Philadelphia Zoo Petal Kalie and Bette with bullhooks

[exploringsurviving]

@ReadSingCare That's what it seems like...but I think just using bullhooks is wrong.

[exploringsurviving]

The elephants were deeply loved, but the management method using bullhooks is wrong. Just using them is inhumane. It doesn't matter how anyone sugarcoats it. It's plain wrong and I'm sure deep down we all know bullhooks are only used purely for the convenience of people, not the elephants themselves. I have seen elephant handlers who do not need to touch elephants with bullhooks to ask them to do things for them.

[rowanmorrison]

@ReadSingCare You need to research bullhooks and "free contact." And also educate yourself on the recent policy adopted by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to phase out bullhooks. You sound like someone who has simply listened to what the zoo tells you without doing any independent research. Zoos count on such ignorance (and laziness....)

[animalsrule1231]

I believe that the elephants were quite healthy at the Philadelphia Zoo.

[rowanmorrison]

@animalsrule1231 All elephants showed signs of arthritis and Bette has kidney problems. The necropsy of Petal showed she had severe arthritis in her hips, elbows, and knees. Arthritis is a common ailment of elephants confined in zoos and circuses but never found in elephants in the wild. Petal's captivity killed her prematurely.

[animalsdeserveaplace]

@rowanmorrison I did not think that 52 was young for an African elephant. I thought that was not exactly at life expectancy, but getting closer. Is it true that she was rather young to die?

[animalsrule1231]

The elephants do look healthy here. They certainly aren't afraid of their keepers.

[rowanmorrison]

@animalsrule1231 Are you aware that Kallie and Bette were used in the circus and abused by their former handlers with bullhooks? There was no reason for the keepers to continue to use the weapon formerly used to beat the elephants. The bullhoook is based on fear and intimidation, there is no other way to use it. Whether or not Kallie and Bette feared their keepers, we'll never know. We do know they feared the bullhook, and the keepers chose to use it. Shame, shame, shame on them.

[animalsrule1231]

@rowanmorrison I have read that the bullhook is simply an extension of a hand, and people who have touched it have said it isn't as sharp as it looks. Still, you may be right. I have also read that keepers prod lightly and never hurt the elephants. And it is also said to be a precaution in case of an accident.

[rowanmorrison]

@animalsrule1231 You clearly haven't read the "about bullhooks" page of the elesangels website. You either refuse to get educated or are already educated but live in denial. Either way, it's sad.

[proboscidea123]

This is what I want to say to the keepers:

"No! What are you doing? STOP!"

Don't use the bullhook.

[gowildlife]

I have seen the Philadelphia Zoo elephant keepers do much worse than what they did in this video, and there were less people watching. The keepers continually poked the elephants with the sharp end of the bullhook and seemed to jab it. No wonder the elephants are so obedient; they're afraid of the zookeepers. Worse, the elephants were not able to live in a very natural matriarchal society setting while at the Zoo; Petal could not exercise her role as matriarch and lead the herd.

[animalsrule1231]

@gowildlife I think the keepers were obeyed because the elephants loved and respected them, as well as the fact that they got food rewards for complying...a win-win situation.

[rowanmorrison]

@animalsrule1231 You can believe what you choose (some people believe in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus), but the fact remains that the keepers at all times carried steel-tipped bullhooks, which only inflict pain, to make the elephants obey.

[awesomeH2O]

This is NO WAY to handle elephants...unacceptable. Keepers demean elephants by saying they have intelligence of a 2 to 4 year old, and that they're testy and rebellious. The truth is, they're not. They are mature, wise, compassionate, and are not nearly as dominating by nature as keepers say. I do not approve of handling elephants using bullhooks.

[awesomeH2O]

Zoos around the country need to change the ways they handle elephants. In fact, the elephants at the Philadelphia Zoo were managed through methods of fear, physical punishment, and dominance, which are all cruel and inhumane. Many people know the facts about the reality of elephants' lives in zoos but refuse to accept the truth. People are so selfish about wanting to see elephants in zoos. And zoos are really not doing conservation for elephants by showing them on exhibit.

[coda92]

those things are nothing more then tool of intimidation no matter how you look at it i was questioned on same principal with using my snake hook why idk because well let me see one my snake hook is used with the snake on top of it not prodding him, two the hook is designed to keep the snake away from me not control it a bullhook is inhumane and should be illeagal

[Yamangahoho]

I don't see any abuse. There's a right way to use a bullhook and a wrong way. These keepers are clearly using the right way.

[rowanmorrison]

Interesting you say that, Yamangahoho, because most recently the Philly Zoo has denied using bullhooks AT ALL. I guess some people think there is no "right way" to hit an elephant with a steel rod.

[ianam1983]

No. Because you're not supposed to hit them with it. 90% of people are dumbasses, and they act like it's a fucking club. It is, at most, a prod or a steering tool. Swing it with any kind of force and you're already using it improperly. This is why I'm against the things. You can't hand someone a steel hook and tell them to control an elephant with it and then trust they won't do something stupid.

[rowanmorrison]

ianam1983- if all it is supposed to be used for is a guide, than it should be able to be made of plastic or bamboo, NOT STEEL.

[ianam1983]

I agree. I don't know about plastic, but steel? What really gets me is the things are too sharp. The way they're supposed to be used, they'd work just fine with blunt points. Elephant skin is thicker than ours, but it's about as sensitive.

[rowanmorrison]

"How do they know to walk in a line" asks the little kid? Answer: Look at the bullhooks the handlers are holding.