Save Asian Elephants from an Untimely Death

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.


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]
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