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Dear John,
In 1976, a male elephant named Jackson was born into the vast, wild landscapes of Zimbabwe. He was surrounded by a protective family herd and in his future, the promise of infinite horizons.
By 1978, that future was gone.
At just two years old—an age when elephant calves are still deeply dependent on their mothers—Jackson was captured and shipped across the ocean to the United States.
For nearly five decades, Jackson’s life has been a cycle of transfers between circuses and zoo breeding facilities. Today, at nearly 50 years old, the Pittsburgh Zoo—citing industry statistics—refers to him as a "success story" because he is tied to nearly 50% of African elephant births in North America over the last decade.
But when we look beyond the numbers, the reality is heartbreaking.
Jackson hasn’t been treated as a sentient, socially complex being. Instead, he’s been treated as reproductive infrastructure—a prisoner of a system that values his genetic material over his autonomy. While his offspring are scattered across zoos in four different states, Jackson remains confined, far from the life he was meant to live.
We believe Jackson’s story is clear evidence of why the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ captive breeding system is ethically bankrupt. Jackson is an individual with an inherent right to dignity, not a tool for exhibition revenue.
Jackson’s full story is one of resilience in the face of profound loss, and it’s a story every animal advocate should be aware of.
READ JACKSON'S FULL BIO → [[link removed]]
We hope you take a few minutes to read and share Jackson’s story today.
Thank you for standing with us this year as we work to build a future where elephants like Jackson are no longer taken from the wild, held captive for decades, and forcibly bred.
If you’re able, please consider making an end-of-year gift [[link removed]] today to support our unique mission to build a more just future for nonhuman animals. All donations made before midnight on December 31 will be matched.
Thank you,
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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