This is typical elephant behavior in the wild.  Notice the family size and their response, when the infant falls into the pond.  Notice also the texture of the savanna and its suitability for the elephants' feet and weight.

And a wonderful clip on elephant behavior from the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

CAPTIVE ELEPHANTS

• WORKING ELEPHANTS

• ZOOS AND CIRCUSES

CAPTIVE ELEPHANTS: WORKING ELEPHANTS

Each time you take an elephant ride as a tourist seeking an indigenous experience, your dollars are perpetuating the untold suffering of an elephant.

Elephants are are highly intelligent, highly social animals that exhibit human-like behaviors : they care for their young, they are protective of one another, they (famously) grieve for days over the bodies of their dead. They live in matriarchal communities in which the females stay together for life. They can roam up to 30 miles a day.  Moreover, they are essential to their ecosystems – among other things, their dung carries seeds which cultivate the flora in the savannahs. 

Tragically, these peaceful gentle giants (vegetarians) are treated barbarically by humans for exploitive purposes: They are cruelly taken captive, separated from their relatives, and "broken" by humans who work them unnaturally in logging camps, or use them as spectacles in parades, circuses or in tourist ride attractions. 

This is a bull hook, the instrument used (liberally) to "break" and manipulate elephants for use on safari rides, and for other forms of entertainment. Photo courtesy How I Became an Elephant 

Award winning, environmental filmmaker Tim Gorski flew to Thailand with 14 year old activist Juliette West and her father, to make the documentary film, "How I Became An Elephant", which graphically describes how these animals are "tamed"  and trained to become the working animals we see in Asia.

FACEBOOK PAGE

WEBSITE: HOW I BECAME AN ELEPHANT

ELEPHANT VOICES

CAPTIVE ELEPHANTS: ZOOS AND CIRCUSES

ELEPHANTS ARE NOT ENTERTAINMENT.  

BOYCOTT ALL ANIMAL CIRCUSES:  NO EXCEPTIONS!

Most zoo conditions are inhumane environments for elephants.   Listen to this radio spot: it refers to pending decisions in the Auckland Zoo — but information is applicable to zoos in general

• HELP SEND QUEENIE TO THE PAWS SANCTUARY

• QUEENIE AND LUCKY IN DANGER AT THE SAN ANTONIO ZOO, SAYS ELEPHANT EXPERT JOYCE POOLE
  

• TOP 10 REASONS TO FIGHT FOR ELEPHANTS IN ZOOS

Worst, are the circuses, which often pull nursing calves away from their mothers, and use cruel methods to prepare them for their shows. Circus visitors have no idea of how these gentle animals are "trained" to perform for the big tent.  Do not patronize circuses that use animal acts.  A list of those circuses can be found in this link: http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?more=1&p=425

Billie, the elephant, shown in the video above, has been consigned permanently to the Los Angeles Zoo, despite public efforts to have him moved to a sanctuary.

But there is still time to help other elephants in desperate need:

• BORN FREE: ANIMALS IN THE CIRCUS: A LIFETIME OF MISERY
  

• HELP SAVE THE RINGLING BROTHERS ELEPHANTS

• RINGLING BROTHERS BEATS ELEPHANTS (Graphic and disturbing photos and video)

• WHAT YOU CAN DO 
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