist with thirty years of experience. Dr Frohoff is the Founder and the Science Director for TerraMar Research.
Dr Joyce Poole is an Elephant Behaviour Specialist, the Co-Founder and Co-Director of ElephantVoices. Dr Poole has studied the social behavior and communication of elephants for over forty years. Dr Poole has dedicated her life to the conservation of elephants and their welfare.
Charlie’s Medical Assessment Report was co-authored by Professor Dr Thomas Hildebrandt, Dr Frank Goeritz Dr Amir Khalil and Dr Mariana Ivanova, and under the supervision of South African veterinarian Dr Brett Bard.
Dr Amir Khalil is a wildlife veterinarian and the Director of Project Development at the animal welfare organization, Four Paws International.
Dr Marina Ivanova is a wildlife veterinarian and the Senior Project Manager for the animal welfare organization, Four Paws International.
This specialized, expert medical team were responsible for the rehabilitation, relocation, and initial phases of integration of Kaavan, once called the loneliest elephant in world. This team have also recently treated the four African elephants in the Karachi Zoo and Safari Parks who conducting lifesaving, unique and complicated surgeries from which all four elephants have recovered. Dr Brett Bard is a South African veterinarian, practicing in the Karoo in the Western Cape.
The Members of PREN and the EMS Foundation are looking forward to receiving Minister Creecy’s earliest response and engaging on this matter further with her so that the recommendations made by the experts can be fulfilled in the best interests of Charlie.
We would like to take this opportunity to warmly and gratefully thank all the experts who have so generously participated in these important assessment processes.
Image Credit: Charlie at the Pretoria Zoo, South Africa, 01.03.2023
“We are cognisant of the fact that TripAdvisor implemented an Animal Welfare Policy in 2016 which was updated in 2018. Included in this policy was a guideline not to sell tickets for shows and performances in which animals are forced to perform demeaning tricks or unnatural behaviours.”
In 2019 TripAdvisor consulted with a number of scientists, including ethologist, behavioural biologist and PREN member Dr Toni Frohoff, with the objective to expand the TripAdvisor Animal Welfare Policy to end commercial relationships with facilities that breed or import captive whales and dolphins.
The government of the United Kingdom is presently reviewing the Animals Abroad Bill. The Bill has passed a second reading and is currently undergoing a detailed review. If the Bill passes, the sale and advertisement of activities which include low standards of welfare for animals will be prohibited. The Bill is enjoying widespread and high-profile public support. A petition by the Save the Asian Elephant organisation, also a member of PREN, was supported by 1.1 million signatures.
Members of PREN believe that this is an excellent opportunity for TripAdvisor to update their Animal Welfare Policy by removing activities which provide for low standards of welfare for animals and in doing so comply with the most up-to-date international legislation.
Members of PREN who have supported this submission have highlighted the cruel treatment of Elephants in Kerala.
PREN members have recommended in their submission that TripAdvisor should not advertise facilities that are exploiting elephants in Kerala but should instead, focus on promoting places where elephants can be viewed in their natural environment, in large parks, reserves and accredited elephant sanctuaries.
PREN members acknowledge the important role that TripAdvisor can play in promoting positive change, by setting higher standards in tourism and by persuading countries with inadequate animal welfare policies to introduce regulations for the protection and compassionate treatment of those animals involved in the tourism sector.
On the 16th of December 2022 the Members of the Pro Elephant Network sent urgent communications to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the CITES Authority in Namibia, to the CITES Secretary General, the CITES Legal Officer, Chair of the Standing Committee, the IUCN Elephant Specialist Group, the Co Chairs of the African Elephant Coalition and Parties to CITES who submitted the Revision of Resolution Conf.10.10 (Rev. CoP18) on the Trade in Live African Elephants.
Read the full communication signed by PREN Members:
“You will recall from previous correspondence dating back to December 2020, that the Members of the Pro Elephant Network (PREN) share a specific interest in the protection of the African Elephant. The expertise of PREN Members encompasses both free-living and held-captive Elephants; the network consists of scientists, academics, wildlife conservationists, representatives from wildlife protection and welfare organisations, environmental lawyers and economists as well as representatives from social justice organisations and indigenous community leaders.
