Elephants: Spaceless In Seattle

Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo has 3 elephants on display: Chai, Bamboo and Watoto. These gentle giants suffer an unfortunate consequence of living in Seattle -- they spend 16 to 17 hours a day, 7 months a year, in small indoor stalls, and as a result they are developing joint and foot diseases, the primary killers of elephants in captivity.

It doesn't have to be this way -- they could go to The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee . Unlike Woodland Park Zoo, which has less than one acre of space for the elephants to share, The Elephant Sanctuary has 2700 acres of varied terrain where many retired zoo and circus elephants roam free 24 hours a day. The climate is much friendlier than Seattle's and the Sanctuary staff provide animal care around the clock. The Elephant Sanctuary has offered to accept Chai, Bamboo and Watoto free of charge -- it seems like the obvious compassionate choice.

Please help make a difference - share this video with your friends, and visit http://www.freewpzelephants.com to find out more.

For very in-depth discussion of some of the points raised in this video see http://snurl.com/elefaq

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• woodland
• park
• zoo
• elephant
• seattle
• sanctuary
• foot
• joint
• disease
• space

[andalusia89]

This is horrific animal cruelty!! Where can we write, is there a letter or petition circling? i wanna take immediate action!

[wpzelephant]

@andalusia89 Visit freewpzelephants(dot)com and see the Call To Action list near the top of the page... there are links for writing to city council and signing an online petition organized by the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

[wpzelephant]

@joelmatsuo Seriously, thank you very much for your questions and comments. My goal with the video was to articulate in 3 minutes some of the most salient bits of the case for moving the elephants out of the zoo into a sanctuary. Clearly 3 minutes doesn't allow for a rich account of even one side of this complex, contentious and multi-faceted issue.

I've posted thorough responses to your questions here: snurl(dot)com/elefaq

Thanks again - let's keep the discussion going.

[talof2cities]

Keeping elephants in these conditions is horribly cruel. The ethical thing for the zoo to do is to take up the offer to move them to the sanctuary. Doesn't anyone in the WPZ administration care about animals, rather than money, anymore?

[iggysmama]

I fully support moving these babies. No animal should be kept that way, especially an elephant or other large wild animals. Humans just don't think. The zoo may be a fun outing for you and your kids, but think about what is sacrificed by wildlife so you can stare at them? There is nothing "humane" about zoo's like Woodland Park, which is why I never go there. Thank you for posting this to raise awareness. It's time humans leave wildlife alone!

[squirrel1612]

I ca not watch the video........sorry. Here in Edinburgh Scotland we no longer keep elephants for their own good. Thye belong in the jungle just like the sea life belongs in the sea & not an aquarium. It's all about money .......... what a cruel nation we can be :(

[evelynjoyce]

TES and PAWS offer elephants a very decent, healthful life. Very few zoos offer healthy environments for elephants. Please do not patronize zoos and circuses. They are businesses who put profits before animal welfare. Many exploit the language of education and conservation to improve their image but as this video shows, do neither.

[h8toots]

To me, an elephant in a zoo or a circus is the saddest thing in the world. It breaks my heart. These majestic creatures suffer. Please do what you can to help send these ellies to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Thank you.

[wllpapr]

Excellent educational video. Lets get it out in the movie houses and show it before every movie...we can do this!

[dhan8403]

As former director of Woodland Park Zoo, at the time when we pioneered new standards in exhibits based upon animal welfare, and their behavioral, social and psychological needs, I urge everyone to encourage the present zoo administration to take the responsible, compassionate and right decision, and send these abused elephants to the Elephant Sanctuary where they will have not only excellent care but also proper room, a more sympathetic climate, and be with a large number of other elephants.

[dhan8403]

As former director of Woodland Park Zoo, at the time when we pioneered new standards in exhibits based upon animal welfare, and their behavioral, social and psychological needs, I urge everyone to encourage the present zoo administration to take the responsible, compassionate and right decision, and send these abused elephants to the Elephant Sanctuary where they will have not only excellent care but also proper room, a more sympathetic climate, and be with a large number of other elephants.