Research_Paper

Samantha Swain Davis English 905(2:05 PM) December 5th, 2011 Elephants in Entertainment How many times have people witnessed or heard about animal cruelty' Did you have any idea that circuses and zoos are very often places where animals are treated poorly' One of the many endangered species that are forced to join the circus or live in a zoo is our largest land mammal, the elephant. Wild animals, such as the elephant, are taken from their natural habitat to perform tricks for human entertainment. Elephants should be protected from zoos and circuses. They should be put back in their natural habitats where they are free to live their own lives, instead they are left to suffer from the beatings of their trainers and they continue to live in dangerous environments. Environmental conditions that elephants live in and the way they are treated in zoos and circuses are the main reason they should be protected. According to the Veterinary Medical Association, between five and six hundred elephants are kept in North America, more than 280 of them in Association of Zoos and Aquariums – accredited zoos and the rest by non-accredited zoos, sanctuaries, circuses, other entertainment providers, or private individuals. (Welfare Implications) Handlers typically carry a guide, a staff with a tapered metal hook used to cue the elephant’s behavior (Welfare Implications). A simple fact, unknown to many, is that the elephants in zoos and circuses are living tough lives because their own trainers abuse them to get them to do what they want. Elephants are treated terribly and it is unbearable to try to imagine what they go through. Also the environments they are forced to live in are confining and unhealthy. Elephants should be protected from zoos and circuses and living in their natural environments. If they were able to do that they would have a chance to live much happier, healthier, longer lives. For this to happen, enough people need to take a stand on the matter and try hard to get these elephants the freedom they deserve. Elephants that perform in a circus are treated as if they are worthless because their trainers feel the need to abuse them to get the elephants to do things. There have been many stories on this matter, one in which Dr. Debbye Turner Bell reveals the horrible tragedies that came from the famous Ringling Brothers Circus and what they did to their beautiful elephants. She finds out from Tracy Silverman, an attorney for the Animal Welfare Institute that they have “assumed a wealth of video footage throughout [the] case. [They] have video footage that shows the elephants being hit with bull hooks, being struck with bull hooks.” These poor animals are being hit by their trainers, which is so cruel and the trainers who are abusing them should be punished for such malicious behavior. This is one reason that elephants should be protected from performing in circuses; they are treated as if they are nothing. For animals in the circus, there is no such thing as positive support but only varying amounts of punishment and deprivation. Not only are the trainers abusing adult elephants, but they also abuse baby elephants in the circus. These poor baby elephants are in serious danger when it comes to performing on hazardous equipment, because they can easily get hurt. A news story from the U.S. Newswire shows evidence on how true this is: Protesting the circus’s performances around the country by revealing the elephant abuse he witnessed, Rider is armed with behind-the-scenes video footage. One of several disturbing incidents caught on tape is the birth of Riccardo, an elephant who later died at the age of 8-months after fracturing both hind legs when he fell off a circus pedestal. He also witnesses the torturing of the baby elephants after they are born. Baby elephants are so fragile and when they get hurt it is a real tragedy because they usually need more care than the older elephants. They express fear as they climb on the small pedestals where they can easily be hurt. This is very dangerous and it is not appropriate for these baby elephants to be treated this way. The fact that a baby elephant fell off a pedestal and fractured both hind legs is depressing and horrible. Ringling Brothers does not treat their elephant’s well at all, especially if they are dying often while being a part of the circus. This is definite proof that a circus can be an awful place for elephants to be. Everyone knows that animals that travel with the circus don’t have very much freedom, especially traveling far distances. Elephants are in constant confinement while traveling in boxcars, trailers, or trucks for days at a time. They are also in extremely hot and cold weather, most of the time without access to basic necessities such as food, water, and veterinary care. Just imagine the torture that they go through while traveling this way. Then they are suffering by the time they get to the place they are going to perform. Elephants never get a break and are always moving on their feet and