Care2 member? Log in

Save Asian Elephants from an Untimely Death

Target: Ian Campbell, Minister of the Environment and Heritage
Sponsored by: International Fund for Animal Welfare

You may be the last hope for these nine Asian elephants!

The highly endangered Asian elephant is one of the most majestic, intelligent animals in the world. Several Australian and New Zealand zoos plan to import nine elephants from their native Thailand in order to attempt to breed the elephants in captivity. But captive born elephants have a 60% lower life expectancy than wild elephants.

Is placing the Asian elephant behind bars the best way to protect it? Consider the facts:

In the wild Asian elephants have home ranges of between 10-800 square kilomentres. The elephant enclosure at Taronga Zoo in Australia is smaller than an average football field.
Elephants in the wild have up to six calves, compared to just one in captivity.
Up to 25% of Asian elephant births in Europe and North America are stillborn, versus just 2.2% in the wild.

Deprived of their habitats and family, a zoo elephant is much more likely to suffer from stress, infertility, boredom and weight problems. No matter how hard they try, zoos cannot meet the complex needs of these highly intelligent and social creatures.

Help protect these graceful creatures by letting the Australian Minister for the Environment and Heritage know there is a better way.

Tell him there is no conservation benefit to captive breeding programs for elephants. There's still time to keep these elephants out of zoos, but we must act quickly.

deadline: 2-24-2006
goal: 5,000

6,469
signatures!

Sign Petition! see who signed this

log in
This petition has been closed. see more petitions

Dear Minister Campbell,

A proposal has been put before you requesting permission to import Asian elephants from Thailand into several Australian zoos.

I believe that keeping elephants in captivity is cruel and must be stopped.

In the USA and Europe, zoos are recognising they cannot meet the complex needs of elephants and are closing their elephant exhibits. Yet Australian zoos are taking the backward step of seeking to increase the number of elephants in captivity. Why?

Importing elephants from Thailand will not help conserve this endangered species. Elephants have a poor record of breeding in captivity, with a high incidence of stillborns and infant mortalities. In fact, only 20% of zoo females breed at all, compared to almost 100% of female elephants who breed at least once in the wild.

To assist with the protection of these endangered animals, I implore you to ask Australian zoos to invest in conservation and rehabilitation programs instead of trying to breed these highly intelligent, social animals in captivity. Native conservation efforts will have a much greater impact, and certainly less cruel methodology, of protecting the future of these highly endangered animals.

The Australian Government had the foresight to establish the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 for precisely this type of request. Zoos and captive breeding programs do not meet the animal welfare and behavioural needs of elephants required by this Act.

I urge you to enforce the Act and refuse the request to import Asian elephants to Australia.

Sincerely,
[your name]

We signed the “Save Asian Elephants from an Untimely Death” petition!

# 6,471:

11:21 am PDT, May 20, Rob Sullivan, Texas

# 6,470:

9:57 am PDT, May 19, Mariza Praun, Brazil

# 6,469:

12:28 pm PDT, May 18, Rob Faber , Netherlands

# 6,468:

10:36 am PDT, May 18, Lesley Sun, California

# 6,472:

5:17 am PDT, May 18, Denise Twiss, Georgia
It is important to the elephants to REMAIN IN THEIR NATURAL HABITAT FOR SEVERAL REASONS: they need a lot of land to roam and explore, they produce many calves in the wild compared to maybe one in capitivity, they are herd animals and need their 'family' in order to live a full life, they are mistreated,beaten, hooked, and deprived of forming relationships that are necessary for elephants, and THEY ARE WILD ANIMALS AND DO NOT BELONG TO HUMANS. Humans should not feel the need to put elephants on display for our pleasure. We should get pleasure out of knowing that the elephants are free.

# 6,467:

2:37 pm PDT, May 17, George Lenis, Greece

# 6,466:

7:07 am PDT, May 17, Chelsea Braden, Ohio

# 6,465:

6:45 am PDT, May 17, Laura Hassin, Israel
No zoo can adequately meet an elephant's needs, the elephants suffer greatly in zoos. There is no breeding conservation value to elephants in zoos.

# 6,464:

6:29 am PDT, May 17, Janet Davis, Virginia

# 6,463:

12:05 am PDT, May 17, Karin Bertagnolli, Italy
They deserve it-it's their home-not ours. We are all part oft he same planet, mankind is not the legal owner of nature

# 6,462:

8:04 pm PDT, May 16, Linda Kahler, Missouri

# 6,461:

7:36 pm PDT, May 16, Honeysucklebarb Liebowitz, New Jersey

# 6,460:

2:33 pm PDT, May 16, Chris B, Tennessee

# 6,459:

4:12 pm PDT, May 15, Catherine Rumfield, California

# 6,458:

7:20 pm PDT, May 14, Virginia Romano, Connecticut

# 6,457:

12:56 pm PDT, May 14, Brian Reynolds, New Jersey

# 6,456:

7:51 am PDT, May 14, Simon Wood, Australia
Animal experts tell us that they are happiest in the wild.

# 6,455:

4:41 pm PDT, May 13, Vicki McCauley, Texas
It's they're home, God gave it to them.