We note that at the recent CITES meeting in Panama in November 2022, Parties unanimously agreed that while the process for a dialogue meeting is underway to discuss the long-term rules around exports of live wild-caught African
Elephants, any such exports will be limited to in situ conservation programmes or secure areas in the wild, within the species’ natural and historical range in Africa, except in exceptional circumstances where, in consultation with the Animals committee, through its Chair with the support of the Secretariat, and in consultation with the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group, it is considered that a transfer to ex situ locations will provide demonstrable in situ conservation benefits for African Elephants, or in the case of temporary transfers in emergency situations.
Members of PREN previously attempted to engage with representatives from the Namibian government regarding the capture and sale of twenty-two free-living, desert-adapted Elephants which were subsequently exported from Namibia to captivity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this year.
PREN members specifically requested information on the Non-Detriment Findings for the aforementioned transfer, as well as any scientific data supporting the capture and subsequent sale, which has, to our knowledge, never been made public.
As we are sure you will be aware, two legal opinions[1] have been published regarding the controversial capture and export of free-living Elephants from Namibia, which questioned the legality of exports of live Elephants taken from the wild to captive facilities overseas. We note that the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria publicly distanced themselves from the captive facilities in UAE that received the exported Elephants.
Furthermore, the capture, sale and trade of the twenty-two Namibian Elephants to the UAE was raised as an issue of concern at the 74th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee in Lyon in France (8th-12th March 2022), and again at the 19th Conference of the Parties held in Panama City in Panama (14th-25th November 2022).
CITES CoP19 agreed to a moratorium, limiting any export of live wild-caught African Elephant to in situ conservation programmes or secure areas in the wild, within the species’ natural and historical range in Africa, except in exceptional circumstances on further live exports while harmonized legal framework is negotiated.
Members of PREN have been reliably informed that six wild-caught Elephants are still being held captive on Mr Gerrie Odendaal’s property, from which the twenty-two Elephants were exported to the UAE in March 2022.
In the interests of transparency amidst global public concerns, members of PREN hereby formally and publicly request the following information from the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism as a matter of urgency:
Confirmation of the holding facility;
Sex and age of the Elephants;
Details of the capture, its location and copy of justifications for it;
Copies of all permits;
Details of sale transaction between the government and private parties;
Report from the welfare authority on the animals’ status and well-being;
Copy of Non-Detriment Finding in case of planned future export of the Elephants; and
Information on the intentions for these Elephants going forward.
We hereby request that:
(a) The Namibian government immediately puts in place measures to prevent the export of the six Elephants to captive facilities, in recognition of the Decision taken by the Parties at the CITES CoP19;
(b) The Namibian government prioritises their return to their free-living life and herds. “
ENDORSED STATEMENT IN FAVOUR OF RESOLUTIONS TO PREVENT THE EXPORT OF WILD ELEPHANTS TO ZOOS AND CAPTIVITY
PROPOSAL 5: TRANSFER THE ELEPHANT POPULATIONS OF BOTSWANA, NAMIBIA, SOUTH AFRICA, AND ZIMBABWE FROM APPENDIX II TO APPENDIX I
PROPOSAL 66.4.1: RESTRICT WILD-CAUGHT LIVE EXPORTS TO IN-SITU CONSERVATION PROGRAMMES IN NATURAL AND HISTORICAL RANGES IN AFRICA
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild animals and plants has 184 signatory Parties−any one of the Parties is entitled to submit a proposal to the Conference. The meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties is the ultimate decision-making body.
The 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP)is taking place from the 14th to the 25th of November 2022 in Panama City. Decisions taken at this CoP will continue to shape the international trade in wildlife.
The CITES Secretariat received a proposal, CoP19 Prop. 5, for consideration for the amendment of Appendices I and II, specifically to transfer the Loxodonta Africana populations of Botswana, Namibia, South and Zimbabwe from Appendix II to Appendix I. The proposal was made by members of the African Elephant Coalition namely, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, and Senegal.
This proposal, if accepted would result in the prohibition of international trade for primarily commercial purposes in African elephant specimens of wild origin, including from the four range States concerned. States Parties will make their own decisions next month in Panama City at CoP19 about whether this proposal should be adopted or rejected.
