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Dear John,
It’s Super Bowl weekend –which means the Honolulu Zoo is again using elephants Mari and Vaigai in a marketing gimmick to “predict” the winner and provide entertainment to zoo patrons and members of the community. Run a Google search for “Honolulu Zoo elephants” and you’ll see all the news stories, packaged as light weekend entertainment, where Vaigai is presented with a choice between two watermelons, each carved with a team logo.
But there’s nothing entertaining about the elephants’ reality, and choosing between one watermelon and another (while a crowd cheers and a zookeeper dressed as a referee looks on) is about all the choice Mari and Vaigai have. Held captive in a barren, unnatural environment, these self-aware, autonomous beings have no freedom, no herd, nothing to explore, no rest from their lives on display. Essentially, t heir enrichment consists of rock structures that serve as feeding stations. Mari and Vaigai deserve autonomy, not exploitation: d ignity, not degrading gimmicks. You can help by using our action alert to send a message to the director of the Honolulu Zoo, urging her to release Mari and Vaigai to an elephant sanctuary.
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Our elephant rights case on Mari and Vaigai’s behalf is currently working its way through the Hawaii courts, and we expect a hearing sometime this year. Of course, the Honolulu Zoo doesn’t need a court order to do the right thing for these elephants, which is one reason your advocacy [[link removed]] is so important. Stay tuned for additional ways you can help.
Thank you!
Courtney Fern
Director of Government Relations, the NhRP
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The NhRP is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) corporation (Tax ID #: 04-3289466). It is solely through your donations that we can continue to work for the recognition and protection of fundamental rights for nonhuman animals.
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