They say an elephant never forgets — and it’s true. These extraordinary and captivating animals form life-long bonds with family members and friends. They remember and recognize one another and grieve when one of their companions passes away — a behavior once thought to be unique only to humans.
Despite everything we know about the remarkable hearts and minds of elephants, they are still one of the most exploited animals in the world. They are forced to work, perform, and endure lives of abuse and cruelty, and are stripped of their freedom and wild instincts. Worse, they are often violently separated from their families, a tragedy seared into their memories from which some elephants never recover.
Elephant families are incredibly protective of their young. When a poacher invades the herd, adults will guard the calves with their lives — it’s a fight that often ends in bloodshed and it can have devastating and lasting effects on the babies who are stolen and the remaining members of their herd who are left behind.
The suffering doesn’t end there for these traumatized elephants. Whether they are forced to haul enormous logs, provide rides to tourists, or perform tricks before returning to tiny barren cages, their captors will ensure they’ve broken each elephant’s spirit and body stomping out all hope.
World Animal Protection has been fighting to end elephant captivity. Whether it’s helping rescue Mundi from the Puerto Rico Zoo, caring for rescued elephants in Southeast Asia or championing our ground-breaking Elephant Bill in Thailand, we believe no elephant should live a life in captivity. Friend, I know an advocate like you would do everything in your power to stop this cycle of cruelty.
We are World Animal Protection We end the needless suffering of animals We influence decision makers to put animals on the global agenda We help the world see how important animals are to all of us We inspire people to change animals' lives for the better We move the world to protect animals We strive to end injustice
We were known as WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals)