“Amending the CITES Appendices is a rigorous, science-based process that demands a wide range of expertise. The stakes are high both for these vulnerable species of plants and animals and for the people whose livelihoods depend upon them. We should also consider that Parties have legally binding obligations towards all species included in the CITES Appendices. It is vital that our decisions be as well- informed and wise as possible” CITES Secretary-General Ivonne Higuero
Any species that appears on Appendix I is effectively banned from commercial international trade. Appendix II species can be traded but that trade is strictly regulated and subject to tight controls from both the exporting and importing Parties.
Despite this, wild elephants were captured in Namibia in February 2022 and exported from Namibia to Al Ain Zoo and Sharjah Safari Park in the United Arab Emirates. The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria has terminated the membership of the Al Ain Zoo in the UAE as a result of the evidence of their investigations related to the multiple breaches of EAZA Codes and Standards which has negatively impacted the reputation of the organization (see Appendix 1). EAZA reiterated its condemnation of the import of the Namibian elephants and will not be drawn into an alternative proposal that may be used to justify the importation of wild elephants into a zoo.
The Pro Elephant Network has supported the further expansive investigations and exposure of the recent and ongoing Namibian wild elephant export debacle.
The Pro Elephant Network remains extremely concerned about the SADC (Southern African Development Community) member’s misinterpretation of current CITES regulations, specifically the export of African elephants outside of their natural range states, a topic that was raised and discussed at the CITES Standing Committee Meeting in Lyon on the 9th of March 2022.
We, the undersigned, respectfully request Parties to CITES to support the proposal of Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, and Senegal to amend Appendices I and II, specifically to transfer the Loxodonta Africana populations of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe from Appendix II to Appendix I.
We furthermore urge the Parties to support the proposed changes to Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP18) as detailed in CoP19 Doc. 66.4.1 which would restrict wild-caught live exports to in situ conservation programs or secure areas in the wild, within the species’ natural and historical range in Africa, and would apply to all wild African elephants wherever they are located.
ON Friday 12th August 2022 we once again observe World Elephant Day. It is the tenth year that organizations and individuals will rally together to give a united voice to elephants. Founded by Patricia Sims, this collective global movement continues to be acknowledged by the members of the Pro Elephant Network (PREN)
Members of PREN specifically advocate reversing the exploitation of elephants through the culture of imprisonment, captive breeding, capture, kidnapping, abuse, exhibition, trading and killing.
Even though there is a critical mass and ever-growing volume of scientific evidence emphasizing the problems and negative aspects that are associated with keeping elephants in captivity, there are many elephants who continue to suffer this cruel fate.
On World Elephant Day the members of PREN are drawing attention to some examples of elephants whose current captivity continues to capture the world’s attention and focus in 2022.
The legal fight to free Happy the elephant continues in New York, in the United States of America. On the 14th of July 2022, the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) filed a motion to re-argue the 5 – 2 decision by New York’s highest court issued in June 2022, in a landmark case that seeks Happy’s right to liberty and release from the Bronx Zoo and her relocation to an elephant sanctuary.
The New York Court of Appeals is one of the most highly-regarded state appellate courts in the country and two of its justices dissented from the judgement with separate opinions. Justice Rowan D. Wilson wrote, “When the majority answers, ‘No, animals cannot have rights,’ I worry for that animal, but I worry even more greatly about how that answer denies and denigrates the human capacity for understanding, empathy and compassion” and the court had a duty “to recognize Happy’s right to petition for her liberty not just because she is a wild animal who is not meant to be caged and displayed, but because the rights we confer on others define who we are as a society.”
Judge Jenny Rivera wrote in her dissent that “a gilded cage is still a cage. Happy may be a dignified creature, but there is nothing dignified about her captivity” and that Happy’s captivity was unjust and that “every day she remains a captive — a spectacle for humans — we, too, are diminished.”
“The New York Court of Appeals […] has created instability and confusion in New York law with grave implications for illegally confined human beings”, the NhRP writes in its motion. If the re-argument motion is granted, the Court may order another hearing and will issue a decision explaining why it will either reverse or clarify its prior decision.
The plight of Shankar, an African male elephant from Zimbabwe, currently living in Delhi Zoo, continues. The Delhi High Court is presently hearing a case which was filed by sixteen-year-old Nikita Dhawan, the founder of Youth for Animals, to free Shankar.
