Action Alerts

You can help alleviate the suffering of elephants in captivity—your letters make a difference. Please review PETA's action alerts to learn what you can do to help. Additional information can be found on individual campaign Web pages.

Urge South Africa to 'Cull' Elephant Killing From Policy

South Africa is poised to finalize its "Norms & Standards for Elephant Management," a policy that it describes as a "toolbox" of options for the management of elephants. Unbelievably, one of the "tools" South Africa considers acceptable is "culling"— killing elephants as a method of "population control."

Mass killing operations tear apart elephant families and leave the survivors permanently scarred. Between 1966 and 1994, more than 16,000 elephants in South Africa's Kruger National Park were culled. Terrified elephants were herded into groups with helicopters while people on the ground and in the air opened fire with high-powered weapons. Elephants are capable of communicating over long distances, and their death screams were undoubtedly heard by other elephants miles away. Read more.

Ask Tucson City Council to Send Elephants at Reid Park Zoo to Sanctuary

Tucson's Reid Park Zoo plans to seek public funding to redesign its elephant exhibit rather than accept The Elephant Sanctuary's offer to give Connie and Shaba a peaceful retirement at the best facility available for elephants in captivity. Connie, an Asian elephant, and Shaba, an African elephant, have been living together in the zoo's cramped enclosure despite the distinct differences between the two species. At the sanctuary, Connie and Shaba would have the opportunity to form new, more socially appropriate bonds with other elephants of their own kind. And they would enjoy the space and habitat necessary to keep elephants happy and healthy.

Please write to your City Council member expressing strong opposition to using taxpayer money to build a new elephant enclosure at the zoo that will do little, if anything, to improve Connie and Shaba's quality of life.

Urge Lee Richardson Zoo to Retire Elephants to a Sanctuary

The Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City, Kansas, faces losing its American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) accreditation unless it expands its elephant exhibit. PETA encourages the zoo to act in the best interests of its two African elephants, instead, by retiring them to a sanctuary and permanently closing the elephant exhibit.

Please write polite letters to the city manager, mayor, and zoo director, urging them to make the compassionate decision to send the elephants to The Elephant Sanctuary or the Performing Animal Welfare Society.