Dear John,
He was born under an open sky, in tall grass warmed by the sun.
He remembers the scent of rain. The gentle weight of his mother’s trunk draped across her back as he slept. The steady rhythm of the steps and hearts around him as the herd moved, always together. He was never alone.
His earliest memories are filled with wonder: his first splash in water, the way he squealed with delight as birds scattered from the trees above, the endless games with his cousins under the heat of the day and the cool of night. The first time he successfully used his trunk and rolled in the mud. Between wrestling with his peers and imitating his elders, he was clumsily learning his way in the world.
Exploring the vast and wild terrain, under a blanket of stars, within the safe and loving care of his herd … he was free.
This is what life is supposed to look like for a young elephant—rich and full of wonder as they discover the world around them and find their place in it.
But that’s not every young elephant's experience. Some are born into captivity.
Donate to support the fight for elephants’ right to liberty.
Another young elephant, not much older than he is, opened her eyes to a ceiling instead of a sky. Her world is built of barriers—metal gates, concrete floors, dirt enclosures with tires and plastic balls for toys, and controlled schedules.
She was taken from her mother early. They called it “management.”
She was trained to obey commands. They called it “enrichment.”
Now, she rocks back and forth for hours at a time. They call it “normal.”
Her body grows but her world does not. She doesn’t get to choose where to go, when to eat, or who to be near. She aches for something more but may never get to experience the relief of finally discovering what it is she’s been aching for.
They have taken away her most basic right—her right to liberty—but they call it “conservation.” They market her birth as a success. They have no plans to release any elephant to the wild. She will be raised in captivity, and forced into their breeding program so they can repeat this cycle again, and again.
This is morally reprehensible. This is an injustice. And it doesn’t have to be this way.
With your support, the Nonhuman Rights Project is fighting to secure fundamental legal rights for nonhuman animals, beginning with the right to liberty for autonomous animals like elephants. When elephants have the right to liberty, it will no longer be possible to deprive them of their freedom in zoos or anywhere else. Without it, they will continue to suffer while the powers that be look the other way.