On 6thJuly 2022, the court ruled out the possibility of sending him back to Africa. Instead, it ordered the Central Zoo Authority and the Animal Welfare Board of India to inspect his living conditions and submit a detailed report, before the 31st of August 2022 – the date when the case will be heard next. Solitary, Shankar has been seen chained and beaten in the Delhi Zoo.
The Aspinall Foundation has offered to rehabilitate Shankar in a suitable location in Africa at their cost, but sadly the Delhi High Court has rather asked the authorities to explore the possibility of bringing in a female partner for Shankar. “We will not permit the release of Shankar, we will keep it in India and take care of him here only. He is ours. We will look after him properly, don’t worry” the court said.
Shankar at the Delhi Zoo Image Credit: Nikita Dhawan / Youth for Animals
The Members of the Pro Elephant Network have supported the EMS Foundation during their nineteenth month transparent process of negotiation with Minister Barbara Creecy and representatives from the South African National Biodiversity Institute with regards to seeking the best possible future options for Charlie, the solitary bull elephant at the Pretoria zoo in South Africa.
We highly commend the forward thinking decision of Minister Creecy and SANBI to retire Charlie from the Pretoria zoo, a decision which was announced today, 29th of July 2022.
We will continue to offer our extensive expertise during this ongoing process, in order to make sure that all the correct decisions are reached for Charlie.
THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS, THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF FORESTS – PROJECT ELEPHANT, SENIOR REPRESENTATIVE OF THE KERALA HIGH COURT
DATED: 9TH OF MAY 2022
LETTER OF CONCERN FOR THE WELFARE OF THE ELEPHANTS IN KERALA IN INDIA
The Pro Elephant Network (PREN) consists of an international community of diverse individuals and organizations, comprising specific expertise, on wild and captive African and Asian Elephants, including the fields of science, health, conservation, welfare, economics, community leadership, social justice and the law.
The Members of PREN are concerned about the numerous reported deaths of captive Elephants in Kerala.
Since December 2018, 77 Elephants have died, and at least six since the beginning of this year. The cruel treatment of some of Kerala’s Elephants has been exposed internationally on numerous social media channels.
Credit: Instagram Kerala Elephant Cruelty @elephantcruelty
Damning Documentaries have exposed the cruelty shown towards Elephants in religious institutions including the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Guruvayur Temple which is called the “Guruvayur Captive Elephant Sanctuary ” and “Punathoor Kotta”, where 45 Elephants, mostly bulls, are permanently kept chained in their own urine and excrements. In an interview with award winning filmmaker Sangita Iyer, renown Spiritual Leader Swami Bhoomananda Theertha describes how Elephants’ feet are set on fire to bring them under control, how handlers throw stones at bulls’ genitals and how these herbivores are purposefully and maliciously fed meat.
Reports in the media confirmed, that a submission on 6th April 2022, by Honourable Member of Parliament Suresh Gopi requested that the Central Government consider according “Domesticated Animal” Status to Elephants who are held in captivity. The undersigned Members of PREN acknowledge and appreciate the Government’s current policy is that Elephants are intrinsically wild and that there should be not alteration made to this categorisation or associated terminology when referring to Elephants.
Numerous studies[1] and reports indicate that the domestication of wild animals by humans is a socio-biological process which takes thousands of years and involves changes in genealogy. Throughout the 3,000-year history of Human–Elephant relationships, most Elephants utilised by humans have been captured from the wild. Almost all captive Elephants in India are wild caught because Indian Elephants do not breed easily in captivity.
Elephants used for temple and other religious processions in Kerala, even though they are legally identified as “captive” animals, are indeed biologically wild. Wild Elephants remain victims of the unacceptable practice of violent and traumatic training in their early years, to ensure these majestic animals are subjugated under the control of the Mahout through the medium of fear. The fear is induced through pain, food deprivation and by causing deep psychological damage.[2]
The hidden reality of Elephants in captivity is contrary to the protection guaranteed by Indian law which protects Elephants as a National Heritage Animal, elevated to Schedule-I status under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. This protection applies to all Elephants, wild and those held captive.
