Group Cites History of Injuries and Deaths, Animal Abuse
For Immediate Release:
November 30, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Frankfort, Ky. — PETA has sent an urgent letter to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources calling on the agency not to repeal a ban on elephant rides at circuses and fairs. In the letter, PETA points out that direct contact between these dangerous animals and people has resulted in 15 human deaths and more than 135 reported injuries over the past 21 years. PETA also explains that in many cases, the elephants who exhibited aggressive behavior while interacting with trainers or the public most likely did so because they were retaliating for repeated beatings with bullhooks—weapons with a sharp steel hook at one end that resemble a fireplace poker—which are used to train elephants who are forced to give rides at circuses and fairs.
"Allowing children to ride on the backs of abused elephants is like placing them on a ticking time bomb," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "At a time when experts recommend minimizing direct contact with these frustrated, 16,000-pound animals, the forces behind the proposed rule change are out of step with the times and are being wantonly careless about children's safety."
Elephant rides were banned in Louisville following a 1994 incident in which a man visiting the Louisville Zoo was picked up and dropped several times by a 21-year-old, 8,000-pound elephant named Kenya. As a result of the man's injuries, his spleen and two-thirds of his pancreas had to be removed. The elephant had just finished giving rides to zoo visitors and was being led away when she wandered off and picked up the man. In 2005, the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources banned elephant rides throughout the state.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums—the largest zoo-accrediting body in North America—has mandated that all member institutions switch to a method of elephant management that minimizes direct contact between humans and elephants as soon as possible and no later than September 2014. No deaths and only one injury (the result of disregarded protocol) have occurred at zoos that use "protected contact," in which barriers are used to separate animals from their keepers and the public.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.