Isolated, Forgotten, and Alone.

A life full of misery is the life of many captive bull elephants…enduring severe deprivation, abuse and neglect.  

Captive bull elephants are in real peril.   Their need is urgent. 

PAWS’ Buck for Bulls simply means peace and dignity for one of nature’s most majestic animals.

Their suffering cries can now be answered. 

Finally….

Give them Peace.

Give them Dignity.

Give them PAWS’ ARK 2000 sanctuary.


CLICK HERE FOR BULL ELEPHANTS FACT PAGE

Save Bull Elephants
Join PAWS' "Bucks For Bulls" campaign, today!

The "Bucks For Bulls" premise is simple. Every friend of bull elephants donates one buck.

That's right, just $1 for a bull elephant. And then each friend asks one of their friends, or a family member, a neighbor or co-worker to donate $1. And those people in turn ask one of their friends, a family member, co-worker, neighbor - well, you get the picture.

Imagine what we could accomplish if PAWS friends across the country took up this cause! One buck each. . . for a bull elephant in need.

Thousands of bucks for bulls!

Or, you could step it up a notch. Organize a community fundraiser - a bake sale for bulls, a yard sale, hold a raffle, sell items on EBAY, put together a car wash, maybe even turn the "Bucks For Bulls" campaign into a classroom project at a school in your area. Does anybody remember what happened when Oprah asked everyone to save their spare change?

A million bucks for bulls!

All "Bucks For Bulls" monies will be used for habitat enclosures (fencing), barns, transportation costs involved with rescue, and veterinary care of captive bulls.

Flyers and fact sheets will soon be available on our Web site for you to download, print and distribute in your area. Post them on an office bulletin board. Give copies to your friends. If you’re a teacher – share the information with your students.

Post this information on your Blog, on Facebook, MySpace or other favorite social networking sites. Twitter for bulls. Go E-Viral for bull elephants!

Join our "Bucks for Bulls" campaign today!

For more information on PAWS “Bucks for Bulls,” email PAWS representative Tracy Ross at lisa@pawsweb.org, email our office at info@pawsweb.org, or call us at 209/745-2606. 

PAWS is compiling research on captive bull elephants in the United States and world-wide.  If you know of a captive bull elephant in peril, please contact us at info@pawsweb.org or (209) 745-2606.

FREE BENNY THE BULL!
HELP US FILL NED'S EMPTY BARN WITH ONE OF HIS SIBLINGS

Ned was the sick, malnourished bull elephant seized last year by the USDA. To ill to make the journey to PAWS' ARK 2000, Ned was taken to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee where they fought to save his life. Sadly, Ned did not survive.

Ned's barn and nearly-completed habitat at ARK 2000 now sit empty — ready and waiting for other bull elephants.

Ned's father, Vance, sired several calves including Mickey, Benny, Bo and Luke, all young bulls in peril. Mickey is with Carson & Barnes Circus, Luke is with circus trainer Patti Zerbini, Bo is with the George Carden Circus, and Benny is in Mexico.

All of these bulls were born at Busch Gardens in Florida and owned by circus trainer Roman Schmidt. Mickey and Ned's sad stories have been reported in the PAWS publication, Everything You Should Know About Elephants, and on our Web site as part of our "Bucks For Bulls" campaign. But Benny and Luke are among the forgotten bulls. We continue to work on freeing Mickey and Luke, but we believe, that with a strong effort, it may be possible to obtain Benny's release sooner than the others.

Like Nicholas, Benny was separated from his mother when he was a few months old and trained to perform when he was still a baby. He was sold to Trunks & Humps, an infamous circus company out of Texas, and then, according to our records, Trunks & Humps illegally sold him to a Mexican circus. He was transported to Mexico to perform, and then seized by the Mexican government and moved to the Zacango Zoo in Toluca, near Mexico City, which is part of the government's protected area for captive wildlife.

To see current video of Benny click here.

The illegal selling and transporting of Benny into Mexico happened because our federal agencies that should have been protecting endangered species and performing animals — U.S. Fish & Wildlife and the USDA — did not enforce our laws.

We need your help to free Benny from Mexico and bring him to ARK 2000. An empty barn is waiting for him on Bull Mountain. More than three-quarters of the fencing for a new bull enclosure around that barn has been completed. PAWS bull elephant fencing costs $168 per linear foot. We need to finish the enclosure. Please consider donating to our Foot-Of-Freedom campaign.

WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR BENNY?

1. Write letters to your federal legislators and ask that Congress conduct hearings on the lack of enforcement by federal agencies which allows circuses to play the shell game with endangered animals.
   
   
2. Write to the Minister of Tourism in Mexico and ask that Benny be returned to the US. He should not be living in a tiny space as an
   attraction for tourists.
   
   Rodolfo Elizondo Torres
   Minister of Tourism
   Av. Presidente Masaryk #172
   Chapultepec Morales 11587
   Mexico City, Mexico
   Tel. +52(55)30.02.63.00
   Email: atencion@sectur.gob.mx
   

   Contact Mexico tourism offices in the United States:
    
   Mexico Tourism Board
   21 East 63rd Street, 2nd Floor
   New York, NY 10021
   Telephone: 1-800-44MEXICO
   Email: newyork@visitmexico.com
    
   Mexico Government Tourist Office
   4507 San Jacinto, Suite 308
   Houston, TX 77004
   Telephone: 1-713-772-2581
   Email: houston@visitmexico.com

3. If you plan travel to Mexico, voice your disapproval of Benny's situation. Try to get support from Mexican citizens and animal welfare organizations.
   
   
4. Make a donation in Ned's name to help bring Benny to Ned's empty barn.

Bo, The All American Elephant
Bo is a young Asian bull elephant who is a half brother to Ned, the circus elephant who was confiscated by USDA and died last year at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Bo, like Ned, Benny, Luke and Mickey, was captive-born, sired by Vance, a breeding bull from the circus. All of these young bulls were taken from their mothers before they were a year old, and each began performing when they should still have been nursing.

Bo is currently performing under contract to the Shriner’s Circus.

The Shriner’s Circus bills Bo as, “The All American Elephant, ” and goes on to say, “One of the most entertaining acts in the circus world today is the enthusiastic antics of Bo. He is a 15-year-old elephant with a personality all his own. Bo will perform with distinct style only to discretely pull a fast joke on his trainer [owner], Mr. George Carden.* Bo can perform more than 60 maneuvers and he is always learning. Bo is constantly being trained and taught new tricks for his act. He will walk a plank with the style and ease of the ballet and prance around the ring with the grace of a very large dancer. Watch as he skips to the beat of the music, only to decide to display his vast musical talent with three different musical instruments.”

A circus producer is quoted as saying, “Bo is one of a kind. His performing sense is as great as any human’s. He’s a magnificent ambassador for his species.”

*The George Carden Circus has a long history of Animal Welfare Act (AWA) violations for improper care and handling of elephants and other species.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Join PAWS in our FREE ELEPHANTS FROM CIRCUSES campaign.

1. Write to the Shriners — ask them to stop exploiting live animals in their circus fundraisers.

Shriners International Headquarters
2900 Rocky Point Drive
Tampa, FL 33607

 

Billy

  

Billy, a 21 year old bull at the Los Angeles Zoo, has been the subject of controversy for several years. Billy was captured from the wild and brought to the zoo with two juvenile females approximately 18 years ago.

Reports from a former San Diego Zoo elephant keeper who used the three young juveniles as the subjects for her Master’s Degree Thesis on Stereotypic Behavior in Elephants, reveal the sad deterioration of the young bull who arrived at the zoo as a fat, playful little calf to the head bobbing adult we see today.

Despite complaints from local and international animal welfare groups and numerous celebrities, and the passionate appeals from scientists who have studied wild elephants for decades, the zoo insists that Billy’s  behavior is normal.

The zoo is currently constructing an expanded area for Billy and is proposing the importation of three juvenile females to live with him in a captive breeding program.

Although PAWS is usually supportive of any effort to provide elephants with more space, we are concerned that Billy’s behavior is a direct result of his care at the zoo. He has been with other elephants during his lifetime, and that does not appear to have alleviated his abnormal behavior. There are no guarantees that the expenditure of millions of dollars will help Billy if the current level of care, which created the problem, is not drastically altered.

Billy currently lives in a small, barren enclosure on a harsh substrate with no dirt, mud, browse, grass or other enrichment. His enclosure is surrounded by a jungle of edible plants which he cannot reach, and he has little to do but stand and bob his head.

The zoo considers Billy to be an “ambassador” for his species, educating children and the public to respect elephants. Clearly this “education program” is failing.

