Please help Animal Outreach of Kansas free Tembo and Sunda from the Topeka Zoo in Topeka, KS. Tembo is an African elephant who has been on display at the zoo for more than 33 years. Sunda, an Asian elephant, has been at the zoo for over 43 years. Both of these magnificent creatures were taken from the wild as babies, and until just the last couple of years, were chained almost 24/7. Both suffer foot problems from living nearly half the year in a concrete barn due to severe winter weather. When they are able to go outdoors, they have less than 3/4 of an acre where they spend most of their time standing listlessly or rocking neurotically back and forth.
The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee is willing to give these two highly intelligent and social animals a home where they can roam hundreds of acres, heal their psychological and physical wounds, and find companionship with other elephants. Many other zoos have given their elephants freedom by sending them to sanctuaries.
You can help bring happiness at long last to Tembo and Sunda for the few years they have left by signing this petition which we will present to the Topeka Zoo Director, Brendan Wiley, and to the Mayor and City Council members. For more information go to http://www.elephantfreedom.com/.
We the undersigned respectfully request that the Topeka Zoo follow the example of several other AZA-accredited zoos and retire their two aging elephants, Tembo & Sunda, to The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, TN immediately. The Elephant Sanctuary has agreed to transport and care for them at no cost to the Zoo or the City of Topeka.
These two highly intelligent, social creatures, after being taken from the wild and from their families as babies, have served the citizens of Topeka for many decades and deserve to spend what few years they have left, at the sanctuary where (1) the weather is classified as "sub-tropic" and much better suited for their health and well-being, (2) where they will have hundreds of acres to roam on soft soil to heal their feet from standing on concrete almost their entire lives, and (3) where they can bond with other elephants of their own species and begin to heal emotionally.
These elephants are at a point in their lives where we (the Zoo/public) need to put their best interest and welfare first. Retiring them to The Elephant Sanctuary will do just that.
Thank you for taking the time to read our letter.
