Sacred Elephants

Help Stop Elephant Abuse: Boycott Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus

The circus coming to town might conjure up images of old fashioned family fun, but please don't attend circuses with live animals. Behind the bright lights and curtains, something sinister lurks--horrific animal abuse.

When I was in San Francisco's Chinatown last week, I noticed posters up for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Oakland (August 11-15) and San Jose (August 18-22.) Before I could Google the word "protest" my animal-loving friend Corinna Kavanagh emailed to see if I'd like to join her at the PETA-organized protest in Oakland on August 11th.*

*Update: Protest dates for other cities are added below. If you'd like me to add your city's info to this list, please email the details to me.

What are we protesting? Ringling Bros. appalling treatment of circus animals that include Asian elephants. Just as the circus is an old-fashioned entertainment business, so are the "training" methods they utilize to get animals to perform. One nasty tool they use is called a bull hook, which is a heavy cane with a sharp metal hook trainers use to hit, poke, and pierce the flesh of adult and baby elephants in order to control them. While circuses and many zoos still use bull hooks, they are banned from more modern facilities such as the Oakland Zoo in California.

This video interview with Archele Hundley, a former Ringling Bros employee, shows you an actual bull hook and she describes its use.

If you're reading via email or news feed, click to watch the video.

These photos of a baby elephant being poked with bull hooks were given to PETA by another whistle-blowing Ringling Bros. employee, Sam Haddock, shortly before his death. 

Sam felt so bad about the abuse he witnessed at Ringling Bros in Florida, that he called PETA to get it off his conscience. He provided photo evidence and this video interview.

If you're reading via email or news feed, click to watch the video.

In 2009, PETA went undercover at "the saddest show on Earth"—Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus—and captured Ringling workers on video as they beat and whipped elephants dozens of times in venues across the country. The footage in the video below is not from a few isolated incidents. It's business as usual for Ringling Bros. elephant trainers and keepers, who not only abuse the animals during "training," but who also hit, slap, yell, and otherwise spew their overflow of hate onto the animals just because they feel like it. 

If you're reading via email or news feed, click to watch the video.

I know this is difficult video footage to watch, but it's important that people become educated about what their circus ticket purchase is buying. Although the abusive Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey elephant trainers and the company behind them make me shudder, I still believe that most people are inherently good. Circus-goers need to be educated about what really goes on backstage, because if they knew, most would no longer go and animal circuses will become a cruel thing of the past. Enlighten them.

There is a must-read website called Ringling Brothers Beats Animals that has more information on their undercover investigations, updated news about their complaints to the USDA, as well as a take-action letter that you can complete on-line.

If you already have tickets to the circus, please don't go. Instead, rip those tickets up and mail them to Ringling Bros. Customer Service with your letter about why you're not attending the circus.

Ringling Bros. Customer Service
8607 Westwood Center Drive
Vienna, VA 22182
Phone: 1-800-755-1530
Email: customerservice@feldinc.com

Attend the protest against Ringling Bros. animal abuses in Oakland, CA on Wednesday August 11, 2010. Join me and many other elephant lovers in protest of the animal abuse show coming to town. PETA is providing signs and flyers. All you have to do is show up and bring your friends. 

Information about the protest in Oakland today is available on PETA's Facebook page for the event. If you can't make tonight, try to find a night that you can.

UPDATE: Ringling Bros. Circus protest days/times in Oakland August 13-15, 2010.

• Friday August 13th: 6pm
• Saturday August 14th: 12:30pm & 5:30pm
• Sunday August 15th: 2:30pm
• Meet at the Oracle Arena ticket booth area.  

UPDATE: Ringling Bros. Circus protest days/times in San Jose, CA August 18-22, 2010.

• Wednesday August 18th: 6pm [Opening night protest, co-sponsored with Santa Clara County Activists for Animals]
• Thursday August 19th: 6pm
• Friday August 20th: 6pm
• Saturday August 21: 12:30pm & 5:30pm
• Sunday August 22nd: 12:30pm & 5:30pm
• HP Pavilion 525 West Santa Clara St, San Jose CA. 
• Meet at the corner of Autumn & Santa Clara streets.
• There is no reserved parking. Arrive early to find parking in the nearby public lot or on the street.
• Leaflets will be provided by PETA. All you have to do is show up.