Our video caught docents at the zoo telling visitors that Billy’s head bobbing is “because he has an IPod and he’s dancing,” “because he’s trying to get his keeper’s attention” and “his keeper’s trained him to do that to get their attention.” Unfortunately, the behavior elicited poor results; no keepers appeared with treats while we were there.

The comments of the children who were on tour with the docents were even more disturbing and disrespectful — “EEh, he stinks,” “Hey, elephant, turn around,” “Give him a peanut or something.”

The appalling display of Billy at Los Angeles Zoo is a disgrace. The zoo and everyone who supports keeping Billy in this dismal environment should be forced to watch him all day.

To view PAWS' video of Billy:  Click here

HOW YOU CAN HELP BILLY:

1. Write to the Mayor and City Council of Los Angeles and demand that Billy receive proper care NOW. He should be provided with browse, dirt, mud and enrichment that stimulates normal activity every day as he waits for his expanded habitat.
   
   
2. Protest the importation of other elephants, and the breeding program which will produce more disturbed elephants.
   
   
3. Write to the zoo and ask that docents and educators provide better information to the public and control the disrespectful actions of the children whose understanding of Billy’s behavior is their responsibility.

 

Bull Elephants Who Have Suffered In Captivity

For 25 years PAWS has championed the cause of captive bull elephants.  In 1995, it was PAWS’ investigators who were leading a community protest at the Luxor Hotel about the savage treatment of Stoney.

Stoney’s Story
Stoney, a 22-year old Asian bull elephant, was injured while performing a hind-leg stand at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. He was unable to walk and consequently loaded into a hotel dumpster and kept in a maintenance shed behind the hotel.He did not receive immediate veterinary care and was kept upright inside a mechanical cattle crush in a dark isolated room.

One year went by and finally a hotel staff member and the trainer attempted to move Stoney. During the attempt to remove him from the mechanical device that was keeping him upright, he fell, injuring his other back leg.

PAWS investigators were outside with other concerned citizens, they noted hearing his screams and cries.

Stoney died that day. To view The Death of Stoney Video Click Here

Mickey

Mickey’s Story
Born at an elephant breeding compound in Florida, Mickey, an Asian bull elephant, was sold at barely one year of age, to a dealer who sold elephants to circuses and elephant rides.In the wild, Mickey would live with his family for 10 years. 

At less than two years of age, baby Mickey was forced into the nightmare of abusive training. Mickey soon displayed stereotypic behaviors – head bobbing, rocking and swaying – behaviors usually seen in psychologically disturbed adult elephants.

In 1994, while traveling with the King Royal Circus, Mickey refused to perform a trick and attempted to flee the circus tent. As Mickey screamed in pain, his trainer repeatedly jabbed him with a bullhook.  Witnesses reported seeing blood gushing out of the puncture wounds on Mickey’s leg as he attempted, in vain, to crawl away on all fours. 

The next month, at another show, a seriously disturbed Mickey wrapped his trunk around a 3-year-old girl's neck and attempted to pull her to him. She was rescued and rushed to a hospital.

After PAWS investigators filed numerous complaints with the USDA, animal cruelty charges were finally brought against King Royal Circus and Mickey’s trainer. They were fined.

Sadly however, nothing has changed for Mickey. He is living in a circus breeding compound with little hope of rescue.

To view a video of Mickey in the Circus click here »

Tumai’s  Story
Tumai, a young African bull elephant, had a history of aggressive attacks against keepers. Captive bull elephants frequently exhibit more aggression than females. Young bull elephants are severely punished during training to keep them manageable enough to be used for breeding.

After a series of incidents, Tumai was sold to a circus in Florida and became the property of a popular elephant consultant who specialized in training elephants for rides.Elephant trainers frequently chain difficult elephants in positions that are so physically limiting they are barely able to move.Tumai was chained in this manner for most of the summer
…with no shade or shelter.

Reports stated he was fed and watered infrequently to further debilitate his physical strength.

Electric shock was administered and failed.

Determined to subdue Tumai while performing at a zoo, his trainers rammed him with a tractor to show him there were things bigger and stronger. "They rammed him once in the back and once in the head, then left him lying there," an eye witness reported.

Tumai had sustained terrible physical damage and was unable to stand.

According to reports, Tumai's owner was asked to remove the elephant from the zoo grounds to stave off a public relations disaster.

When it was apparent that it would be impossible to move him, he was finally euthanized …after two and half months of torment and suffering.

(209) 745-2606 office/shelter
(209) 745-1809 fax
info@pawsweb.org