We have officially reached our 35,000 signature milestone in the past couple of days, which is incredible. But it's not enough.
African Lion Safari will be opening in May this year. I want to know that when it opens the elephant rides will not be happening.
For any new supporters, here is a brief overview of what has happened with this petition since I started it last year (to skip this go to the following paragraph).
I saw a photo online of an elephant being ridden at African Lion Safari from a friend on Facebook. I was unaware that elephant rides even happened at ALS, as they do not advertise it anywhere on social media or their website and I did not think it was something that existed in Canada. After researching elephant rides, I discovered the cruelty of elephant tourism in Asia. Every single elephant held captive in Asia went through crushing ( I will provide links below for research). I believe it is counterproductive and hypocritical to provide elephant rides at a conservation facility when this very activity is one of the major causes of population decline in the wild as more and more elephants are captured to meet tourism demand from ignorant tourists. I have emailed Trish Gerth, General Manager of ALS numerous times asking to discuss my reasons for starting the petition and what I thought would be appropriate to replace the rides. I personally believe an information booth on tourism and the negative effect it has on wild populations as well as information on the ivory trade would be both beneficial and educational. After months of unanswered emails and a growing amount of supporters, I drove to ALS to ask Trish Gerth in person. I did meet her but only for a brief few minutes. I was not able to sit down with her but I did give her my binder full of research and information on elephant crushing, elephant tourism, and veterinarians opinions on elephant rides as well as a personal letter I typed out explaining my petition and reasoning (to read this letter see the 'Today I Spoke With Trish Gerth' update). Since my visit, I have still never received any contact from Trish Gerth. After I realized she would likely never contact me, I decided to contact CAZA which is Canadian Accredited Zoos and Aquariums. ALS is the only facility accredited by CAZA that offers elephant rides. I asked the CAZA director to change their rules so that ALS could not provide rides if they wished to be CAZA certified. I provided all the same information to them as I did Trish Gerth. I was informed by CAZA that they would be reviewing their rules and regulations in 2019 and would be taking public consultation. I am hoping this is happening soon, and will be the final push needed to end the elephant rides.
We are now over 35,000 strong. I am so grateful for all of you, and remember when I was excited to have just 100 signatures. Unfortunately this is not an easy task, and we need more support. My goal is to have 50,000 signatures to present to CAZA and Trish Gerth next time I contact them. Surely 50,000 of us is too many to ignore. I need your help to get this petition even larger. There are a few ways to get this petition to grow; you can donate a few dollars to promote it for more people to see, share it on your social media, or by word of mouth. Every single bit helps so much. I plan to contact CAZA and Trish Gerth on April 1. Please help me get this petition to 50,000 strong.
Every day more elephants die because of the barbaric nature of tourism. If we do nothing, we will be the last generation to live during a time when elephants were on Earth. Conservation starts at home with education and informed decisions.
elephant crushing:
Please note I am not claiming the elephants at ALS were subjected to crushing, in Asia crushing is how elephants are trained, whereas I believe allowing elephant rides in Canada and particularly at a conservation society produces ignorant concepts on elephant tourism particularly that to ride elephants is okay.