UPDATE: Ringling Bros. Circus protest days/times in Kansas City, MO September 8, 2010.

• Wednesday September 8th at 6pm (lasts 1 hour.) Opening night protest.
• Sprint Center, 1407 Grand Blvd, Kansas City MO 64106
• Meet at the intersection of Grand Boulevard and E. 13th Street
• Leaflets will be provided by PETA. All you have to do is show up.
• RSVP online here or here.
• For more info, visit Ann Schleihs' Facebook page: No Animal Circuses in Kansas City - Save the Elephants.

UPDATE: Ringling Bros. Circus protest days/times in Sacramento, CA September 9-12, 2010.

• Thursday September 9th at 5:30pm. Opening night protest. If you can only make one protest, please come to this one. .
• Friday September 10th at 9:30am and 5:30pm.
• Saturday September 11th at 9:30am, 1:30pm, and 5:30pm.
• Sunday September 12th at 9:30am, 1:30pm, and 5:30pm.
• Arco Arena, 1 Sports Parkway, Sacramento CA 95834
• Meet on the steps in front of the box office.
• There is no reserved parking. Please plan accordingly.
• Leaflets will be provided by PETA. All you have to do is show up.
• RSVP for the Sacramento Ringling Bros. protest on Facebook or MeetUp.

If you have additional questions about the 2010 Bay Area protests against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, please contact Eric Deardorff of PETA at EricD@PETA.org

Please help spread the word that circuses with animal acts are not healthy family entertainment by sharing this post with your social network. Thank you!

Celebrating Elephants Day at the Oakland Zoo

 

The Oakland Zoo in Northern California host an annual Celebrating Elephants day every May. The have a few elephant events usually: an evening lecture, a charitable dinner, and a daytime educational event at the zoo.

I haven't been able to attend the daytime event before, but this year was perfect timing for me to take my five year old nephew. He loves animals and going to the zoo, and now that he's got a brand new baby brother, it seems like an especially good time to take him out with his Auntie Jaya for some big boy adventures. Of course, this is all preparation for seeing how well we might travel together someday. I'm hoping I'll be able to take him to Kenya with me for a safari vacation after he graduates high school. That's my dream for us anyways. But as big goals sometimes start small, we packed up our gear consisting of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, cherries, water, camera, and sunblock for a short safari at the zoo.

Photo ©2009 Jaya Savannah.

I remember going to the Oakland Zoo as a child and one of the things that's nice about it is it's small size. We just had a couple of hours, but that's all you need there. It's perfect for small children in that they have fun without coming home completely exhausted.

Where did we head first? The elephants of course. Straight away! We were so excited to see them that I didn't focus my camera very well, but here's the first elephant we spotted.

Photo ©2009 Jaya Savannah.

A nice gentleman saw us taking pictures and offered to take on of me holding my nephew.

Photo ©2009 Jaya Savannah.

They had several educational booths up in the elephant area, with information about the bush meat crisis, animal cruelty in circuses, and other important conservation topics. One of the booths that most caught our attention was this lady who was demonstrating elephant pedicure tools.

Photo ©2009 Jaya Savannah.

Some of you might know that I'm a spa consultant in my business, so I found this whole idea of elephant pedicures very interesting! The tools that they use for elephant podiatry aren't all that different from the ones that we use in spas and salons. Do you see the big nail file that the lady is holding in her right hand? Scrub brushes and oil. Tools to get dirt and rocks out from their toes. Everything but nail polish!

As a burgeoning elephant conservationist, I already know the importance of proper foot care for captive elephants. In the wild, they would be walking long distances and on varied surfaces that would help keep their feet in top condition. Zoos need to pay close attention to elephant feet. [Here is a good article on elephant foot care.]

What my nephew was more interested in was their toes. We learned that elephants walk on their toes! We stared at the Oakland elephants' feet for signs of this grand nimbleness, but it was impossible to tell just by looking. [Here's an article on elephant foot anatomy.]

We were all about getting a closer look, and one of the fun interactive exhibits they created for Celebrating Elephants was a mock elephant research camp. What fun! My nephew and I could pretend we were scientists studying elephants in the wild.