being ordered to perform by their trainers. Living such a confined life is very unhealthy for these elephants. Elephants wouldn’t have to go through any of this if they were protected from the circus and out in the wild, where they are supposed to be. Circuses are not the only place that elephants are treated cruelly by their trainers and live in harsh conditions. This kind of treatment also happens at many zoos around the country. If you have ever stepped into a zoo, you have stepped into a virtual prison in which the inmates are defenseless and innocent, the sentence is long, and the penalty is cruel and severe. Zoos are not made for educational purposes but for entertainment. They do not benefit animals, but push them towards extinction. Zoos are an unsafe place for elephants to be and the trainers are just as awful as the ones in the circus. An article from the AP Columbian gives a taste of what is happening to the elephants in zoos: A zoo in Oregon must pay a $10,000 fine for the abuse of an elephant and must improve training for the zoo’s elephant keepers. Under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the zoo must also bar keeper Fred Marion from working at the zoo. Marion was accused of abusing Rose-Tu in April with a metal-tipped device. A police report said the 5-year old elephant suffered 176 gashes and cuts after being repeatedly poked with the device. Trainers in the zoos can’t be trusted, even if they seem like they are the most loyal people in the world. Suffering of Rose-Tu was caused by a trainer that wasn’t being watched over very well. Zoo keepers should be trained and put under many tests before they can be near any kind of animal. Even though they do go through some training, they should be kept under close watch for at least the first six months that they are working. Abusing these poor elephants should not be happening; instead they should be cared for by these people. They should make sure the animals have everything they need if these elephants must be kept in zoos. Elephants in the zoo are living in very poor conditions and are also confined, which relates to how they are treated in the circus but to a different extent. Everyone has been to the zoo and knows what kind of living conditions these animals are in. None of it is very pleasing to the eye. One major problem with zoos is the animals are kept in enclosures that don’t allow them to live their lives in a natural way. “Animal welfare activists have long argued that elephants in zoos don’t have enough space or soft ground.” No matter how big some zoos try to make enclosures, no matter how many branches they put in them, they don’t compare with the natural habitat that these elephants are meant to be in. In the Los Angeles zoo it is a known fact that “Over the past 33 years, 13 of the zoo’s 31 elephants have died prematurely, according to the lawsuit by Culp and real estate agent Aaron Leider.”(“Los Angeles Zoo Faces Lawsuit”). The number of elephants that die in zoos is horrifying, and this is because they are not getting the right care. The fact that thirteen elephants have died at the Los Angeles Zoo is pathetic, and nothing like this should ever happen. It’s as if people don’t care about these creatures and force them to live in a confined unhealthy environment. These animals were meant to be in the wild, where they can be free. So what can we do to make sure these elephants are protected from zoos and circuses' One thing that can be done is to make sure people are aware of these facts so there is enough support regarding the idea of elephants living in the wild. Each person needs to understand the horrible living conditions of these elephants and figure out how they can possibly set them free. One solution that may help is to somehow get people to stop visiting the circuses and zoos. There are some circuses that have stopped using animals, like Cirque du Soleil. These are the kinds of circuses that should be used for our entertainment, instead of watching animals that are suffering at the hands of these circus trainers. To get people to stop visiting the zoos would be a hard thing to do, because little kids enjoy going to the zoo so it would be like taking away a child memory for them. But, if we make aware what is wrong with these circuses and zoos, then more people would understand and help the cause. So, let’s try to put an end to elephant extinction, and bring them in the wild where they are meant to be living. Works Cited AP Columbian. “Abuse of Elephant Costs Zoo $10,000”. Proquest.com. 17 Nov 2000. Web.19. Nov 2011. Bell, Debbye. “Elephant Abuse under Big Top'” CBSnews.com. 11 Feb 2009. Web. 19 Nov 2011. “Los Angeles Zoo Faces Lawsuit for Elephant Abuse, Neglect”. Foxnews.com. 3 Aug 2007. Web. 19 Nov 2011. U.S. Newswire. “Former Ringling Bros. Employee Uncovers Elephant abuse as the Circus comes to Town”. Proquest.com. 9 May 2006. Web. 19 Nov 2011. “Welfare Implications of Elephant Training”. American Veterinary Medical Association, 14 April 2008. Web. 21 Nov 2011.