Hi everyone, 

Today I went to African Lion Safari in the hopes of speaking with Charlie Gray (elephant superintendent)  or Trish Gerth (general manager) after several unsuccessful attempts at contact through email. 

While today was Charlie Gray's day off, I did manage to speak with Trish Gerth. She was unable to sit down and talk, but we did speak briefly. I was able to give her my binder full of research, emails, and news I have printed and highlighted to look over.

Luckily, everything I planned to say I wrote down to keep myself organized, so I was also able to give her this. This is what I wrote:

 

Thank you Mr.Gray/ Ms.Gerth for sitting down with me

 I am here to ask you, as well as 27,000 people, to permanently end elephant rides at African Lion Safari. I have a few reasons for this.

 

 First a couple of question:

 Question- How long have elephant rides been offered at African Lion Safari?

Question- Why do you not advertise elephant rides at African Lion Safari?

Question- What do you believe are the ramifications of offering elephant rides?

Question- Do you think elephant rides benefit conservation efforts?

Question- What are you goals for the elephant management program?

 

 Here are my concerns about elephant rides at african lion safari:

 The possibility of spine pain/damage. (reference emails)

 Is it enriching for the elephant? (reference husbandry guide page 37,232) 

 

The definition of conservation: The preservation, protection, or restoration of the natural environment, vegetation, and wildlife. 

 

I believe that offering elephant rides in north america is counterproductive to conservation efforts aimed towards the protection and restoration of both Asian and African Elephants. I think that offering elephant rides in Canada exacerbates the issue of ignorant tourism and elephant tourism demand.

  Asian elephants in particular suffer at the demand of elephant tourism in Asia. Elephants are a captive species, not a domesticated one. It is not easy by any means to train a wild caught elephant to do the bidding of humans. It is a cruel and painful process, know as the ‘phajaan’ or “crushing”. Elephants, particularly young elephants, are taken from their herd, sometimes with the mother and aunts being killed due to their attempts to protect their young. This not only contributes to the decline of the species, but is mentally scarring for the young elephant. They are inherently social creatures with close family bonds, and animal culture. The young elephants are then put in to the ‘crush box’ and endure days or weeks of stabbing, starvation, sleep deprivation, hitting, and screaming until their spirit is broken and they are ‘rescued’ by a mahout. These elephants are then condemned to a life on the streets begging for food, performing, and giving rides. 

 Elephant rides in Asia are particularly grueling, as they are often saddled with a ‘howdah’ which is a heavy bench or seat to sit two to three people. This can be almost half a ton of weight bearing down on their spine. An Asian elephant's spine is curved upwards, and the vertebrae are pointed vertically. This is a lot of pressure pushing the opposite direction of the natural curvature of the spine which can be very painful and cause skin lesions from rubbing of the howdah. When not offering rides the elephants are often chained to remain unable to move for extended periods of time. Elephants work 7 days a week, without time to recuperate. 

 The streets are also no place for an elephant. It is far from their natural habitat and dangerous for both humans and elephants. Just this week a 6 year old elephant named Nam Chok died after falling through a wood plank into a sewer and being electrocuted by exposed electrical wires. He was there because of tourism demands for elephants. If ignorant tourists did not demand and fund elephants tourism he would not have been captured, put through the crush box, and been in the city streets. 

 Elephants have been captured for centuries to work in the logging industry, but with logging now illegal, the main threat of wild Asian elephants is habitat loss and tourism. 

 If people see elephant rides in Canada, a country of animal welfare and kindness, they will accept it as a norm and do the same in Asia. They will not question whether a center with elephant rides is ethical, and they will not consider what happened to the elephant to make it “rideable”. The most frequent comment I have seen since I started my petition is ‘I didn’t know this happened, I rode an elephant once and now feel guilty’. 

 Particularly today, where social media is a huge power, it is a ‘thing’ to get pictures with elephants when touring Asia. People often become complacent of consequences in order to build their social media empire for attention and fame. This also contributes to ignorance. 

 Ignorance is the tourism industry’s greatest weapon. And education is ours. EDUCATION fights ignorance. EDUCATION fights cruelty. EDUCATION can save lives. EDUCATION can help to save the species from extinction. 

 My goal for African Lion Safari is to end elephant rides at the end of the 2018 season permanently. In it’s stead, I believe an information center built at the location of the space previously used for elephants rides could offer information on the elephant tourism industry in Asia, the threats and challenges facing elephants today, and how people can be active in helping conservation, including not supporting any facility in ANY country that offers elephant rides. 

 

 Question- Do you think it is hypocritical for a conservation institution to offer elephant rides?

Question- Do you think elephant rides in Canada exacerbate the problem of ignorant/unethical tourism?

 

One last question- what are you going to do now?

 

I truly hope this letter will be a compelling argument and lead to the decision to end the rides. 

 

Thank you to everyone who has signed, and continues to share and donate for this petition to make a difference.