She knows it’s not supposed to be this way. She’s among the largest animals on earth, but especially on days like this one—days when she’s unable to move until they let her, days when they insert things into the most sensitive parts of her body—she feels small. As if who she is has shrunken, retreated deep inside for protection. There’s no real protection here. She learned this quickly. She can’t move. She can’t leave. Some call this “safety”—the sides of this stall, these shackles, the walls of this windowless building, the barriers of this exhibit—or “being an ambassador for your species.” But these are illusions that serve only those who want to keep her here. Donate to support the fight for elephants’ right to liberty. |
Had she herself been born where she was meant to be instead of in this unnatural place, she would have been surrounded on this day—the day her first baby will be born. Elephant bodies like hers. Soft rumbles. A starry sky. Other elephants’ trunks brushing her side. Here, there’s only the buzz of bright overhead lights, the people preparing for her baby’s birth and scribbling notes, murmuring to one another with excitement while she feels only fear.
In pain, she makes a sound that, in the wild, would summon her mother and sisters, her cousins and grandmother—other elephants who could come to comfort her. Instead, she’s alone, straining against the shackles, controlled and observed by those who are waiting to usher away her baby in gloved hands.
Zoos confine and subdue elephants in unnatural environments that are scientifically known to cause suffering. When elephants have the right to liberty, it will no longer be possible to deprive them of their freedom in zoos or anywhere else. If you can, please donate to the NhRP today so we can continue to challenge the systems that not only keep elephants imprisoned but also slowly destroy who they are–autonomous beings who need each other, not human interference and domination.
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