What is Animal Labor? Let’s start with speciesism. Speciesism, as defined by PETA, “is the belief that some animals’ lives and experiences are inferior to those of humans or other animals simply because they are members of a different species, and it underpins all the most widespread forms of animal abuse.” Unpacking this a step […]
Tag: Asian Elephant
Death of a Sri Lankan icon highlights surge in elephant electrocutions
COLOMBO — He may have had short tusks, but at nearly 3 meters (10 feet) tall, Revatha was the dominant bull in his home range of Kalawewa in Sri Lanka’s North Central province. Other bull elephants that challenged him for dominance found themselves no match for his might; some even died in their ground-rumbling jousts […]
Farmers move to occupy a critical elephant corridor in Sri Lanka
UDAWALAWE NATIONAL PARK, Sri Lanka — Earlier this month, more than 300 people gathered near the borders of the Dahaiyagala Wildlife Sanctuary in Sri Lanka’s Uva province armed with axes, long knives, ropes and handheld hoes called mamoties. Their apparent intention: Take control of sanctuary lands and expand their farms. Triggered by a rumor that […]
Cher Urges Edmonton Zoo to Free Elephant Living in Captivity for 40 Years
After helping Kaavan, the world’s loneliest elephant, Cher has her sights set on freeing another elephant. As the co-founder of Free the Wild, Cher is encouraging the Edmonton Valley Zoo to free Lucy, an Asian elephant that’s lived in Canada for 40 years. Cher wrote to Mayor Don Iveson and the Director of Edmonton Valley […]
Push for Ban on Advertising Unethical Elephant Tourism in the UK Gains Momentum
UK-based campaign group Save the Asian Elephants (STAE) is pushing for a ban on advertising in the country of unethical elephant tourism venues. Its campaigning hit a milestone in early 2020, with a petition on the issue surpassing a million signatures. STAE’s founder Duncan McNair says it is “the largest petition in history for the […]
A cruel end for a gentle giant: Critically endangered Sumatran elephant dies in agony after its leg was caught in a trap in Indonesia
The body of a critically endangered elephant killed by a hunting trap was found in Indonesia on Friday, local officials said. Shocking images of the Sumatran elephant show the animal’s decomposing body lying on its side, with a cut on its leg from where it was caught by the trap. The male elephant, who is […]
For border-crossing Thai tigers, the forest on the other side isn’t as green
Big cats require big home ranges. In February 2016, a young male Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) walked from Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in western Thailand to Kayin state in Myanmar. After crossing mountains, rivers, roads and national borders over the course of its 170-kilometer (105-mile) journey, he ventured out of the forest into […]
Thousands of elephants in Asia ‘beaten into fear and submission’ for tourists
Scrubbing behind the ears of a docile Asian elephant at a sanctuary outside of Kandy, Sri Lanka, I should have realised this wasn’t normal behaviour for a wild animal to allow me so close. At the time, back in 2009 and thousands of miles from home, it seemed harmless. I was also told the experience […]