are matched by The Serengeti Foundation and go directly to support Elephant Nature Park, The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and others like them. The Serengeti Foundation also helps all types of animals in Asia, Africa, and the United States.
Established in 1995, Elephant Nature Park is home to over thirty rescued elephants and one of the ONLY humane Elephant sanctuaries. Ranging in age from infants to old-timers, these previously abused and neglected creatures are able to live out the rest of their lives in peace and dignity on the Park's grounds.
Nestled in the breathtaking Mae Taeng Valley, about an hour north of Chiang Mai, Thailand, Elephant Nature Park is a place where elephants no longer work for humans. Instead, a team of full-time staff and Park volunteers maintain the Park and care for the elephants.
Elephant Nature Park allows people to see elephants as elephants should be seen: living their lives peacefully, frolicking when the moment strikes them, and trumpeting to one another throughout the day and night.
Sangduen "Lek" Chailert - was born in 1962 in the small hill tribe village of Baan Lao, two hours north of Chiang Mai. Her love for elephants began when her grandfather, a traditional healer, received a baby elephant as payment for saving a man's life.
Lek would spend many hours with her family's new friend, named Tongkum or Golden One, which would result in a passion that would shape the rest of her life.
After graduating from Chiang Mai University, Lek moved into working with the elephant tourist industry. While helping owners of trekking companies locate unemployed elephants, she quickly learned about the abuse and neglect that domestic Asian elephants experience.
With a love and respect for her country's national symbol and the knowledge that they were becoming endangered, Lek began advocating for the rights and welfare of Asian elephants in Thailand.
In an industry that is steeped in its traditions, advocating for a change to the way domestic and wild Asian elephants are treated has not been an easy battle. But through hard work and determination her voice is
beginning to be heard."
Raising Awareness through Creative & Artistic Shows
New York City based actors, artists, dancers, musicians, photographers, and performers...for elephants.
Peace For Elephants' mission is to have artistically entertaining shows and events to raise awareness for, what we feel, are these three main threats to Elephant's around the world.
We apologize for any upsetting images on this page but feel like the TRUTH is upsetting and change can only come when the TRUTH is exposed.
As recently as thirty years ago, elephants roamed freely over all of Southeast Asia, numbering in the tens of thousands. In Thailand today, fewer than 3,000 elephants remain.
Almost exclusively in domestication, they are in many cases abused, malnourished, and neglected, and are commonly overworked.
Every Thailand elephant used for tourist riding, painting, and sports shows have been separated from their families, often as small babies. They are tortured into submission and forced to work the rest of their lives.
But there is still hope. Public awareness within Thailand is increasing.
The rescued elephants at Elephant Nature Park are thriving.
"Trainers" with sharp hooks in hand.
Tied up or placed in confining pins, Elephants are submitted to awful torture for weeks until they become submissive zombies that will do anything to avoid further pain.
This is JUST FOR TOURISTS!
The process is known as "The Crush."
Ivory Poaching in Africa:
The Genocide of a Species
In Africa, almost 90% of the population has been wiped out due to increased Ivory poaching. It is estimated that within 10 years the Elephant population could be completely gone unless extreme changes are made. The growing wealth of China has provided many citizens the abilty to afford elaborate ivory carvings. The disconnect from where the ivory actually comes from is a huge problem and the elephant is being slaughtered at an alarming rate.
While awareness is growing, new laws must be made to prevent merchants from selling ivory in China and across Asia.
To Learn More
Please Visit:
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
The DSWT is dedicated to the protection and conservation of wildlife and habitats in Kenya. Best known for the rescue and hand-rearing of milk dependent orphaned baby elephants and rhinos, so that they can return to the wild when grown, the DSWT also manages anti-poaching teams, mobile veterinary units and community outreach programs.