This display table had a laminated card with a definition of what elephant researchers do:

Photo ©2009 Jaya Savannah.

"People who study elephants in the wild, help us understand elephant ecology and behavior. This research can help solve conflicts between people and elephants, suggesting ethical techniques for management of these complex, intelligent animals."

I would like to be a researcher. How does one get a job like that? Although if that doesn't fit my resume, I could definitely create a luxurious elephant spa! Please send any inquiries my way. Elephants need pampering, too.

For our short project at the zoo, my nephew and I were a team. A zoo docent gave my nephew the binoculars, while I was handed a clipboard and pencil to make observational notes.

Photo ©2009 Jaya Savannah.

The elephant we were observing was Osh, Oakland's male elephant. Our job was to note what Osh was doing every couple of minutes. Our report looked like this:

12:05pm Eating
12:08pm Eating
12:11pm Eating
12:14pm Walking and eating
12:17pm Eating

Elephants need to eat all the time!

The zoo also had a safari tent set up, so we could really pretend we were on safari. This might be my favorite photo of my nephew of all time:

Photo ©2009 Jaya Savannah.

In about 12 years, I want to recreate this photo of him--but on a real safari!

The Oakland Zoo has a widely acclaimed reputation for its elephant care. You can feel good about visiting them. The zoo is located at 9777 Golf Links Rd, Oakland, CA 94605. Visit their website: Oakland Zoo. Say hello to Osh for us!

Photos from Dinner with the Elephants in Oakland

As part of the Oakland Zoo's Celebrating Elephants week, the zoo hosted a special fund-raising dinner for the Amboseli Elephant Trust. I almost skipped over this event, because I didn't know anyone that was going and frankly, charity banquets can be a real bore. But then it dawned on me that of course I should be there. The room would be filled with other people who are really serious about elephant conservationism, and I wanted to meet them. I'm so glad I did.

The dinner was supposed to be held outside in a torch-lit courtyard near the elephant area, so we'd literally be having dinner with the elephants. However due to rain, the event had to be held inside. But when I arrived,  there was a softening of the rain which was lovely because we had a pre-dinner tour to go meet the elephants. There was a bright rainbow that appeared in the sky to welcome us.

Photo ©2006 Jaya Savannah.

The Oakland Zoo is small but considered to be an exemplary model of compassionate care for elephants in captivity. I have mixed feelings about zoos, but they do serve an important educational purpose. There are 4 elephants in Oakland: 3 females and 1 male. One of the keepers, Colleen Kinsey was our guide. We were escorted along on the regular zoo paths, but as a special treat she took us backstage to a keepers-only are where we got to meet and feed Osh, a 12-year old bull elephant.

Photo ©2006 Jaya Savannah. Osh (left) Colleen Kinsey (middle left) Jaya Savannah (middle right) Unknown (right)

It was very interesting to watch how strong and precise the tip of his trunk was at grabbing bits of hay and then placing them in his mouth.

Photo ©2006 Jaya Savannah.

At dinner, I was lucky enough to sit with the Celebrating Elephants organizers Cheryl Matthews and Chris Allen, as well as Colleen Kinsey the zoo keeper. They told me wonderful stories about how they started as volunteers many years ago, as well as some upsetting ones about what it was like when the zoo was not run how it is today.

Photo ©2006 Jaya Savannah.

Each had some good adventure stories as well. Chris showed me the fabulous tattoo of an Oakland elephant she had done on her calf. Cheryl was telling us about her upcoming trip to Africa for a research project on the relationships between bull elephants. Her job as a "dung tracker" will be to follow the bulls and map the location of their droppings. Later, they'll collect the dung for genetic testing to determine if the bulls are blood relatives or merely friends. Colleen showed us where she was tusked by an elephant at the zoo and lost one of her fingers. I was even able to share some of my Kenya travel stories with the elephants, to people that hadn't heard them a million times already. It was so much fun to spend an evening with kindred spirits.

Photo ©2006 Jaya Savannah. In the photo: Jaya Savannah, Chris Allen, Cheryl Matthews, Colleen Kinsey

The Celebrating Elephants week is an annual event. I'll be sure to go again next year and will announce it here in the Sacred Elephants blog. If you'd like to receive an announcement via email, be sure to subscribe to "email updates" in the sidebar or follow me on Facebook.