Many Elephants in Kerala are kept permanently chained in the backyards of owners and temples, forced to stand on hard concrete or granite floors, most often with no roof to protect them from the weather. They are deprived of adequate food, water, and any positive physical or mental stimulus.[3] In addition, Elephants are forced to stand on their own urine and excrement and in unhygienic conditions, leading to foot rot and deadly diseases such as tuberculosis. Research indicates that frequent, close contact within confined spaces leads to a two-way transmission between Elephants and humans and a high seroprevalence in these animals and their handlers.
Given the complex brain of Elephants,[4] advanced cognitive abilities, suite of emotional responses and physical expressiveness in a socially embedded life-style, it should not come as a surprise that the denial of natural conditions would lead to physical and psychological trauma and abnormal behaviour, including aggression.[5] In addition, recent research suggests that the impoverished environment provided for these animals has detrimental effects on the brain itself.[6]
Stereotypy, the invariant restrictive and apparently purposeless repetition of motor patterns,[7] is commonly seen in captive Elephants held in impoverished conditions. Exposure to psychological stress, has direct physiological consequences that impact the body’s ability to function.[8] This includes neural disfunctions, brain damage[9] and premature death.[10]
There is overwhelming scientific evidence that Elephants thrive in tight-knit herds and cultures of their own.[11] In the wild, they create tools, use their massive bodies and physical organs constantly to gather food, graze, socialize[12] and mate.[13]
Elephants have evolved to move across vast areas, in order to meet their nutritional needs;[14] they consume between 200-250 variety of barks, berries, fruits, leaves, roots, herbs, shrubs, grass and even extract minerals from soil. All of these activities keep them physically, mentally and emotionally engaged. It is known that these highly empathetic animals[15], once torn from their families andsubjected to violence and confinement suffer from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).[16]
Arjunan collapsed and died – Photo Credit: Venkitachalam
On April 20, 2022, the Forest and Wildlife Department has again opened the registrar to include new Elephants to be used for parades, Annexure I. This seems to be in contempt of India’s Supreme Court Order dated 18 August 2015, which had finalised the 30thSeptember 2015 as the last deadline for registrations. This further extension questions the validity of the law and exposes the continued trade and transport of Elephants from the wild into captivity in Kerala.
While the Central Government has clearly specified in the latest Amendment Bill of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 that “[..] any transfer or transport of an existing captive Elephant for a religious institution may be conducted by a person having a valid certificate of ownership, according to the Elephant data submitted by the forest department before the Supreme Court in 2018, there were 521 captive Elephants in the state. To date that number is 444 Elephants, of which only 19 Elephants have proper documents of ownershipand another 13 Elephants are in the custody of the forest department.
The Elephants used in these parades are often transported in precarious and unregulated conditions. In March 2022, an incident involving a truck carrying a bull Elephant crashed into another truck. We are not aware of any investigation following the incident.
An Elephant standing behind a damaged truck after collision – Photo credit: VK Venkitachalam
Elephants are paraded during excessive heatwaves and can collapse. They are deprived of food, water, and adequate shelter. They are provoked or beaten with illegal weapons to bring them under control, such as spiked chains and capture belts, utilised to inflict maximum pain and suffering.
PREN Members have supported the submission from the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (WRRC).
Eng. Muna Omran Al Shamsi – Acting Director Biodiversity Department CITES United Arab Emirates
Her Excellency Mariam Bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri – Minister of Climate Change and Environment United Arab Emirates
Ms Ivonne Higuero – CITES Secretary General
Ms Sofie H. Flensborg – Legal Affairs and Compliance CITES Secretariat
Mr Thomas De Meulenaer – CITES Secretariat Chief Science Unit
Ms Carolina Caceres – Chair of CITES Standing Committee
Mr Mathias Lortscher – Chair of CITES Animals Committee
Namibia CITES Authority
Mr Mpho Tjiane – Department of Environmental Affairs CITES South Africa
Honourable Minister Barbara Creecy – Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and the Environment
Co-Chairs of the African elephant Coalition
27 October 2021
Honourable Representatives and Chairs,
URGENT OPEN LETTER
THEEXPORT OF WILD CAUGHT DESERT ELEPHANTS FROM NAMIBIA TO THE UAE
The Pro Elephant Network (PREN) is an international community of diverse individuals and organizations, comprising specific expertise, from both western and eastern academies, on wild and captive elephants, including the fields of science, health, conservation, elephant welfare, economics, community leadership, social justice and the law.
