The Association of Zoos and Aquariums has passed strict new standards for elephants in captivity: starting in September, any facility housing elephants must have at least three, of mixed gender. Many zoos don’t meet these criteria, so they are choosing to send their last remaining elephants to sanctuaries, where they will finally be free to roam and socialize as they are meant to. This is fantastic news for these majestic, and severely threatened, creatures. Sadly, the Dallas Zoo, Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, NE and Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, KS are taking these new standards as an impetus to buy 18 wild African elephants from Swaziland, removing them from their natural habitat and shipping them across the world to lead lives of fenced-in boredom and relative isolation.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has approved the transfers, citing that the elephant population in the Swazi trust from which they are being taken has grown too big and these 18 may be killed if left there. There are two problems with that theory: 1) this Swazi trust will earn nearly half a million dollars from the sale of these elephants, which indicates a strong economic interest in claiming their lives are on the line. 2) a viable offer has already been made that would transfer them to another part of Africa, and keep them free, in the wild.

They are claiming to have the elephants’ best interest at heart, but we know for a fact that captivity has terrible mental and physical effects on these intelligent creatures. Please join us in urging the Dallas, Henry Doorly and Sedgwick County Zoos to put their money where their mouth is, and donate the $450,000 to elephant conservation efforts in Africa rather than steal these 18 elephants’ freedom.

The world’s leading elephant conservationists oppose this import, as do the American people: while USFWS was considering the proposal, 85 percent of the nearly 8,000 public comments were against it. What’s more, all parties stand to gain financially from this import. If such a transaction is not primarily for conservation purposes, but to make money, it is in violation of international law.

Let’s band together and demand that they take the “con” out of conservation. Far more responsible solutions exist to protect these elephants, and the days of stealing them from the wild for entertainment and profit must end.

Please ask these three zoos to donate the money to elephant conservation rather than use it to imprison these beautiful wild animals.