Anti-poaching
Since 1999, DSWT has undertaken anti-poaching operations in and around Tsavo National Park, Kenya’s largest Park, covering an area equal in size to the country of Wales. They currently operate seven fully mobile anti-poaching teams, tasked with removing illegal snares, arresting poachers, and educating and working with local communities to find solutions to the human-wildlife conflict and poaching of wildlife. Their anti-poaching teams have removed more than 100,000 illegal snares, saving literally hundreds of thousands of animals from the slow and intensely painful death these indiscriminate killing devices cause their victims.
All the elephant orphans raised by the Trust are gradually rehabilitated back into the wild elephant community of Tsavo National Park when grown, a transition that is made at their own pace and in their own time, but usually taking approximately eight to ten years. A number of our ex Nursery orphans have now had wild born young which they have brought back to show their erstwhile human family, and others are now pregnant and living free, yet keeping in touch with those who are still Keeper dependent.
Amongst these are many orphaned too young to have any recollection of their elephant mother or family.
Left: A herd of Elephants slaughtered for their ivory.
Below: Some of the countless illegal ivory seized by authorities and volunteer militia.
Circuses in Western Countries
Greed and Torture masked by a Circus Tent
Elephants do not do handstands in the wild; "Trainers" with weapons force them to do tricks. With the constant fear of bull hooks, electric prods, and high-pressure water hoses, Elephants are loaded in to uncomfortably small freight trains and shipped from city to city to perform for the masses.
Do Not Support The Circus...Imagine the terror that a baby elephant feels when taken from his mother and tied in ropes while his body is forced in a strange position for reasons he does not understand, and the anxiety and deep distress felt by the mother as she looks on at her struggling offspring. These babies and their mothers have a bond as any human would; Their suffering is the same. The history of animal based circuses is lined with the suffering, torture, and death of innumerous animals, none of them who choose for themselves a life far from home in order to perform menial tricks under the bright lights of the circus tent. (circusprotest.com)
The people at CircusProtest.com are passionate about providing Circus dates/locations, downloads of protest signs, and all the information you need to get out and stand up for the Elephants, Lions, & Tigers that do not have a voice.
"The animals that appear in the circuses are prisoners in a world not of their choosing. They “perform” out of fear of retaliation, of further torture, out of necessity. They travel for thousands of miles in discomfort, enduring endless trauma in their confinement, putting everyone who could come into contact with them at risk. These animals are mere commodities to the multimillion-dollar circus industry; their “caregivers” are their jailers." (circusprotest.com)
This is animated powerful true story of an elephant named "Karen" that has been a slave for 40 years with Ringling Brothers Circus. Remember, Ele's can live to be 80+ years old! Let's not let her work another 40 years.
This video was brought to us by "RinglingBeatsAnimals."
They make it their mission to make it to every Circus date and inform the masses about these atrocities. (ringlingbeatsanimals.com)
The Actual "Karen."
She's been suffering for over 40 years!
An Apology To Elephants
Lastly, we highly encourage you to Watch and Share
"An Apology To Elephants"
from HBO Documentaries.
It is a wonderfully done, quick watch, that explains all we want to accomplish with stopping Elephant abuse around the globe.
Narrated by Lily Tomlin
AN APOLOGY TO ELEPHANTS spotlights elephants’ importance to global ecology and the environment. Known as the “gardeners of the forest,” they clear large trees and branches for food, which makes way for smaller plants and animals to thrive. However, due to the ivory trade and habitat destruction, elephant species are considered either vulnerable or endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and are at risk of extinction within the next ten years. “Extinction is part of the pattern of life on the planet, but we’re amping up the rate at which extinctions occur,” says paleontologist Dr. Ross MacPhee.
Unfortunately HBO does not allow this film to be viewed without purchasing it. Follow the link above, sign, and leave a comment to help persuade them. Documentaries like "Black Fish" and "The Cove" have gotten so much attention by being available on NetFlix and other platforms. Hopefully we can get this film to be more accessible. If you have HBOgo you can watch it in its entirety. To Learn More Please Visit:
SIGN OUR PETITION!!!
We are asking HBO to allow this amazing documentary to be on NETFLIX