Please find attached our correspondence to the Namibian CITES Authorities and to the CITES Secretariat and relevant CITES Committees in August and September 2021. Our correspondence clearly articulated Namibia’s obligations under CITES and carefully pointed out the roles and responsibilities of CITES Secretariat, CITES Committees and the Member States which are signatories of the Convention.
Members of PREN have subsequently received reliable information that indicates that the selection and capture of wild elephant family groups in Namibia has already taken place and that the permits have in all likelihood been issued. The information further suggests that the elephants are in quarantine in preparation for export.
There is a distinct possibility that these elephants have been selected from a small and fragile population in the North- West of Namibia.
Furthermore, the information we have to hand is that a South African wildlife trader/broker is involved in this process and that the elephants are destined for two captive locations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE does not have an in situ population of elephants. The UAE has already imported wild elephants from Namibia who are kept in captivity in Safari Parks and private zoos1.
THEPRO ELEPHANT NETWORK OPEN LETTER TO THE SECRETARIAT OF CITES
Ms Ivonne Higuero – CITES Secretary General
Addressed to: Ms Sofie H. Flensborg – Legal Affaris and Compliance – CITES Secretariat
Mr Thomas De Meulenaer – Chief Science Unit – CITES Secretariat
Ms Carolina Caceres – Chair of CITES Standing Committee
Mr Mathias Lortscher – Chair of CITES Animals Committee
CC: Co-Chairs of the African elephant Coalition
DATED: 21st September 2021
Honorable Chairs and Representatives,
On the 11th of August 2021, Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism released a statement – Ministerial update on the Elephant Auction – which declared that 57 wild elephants would be captured and 42 of these exported.
On World Elephant Day – 12th August 2021 – the Pro Elephant Network (PREN) wrote to the Namibian CITES authorities, asking:
Are the forty-two elephants to be captured and sold internationally for in situ conservation purposes only?
What are the final destinations of the forty-two elephants selected for exportation?
Will any of the fifty-seven elephants be going into captivity?
To date, no acknowledgement of, or response to this letter has been received from the Namibian government. Throughout the almost ten months since its original announcement in December 2020 of the intention to auction elephants for capture and possible export, the Government of Namibia has consistently failed to provide transparent information to national and international stakeholders about the exact source and population status of the elephants to be targeted as well as their destination.
On September 8th 2021, the CITES Secretariat issued a contentious statement on its website entitled − Statement on Trade in live African elephants under articles III and IV – which was sharing Namibia’s wrong interpretation that the trade in wild elephants from Namibia to ex situ destinations (i.e. outside of their natural range) was possible under Appendix I rules.
The Secretariat updated its statement on the 17th of September, however once again failed to address the legal arguments speaking against such exports. It also failed to acknowledge the fact, that the CITES Animals Committee had in June expressed concerns on live elephant exports and that Namibia’s controversial interpretation will be further discussed at the Standing Committee.
STOP THE IMMENT CAPTURE OF YOUNG ELEPHANTS IN ZIMBABWE FOR EXPORT TO CAPTIVE FACILITIES
In spite of the Pro Elephant Network communications with CITES representatives and the denial statements from wildlife authorities in Zimbabwe over the past two months, members of PREN have continued to receive credible intelligence from Zimbabwe that the capture of elephants for export to China via an African country will go ahead.
PREN members, in attempt to halt the capture process from taking place in Zimbabwe, authorised lawyers Cullinan and Associates to send an urgent letter to the CITES Secretariat, the Chair of CITES Standing Committee, Chair of CITES Animals Committee and the Legal Officer on the 24th August 2021.
Image Credit: This elephant exported from Zimbabwe in 2012, now lives alone at Taiyuan Zoo, in China. Courtesy of Change for Animal Foundation published in National Geographic
On World Elephant Day 2021 Members of the Pro Elephant Network have sent a letter to the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism with regard to the communication circulated and dated 11th August 2021.
