Look at the condition of poor Ruperta an African Elephant starving to death! Her ribs jut through her sagging skin.
Pictures of the 46-year-old pachyderm were taken by a local journalist who says he was alerted by zookeepers that the elephant was starving, a shortage of supplies.
When neighbors held a drive to gather carrots and oranges for Ruperta, zoo officials refused the food! Zoo officials publicly admit that the elephant has lost a significant amount of weight, that Ruperta was fed only squash for an extended period of time.
Ruperta started receiving national attention when one day she just fell to the ground, overcome by weakness, diarrhea and exhaustion!
The controversy over the condition of the elephant has gone all the way to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The socialist leader said that Ruperta's condition is due to old age and that the claim that she is underfed is a conspiracy driven by enemies of the state trying to demoralize the country and, especially, children.
Maribel Garcia, the animal rights activist who first sounded the alarms on Ruperta's health, told Fox News that for too long the elephant had been eating just pumpkins and some grass. The elephant should be weighing 7 tons, she explained, but she is currently at just 4.
So, what we want with this petition is to have the life conditions of Ruperta to be guaranteed, and relocate her in a accredited animal sanctuary. We need to remember that Ruperta is an elephant, and endangered specie protected by international laws that are being violated right now having the elephant in this condition.
Let's raise our voice in defense of those who cannot speak, and guarantee the life and living conditions that this beautiful animal deserves. The world is fighting to save elephants from extinction, while they die in Venezuela locked up in zoos!
If they cannot feed her properly and provide her with medical care, they must send her to a sanctuary that will!
Please sign this petition so that Ruperta can be sent to a sanctuary!
(Image Source: @RcamachoVzla/Twitter)
Dear Parque de recreacion zoologico Caricuao, President Julio Borges National Assembly of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, National Parks Institute (Inparques) Public Ministry, Ministry of Environment, APROA - Asociación Pro-Defensa de los Animales (Venezuela) Venezuela, Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the United States, WAZA World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
There is no denying the seriousness of the economic crisis your country is undergoing. However, as a result, zoo animals are having to suffer the consequences. Denying that Ruperta the elephant currently living at the Caricuao Zoo, is starving is inhumane.
It was reported that last year that around 50 animals died within six months as a result of the zoo’s food shortages. People now fear that the same thing is currently happening to Ruperta.
Ruperta and any other suffering animals deserve to live somewhere that can afford to take care of them and the Caricuao Zoo is not that place. We encourage you to force the zoo to relocate their animals to a safer environment, a accredited sanctuary where they will no longer suffer the consequences of your country’s economic crisis.
Sincerely,
Josee Lamontagne and very concerned people throughout the world.
