This incident was just one of many glaring, troubling issues that landed the Honolulu Zoo on a list of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants in North America four times. The Honolulu Zoo has also been cited for multiple health and safety violations pertaining to the elephants, including inadequate shade to protect them from the beating hot sun and rocks that posed a danger to the elephants’ feet.
Since then, nothing has changed. Mari and Vaigai remain confined to an incredibly small 1.5 acres: deprived of their autonomy, with no space and no choice to allow them to exercise their bodies or minds. Had Mari and Vaigai not been forced into captivity–taken from their native India as babies to become “gifts” to Honolulu from the Indian government–they would have been able to roam and explore hundreds of thousands of acres of forest and grassland with other elephants.
Mari and Vaigai are living this way because Honolulu Zoo leadership, like the leadership of most zoos, not only sees no problem with taking away the freedom of elephants. It considers this imprisonment to be for their own good and for the good of the species.
They’re wrong–scientifically, morally, and legally.
That’s why we’re proud to announce the filing of our new lawsuit, which seeks recognition of Mari and Vaiga’s right to bodily liberty and release to a sanctuary. This is our first lawsuit in Hawaii and the latest expansion of our unique litigation.
Learn more about Mari and Vaigai and sign their petition by visiting their new client page.