Following on from the letter that the members of the Pro Elephant Network, published on this website the 10th of July 2021, on the 30th of July a representative of the SECRETARIAT of CITES informed the members of the PREN that the Zimbabwean CITES representative had refuted all allegations that the Zimbabwe wildlife authorities were preparing to capture wild elephants for the purpose of export to Nigeria and that they were not considering any such exports anytime soon.
This statement from Zimbabwe was in response to communications between the members of PREN and CITES in an attempt to confirm information that was reliably received that Zimbabwe was preparing to capture wild elephants for export to an African country.
Members of the Pro Elephant Network are furthermore, hereby, seeking assurances from CITES that they will intervene to stop any shipment of wild captured elephants from Zimbabwe to any destination.
Members of the Pro Elephant Network have written a letter to the President of Zimbabwe, the Endangered Species Import and Export Management Office of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing, the Legal Officer at CITES, the Secretary General of CITES, the chairperson of the African Union, the IUCN SSC African Elephant Specialist Group, the Co-Chairs of the African Elephant Coalition.
PLEASE FIND A COPY OF THE FULL LETTER HERE:
The PREN experts have been reliably informed and are deeply concerned about the imminent capture of young elephants for export from Zimbabwe to captive locations abroad.
The PREN experts call on the relevant authorities to immediately suspend any plans to capture live elephants for export.
The decision that “only appropriate and acceptable destinations for live elephants exported from Zimbabwe or Botswana should be in-situ conservation programmes or secure areas in the wild, within the species natural and historical range in Africa, except in exceptional circumstances where, in consultation with the Animals Committee, through its Chair with the support of the Secretariat and in consultation with the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group , it is considered that a transfer to ex-situ locations will provide demonstrable in-situ conservation benefits for African elephants or in the case of temporary transfer in emergency situations”was taken at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) CoP18 meeting in Geneva in 2019. This decision was supported backed by a coalition of African nations and the European Union, this decision must be respected.
Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan, Constitutional Avenue, Islamabad
Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Climate Change and Conservator Wildlife, CITES National Authority, LG RD Complex, 5th Floor G-5/2, Islamabad
Legal Officer, Legal Affairs and Compliance, CITES Secretariat, International Environment House, 11 Chemin des Annemones, CH-1219 Chatelaine, Geneva, Switzerland
Ivonne Higuero, Secretary General, CITES
President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, Chairperson of the African Union
Barbara Creecy, Chairperson of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN)
11 April 2021
THE PROPOSED IMPORT OF TWO WILD ELEPHANTS FROM ZIMBABWE FOR THE PESHAWAR ZOO IN PAKISTAN
The Pro Elephant Network (PREN) consists of an international community of diverse individuals and organizations, comprising specific expertise on elephants and captive elephants, from both western and eastern academies, including the fields of science, health, conservation, elephant welfare, economics, community leadership, social justice and the law.
We are referring to the Civil Petition No. 498-P/2020 pending before the Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan which has resulted from Writ Petition No. 6653-P/2019 in the Peshawar High Court by Muhammed Hanif, Director of the Muhammed Hanif & Engineer Constructions Pvt Ltd. The petition seeks to secure a NOC document in order to try to complete the importation process of two elephants from Zimbabwe to the Peshawar Zoo in Pakistan.
CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES
There are strict rules under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) which are used to regulate the international trade in live elephants, these rules are especially relevant when the proposed trade includes removing elephants from their natural range.
CITES is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered animals and plants threatened by trade. The Convention was drafted as the result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (ICUN) in Nairobi, Kenya. The Convention entered into force as a global agreement among governments in 1975, Pakistan is a Party to CITES.
On the 27th August 2019 at the 18th Conference of Parties (CoP18) to CITES in Geneva, Switzerland, CITES Parties voted in favour of an amendment to a Resolution[1] to prohibit the trade in live elephants from populations listed in Appendix II of CITES and taken from the wild, to “in situ conservation programmes or secure areas in the wild, within the species’ natural and historical range in Africa, except in exceptional circumstances where, in consultation with the Animals Committee, through its Chair with the support of the Secretariat, and in consultation with the IUCN elephant specialist group, it is considered that a transfer to ex-situ locations will provide demonstrable in-situ conservation benefits for African elephants, or in the case of temporary transfers in emergency situations.”