Meeting Cynthia Moss at the Oakland Zoo Celebrating Elephants Lecture & Auction

After much anticipation, I was happily driving to Cynthia Moss’ lecture at the Oakland Zoo tonight. It was rush hour, but I had planned on traffic. What I didn’t plan on was getting rear-ended and sustaining a mild case of whiplash. I also didn’t plan on the other driver saying she was going to pull over, but then fleeing the scene. Shook up a bit, I called my insurance company to report it, then made the decision that I wasn’t going to let it ruin my night.


Photo ©2006 Jaya Savannah.

When I finally arrived at the zoo, there was a nice courtyard full of people browsing around the auction tables. There was a lot of elephant art, books, and animal knick knacks. I’m not into the kitschy elephant stuff, but there was ONE really cool auction item: A private safari dinner for 8 in the elephant area of the Oakland Zoo! I don’t know what got into me, but once I pictured how fun it would be too take my family and friends, there was no way I couldn’t at least make a bid. Most of them will never go to Africa with me. So why not dinner? I impulsively wrote my name down with a $700 bid. I can’t believe I did that!

Cynthia’s lecture was inside the educational center. All the seats were filled with a bunch of elephant-lovers intent on hearing about her 30-years of research in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park. She started there with Iain Douglas-Hamilton when she was 27 years old (you do the math.) We were treated to a slideshow introducing us to some of the elephant families she has studied over the years, along with some interesting stories about how the conservationists have to negotiate with the Masai tribes to keep them from killing elephants. More Amboseli elephants die from conflicts with the Masai than die from poaching. After the lecture, I was able to meet with Cynthia briefly for a book signing. Then I asked if I could take her picture so I could share it with you.

Photo ©2006 Jaya Savannah. Cynthia Moss (left) and Jaya Savannah (right)

Afterwards, the auction tables were still buzzing, but no one had out-bid me yet! I kept an eye on it all night long, while I mingled a little bit with Chris Allen. She’s the elephant-loving educational department volunteer who put the Celebrating Elephants event together (now in it’s 10^th year.) Chris convinced me that I really must go to the special Dining with the Elephants event tomorrow night, saying that all my new elephant philanthropist friends would be there! So I signed on and bought my ticket. Now, I’m really wondering if I’m also going to be writing a big check for that auction prize! But wouldn’t you know it…at the very last minute before the auction was closed, a local matriarch signed her name and out-bid me. I’m just a “mini-matriarch,” so I wished her a great time, even though I was a little disappointed. She said that, “We go every year.” So now I know the deal: bid at the last-minute, and the matriarch always gets to go first. I’m good with that. Someday, I’ll be her.

Ashes and Snow Art Exhibit in Santa Monica

Photo copyright Gregory Colbert.

Exhibit is in Santa Monica, California through May 14, 2006.

I listened in rapture and anticipation to the opening dialogue in one of Gregory Colbert’s films based on a series of letters he wrote to his wife, “…the Princess of the Elephants…” Having completely dissolved me with the context, the 60-minute multi-media presentation then transported me to a mystical world of Indonesian temples graced by magnificent elephants, shape-shifting dreamers that exchange their human bodies for cheetahs and cranes, and some absolutely astonishing footage of the artist dancing underwater with sperm whales. There was no where else I would rather have been for my birthday this year, and I’m so glad that I followed my impulse to indulgently buy a plane ticket to Los Angeles and just go.

 

The website for the Ashes and Snow exhibit is a good representation of the art exhibit itself. If you enter the enhanced version, you can drag your mouse across the screen to activate a trail of thumbnail photos from the exhibit. Click to make them open full screen, floating in and out of the different scenes. Remarkably, none of these photos are digitally enhanced. The artist has been building his collection over a decade and continues to add to the collection as it tours the world.

 

If you can make it to this exhibit before it leaves for Asia on May 15^th you will be richly rewarded for your efforts. But if this is too extravagant or impossible, you can still experience the 60-minute centerpiece film on DVD though the Ashes and Snow Online Bookstore. It is well-worth the purchase price, a portion of which goes to support the Flying Elephants Foundation that in turn helps to fund artists and scientists in environmental causes, including Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants whom I met in Kenya last year.