# 6,454:

4:15 pm PDT, May 13, Drew Blanton, New Mexico

# 6,453:

4:13 pm PDT, May 13, Name not displayed, Tunisia

# 6,452:

3:39 pm PDT, May 13, Fluffy Kitten, Nevada

# 6,451:

2:56 pm PDT, May 11, Sandee Sousa, Florida
it's wrong to make elephants be killed being not in their own environment. YThey are like their own families and have the right to be born free and to stay free. Don't you see how bad all of these elephants are becoming almost extint from Not being in the wild. To me, it'd be like hab=ving to give up my homes because they are putting me into some type of jail, and then eventually killing off my family. Death is not a wasy to make our animals breed and carry on thier own soecies. Please don't let our animals become only able to know about as in books!!!

# 6,450:

11:52 am PDT, May 10, Julie-anne Raso, Canada
Because that is their home...

# 6,449:

12:32 pm PDT, May 9, Kimberly Tilley, New Hampshire

# 6,448:

7:35 am PDT, May 9, Stacy Clark, Arkansas

# 6,447:

6:20 pm PDT, May 8, Frances Blackstone, Georgia

# 6,446:

11:07 am PDT, May 8, Becky Chatelain, Ohio

# 6,445:

5:02 am PDT, May 5, Ana Martins, Portugal

# 6,444:

6:05 pm PDT, May 4, Erin Upshall, Canada

# 6,443:

11:25 pm PDT, May 2, Mireille Azouzou, France

# 6,442:

7:22 am PDT, Apr 30, Mary Ann Dunn, New Jersey

# 6,441:

1:23 pm PDT, Apr 29, Graciela Gomez, Florida

# 6,440:

12:32 pm PDT, Apr 29, Luisa Schmidt, New Jersey

# 6,439:

10:18 am PDT, Apr 29, Name not displayed, Minnesota

# 6,438:

11:19 am PDT, Apr 28, Katrina Kelley, Oregon

# 6,437:

11:00 am PDT, Apr 28, Victoria Taylor, Georgia

# 6,436:

10:47 am PDT, Apr 28, Sarah Hafer, Oregon

# 6,435:

3:46 am PDT, Apr 28, Amy Clifton, Colorado

# 6,434:

6:49 pm PDT, Apr 27, Lisa Marie Keech, Pennsylvania

# 6,433:

6:18 pm PDT, Apr 27, Sara Fisch, Arizona

# 6,432:

9:28 am PDT, Apr 26, Gary B, California

# 6,431:

12:57 am PDT, Apr 26, Christina Hardy, Oregon

# 6,430:

4:41 pm PDT, Apr 25, Flavia Helena Serei, Argentina

# 6,429:

1:29 pm PDT, Apr 23, Rose Kennedy, Pennsylvania

# 6,428:

12:13 pm PDT, Apr 23, Sam Wittman, Indiana

# 6,427:

2:55 pm PDT, Apr 22, John Romano, Connecticut

# 6,426:

9:50 pm PDT, Apr 21, Michael K. Sullivan, California

# 6,425:

4:42 pm PDT, Apr 21, Eileen Conner, Pennsylvania

# 6,424:

12:22 pm PDT, Apr 21, Debra Luther, Michigan

# 6,423:

5:53 am PDT, Apr 21, Candy Bowman-Leblanc, California

# 6,422:

2:41 pm PDT, Apr 20, Perri Lomax, Utah

# 6,421:

1:17 pm PDT, Apr 20, Kerri K, Canada

# 6,420:

5:32 am PDT, Apr 19, Nancy Ueberroth, Pennsylvania

# 6,419:

7:41 pm PDT, Apr 18, Mustang Beam, Montana
They are wild in the first place. Let them remain so.

# 6,418:

2:14 pm PDT, Apr 18, Lori Levise, Utah

# 6,416:

3:44 pm PDT, Apr 15, Name not displayed, Mississippi

# 6,415:

3:12 pm PDT, Apr 13, Tina Florell, Sweden

# 6,414:

2:42 pm PDT, Apr 13, Robin Munk, Texas

# 6,413:

4:24 am PDT, Apr 13, Candice Botner, Washington

# 6,412:

1:44 am PDT, Apr 10, Jennifer Bechard, New York
Animals are not meant to be captives.

# 6,411:

5:27 pm PDT, Apr 9, Stephanie Carriere, Canada

# 6,410:

4:54 pm PDT, Apr 9, Leaona Nicol, Canada
They should remain FREE'''. If God wanted them in captivity they would have been like that at the BEGINING''''.

# 6,409:

11:39 pm PDT, Apr 8, Brianne Magnuson, North Dakota

# 6,408:

10:40 am PDT, Apr 8, Name not displayed, Poland

# 6,407:

11:39 pm PDT, Apr 7, Angela Bassett, Canada
Elephants have as much right to live their lives in freedom as humans do. We have no right to keep them from their freedom!

# 6,406:

6:54 am PDT, Apr 6, Celine Pirotte, France

# 6,405:

9:50 pm PDT, Apr 5, Linda Greene, Ohio
These animals are big and beautiful. They are also very smart. They need lots of room to roam. Putting them in captivity is just wrong!

# 6,404:

12:13 pm PDT, Apr 5, Victoria Allen, Arkansas

# 6,403:

10:51 am PDT, Apr 5, Maryrose Romano, Connecticut

# 6,402:

10:33 pm PDT, Apr 4, Arthur Copeland, Missouri

# 6,401:

11:23 am PDT, Apr 4, Roxanne Sutton, Spain
Elephants are beautiful,WILD!yes!!WILD animals!FULL STOP

View Signatures:
|<
<
6,472
6,400
6,350
...
150
100
50
>
>|

Save Asian Elephants from an Untimely Death

This petition has been closed.