Central Zoo Authority to receive prestigious international award from PETA for banning the use of elephants in zoos and circuses

CZA Wins Acclaim as the World’s Most Elephant-Friendly Government Organisation as It Calls for Historic Ban

From India PRwire

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India PRwire/ — PETA India has announced that it will give the 2009 Proggy Award for International Leadership in the Field of Animal Rights to India’s Central Zoo Authority (CZA) in recognition of the government organisation’s decision to ban the use of elephants in zoos and circuses. (“Proggy” is short for “progressive”.)

India, which is home to an estimated 23,900 to 32,900 wild elephants, will no longer permit its most prominent national symbol – the elephant – to be imprisoned in zoos and circuses. The move comes after years of campaigning by PETA India to liberate – or at the very least, vastly improve conditions for – captive elephants. (PETA India has already succeeded in getting performing and begging elephants banned from Mumbai and other cities.) Over the years, PETA India has repeatedly complained to the CZA about the mental and physical suffering that elephants endure when they are forced to stand for long periods of time on hard concrete surfaces while confined to cramped enclosures that severely restrict their movement.

The CZA has announced that all elephants currently living in Indian zoos will be transferred to elephant camps run by the Forest Department. The camps will be located near protected areas, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in India. This decision also applies to elephants in circuses, who, like elephants in zoos, are often kept chained and are frequently deprived of the family relationships, which mean so much to them.

Back in 2005, PETA India embarked on an investigation of 14 major zoos across the country and found appalling neglect at every facility. The group discovered hungry animals who were forced to forage among rotten food and garbage, animals who were confined to barren cages and enclosures that didn’t contain so much as a blade of grass and animals who were deprived of shelter from monsoons and the blazing sun.

At the Aurangabad Municipal Zoo in Maharashtra, a PETA India investigator found that elephants were confined to a small, bleak concrete enclosure. All the elephants were kept chained, and one was tethered by both front legs with a spiked chain, effectively (and painfully) preventing him from moving more than a few shuffling steps in any direction.

After Rajkumar, an elephant at the Mumbai zoo, attacked his keeper, his intensive confinement prompted PETA India to file a lawsuit against the zoo. The court ruled in PETA India’s favour, and Rajkumar was moved to another zoo in 2007.

Over the years, PETA India’s campaign against the abysmal conditions for animals in captivity has garnered support from numerous celebrities, including UK Big Brother veteran Shilpa Shetty, Celina Jaitly, Beatles guru Ravi Shankar, Shankar’s daughter Anoushka and Rahul Khanna.

“By banning the use of elephants in zoos and circuses, the Central Zoo Authority has established itself as a world leader in elephant protection and has gone a long way towards ensuring that this magnificent animal, the very symbol of India, will be allowed to lead a more natural and peaceful life”, says PETA India Founder Ingrid E Newkirk, who plans to present the award to the CZA herself next month during a visit to India. “The Central Zoo Authority should be proud of the example that it has set for governments around the world. We are proud to honour the organisation with PETA’s Proggy Award for International Leadership, and we commend it for its initiative and kindness.”

“Elephants have suffered for decades in zoos and circuses, and this ban will definitely improve their lives”, says PETA India campaigner Ashish Verma. “By banning elephants in zoos and circuses, the CZA has shown that when it comes to compassion towards animals, the organisation truly backs up its talk.”

The ability to walk about freely is critical to an elephant’s physical and emotional health. Elephants in captivity are forced to spend their entire lives in barren enclosures which are much smaller than their natural roaming range. No matter how much zoos expand, they can’t provide elephants with the space that they need to remain healthy. Sanctuaries provide elephants with the opportunity to roam dozens of acres of natural habitat, bathe in ponds, forage on fresh vegetation and enjoy full, healthy and enriching lives in the company of many other elephants.

For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com.

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