There are 14 lonely elephants who are confined in small and yet strong cages in Japan.
It’s not only Hanako in Inokashira Park, who was unfortunate.
Please give a relief to them.
Especially to the Asian elephants in Utunomiya Zoo, Obihiro Zoo, Kiryugaoka Zoo, and Yuki Park Zoo who are put on just inorganic concrete, just like at Hanako in Inokashira Park.
Obihiro Zoo, Kiryugaoka Zoo, and Yuki Park Zoo are facilities controlled under each city. If you sympathize with these elephants, please demand the cities to improve the situations.
These three are especially awful cases, but the others do not accommodate elephant’ natural behaviors either.
We demand improvements to take into account elephants ‘characteristics, instinct, and desires.
Teru in Yuki Park Zoo (female)
Asian Elephants
| Utsunomiya zoo | Miyako(Female, Born in 1972) | Utunomiya zoo Inc. | Especially awful |
| Obihiro Park | Nana（Female, Born in 1961） | Obihiro city, Hokkaido | Especially awful |
| Especially awful | |||
| Yuki Park Zoo | Teru（Female, Born in 1978） | Kofu city, Yamanashi Pref. | awful |
| Hamamatsu city Zoo | Hamako（Female, Born in 1971） | Hamamatsu city, Shizuoka Pref. | |
| Higashi Park zoo | Fujiko（Female, Born in 1968） | Okazakki city, Aichi pref. | |
| Ishikawa zoo | Fujiko（Female, Born in 1989） | General Foundation Ishikawa Prefectural petting Corporatio |
|
| Tokushima Zoo | Mary（Female, Born in 1990） | Tokushima city, Tokushima Pref. | awful |
| Fukuyama Zoo | Fuku（Female, Born in 1998） | Fukuyama city, Hiroshima Pref. | |
They are trying to buy a new elephant!!! |
awful | ||
| Miyazaki City Phoenix Zoo | Midori（Female , Born in 2000） | Miyazaki city, Miyazaki Pref. |
African bush elephants
| Izu Animal Kingdom | Osshi（Male, Born in 1972） | Kamori Group |
| Higashiyama Zoo | Kenny (Female , Born in 1973） | Nagoya city, Aichi Pref. |
* As of June 2016, the situations confirmed by Animal Rights Center
Izu Animal Kingdom is larger than the other zoos in size, but the boredom for the elephants here is the same. Osshi’s exhibited abnormal behavior in which he kept shaking his foot for hours.
About elephants
Elephants are the kind of animal that spends up to 16 to 20 hours a day searching for food. 90% of their activity is spent looking for food. The rest of their time is spent bathing in water, mud or sand, as well as communicating with other elephants and sleeping.
It is important for them to satisfy natural behaviors and being bored distresses elephants mentally.
The low frequency sound elephants emit can reach out to 1.6 km, meaning they need that much area to move in a territory.
They are also social animals with ties and family bonds that are very strong. Females especially share roles to raise kids and look after others when they are ill. They are as caring as humans, if not more so. Males sometimes make a group with other males, too.
They are also capable of swimming for a long time. Asian elephants living in tropical forests can also climb up to highland.
They live as long as humans, and have very diverse lives in the wild. They spend 22 months in their mother’s bellies, are raised by their mother for 4 years, and cared for in a group up until 15 years old. Then, they find their partners and have kids of their own to raise. Their lives are just like humans.
The elephants in Southeast Asia, Africa, and America show very different behaviors and expressions than the ones we see in Japan. Please see which one is unnatural.
Elephants in Thailand
Sanctuary in America – Performing Animal Welfare Society
Zoos including Alaska Zoo and Toronto Zoo discontinued to keep their elephants, and transferred them to sanctuaries..
Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage
Some zoos in Japan purchased elephants from Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, which does not present the typical image of “orphanage.” Being transferred to zoos in Japan is just unfavorable for elephants.
translator:Seika Kyoda
