Elephants are victims of terrible crimes happening right now. They need our IMMEDIATE help! 

Our undercover investigators have documented nightmarish living conditions at several zoos throughout North America and identified the cruel perpetrators. We have gathered the evidence…these zoo criminals are guilty of heinous, hidden crimes!

We are here to expose the truth and to hold zoos accountable!

Elephant abuse is happening at this very moment in zoos across the country, where elephants are paraded for profit by brutal captors who are emboldened due to a lack of consequence.

We must not let elephant exploitation and abuse persist. These cruel and greedy institutions must be brought to justice! 

Our annual list of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants, now in its sixteenth year, turns a spotlight on the very worst offenders who would prefer to act in the dark. We illuminate the gentle victims who are yearning for the light.

As Laura Bridgman, our Elephant Campaign Director, explained in the LA Times, “We compile our list every year to draw attention to the simple fact that elephants suffer in captivity. No amount of space, financial investment or enrichment in public display facilities can completely eliminate the physical and psychological harm that captivity perpetuates for elephants.”

What our spotlight reveals is heartbreaking... 

...elephants are forced to live without the vast open spaces necessary to experience life as they would in nature. In certain cold-climate facilities completely inappropriate for housing animals evolved for the warm African savannas and tropical forest ranges of Asia, elephants are confined to cramped indoor holding areas for months at a time, endlessly pacing and destroying their feet on hard concrete floors.

Zoo captivity is especially deadly to elephants...

At Zoo Miami, an African elephant named Cita succumbed to her injuries after being attacked and knocked down by another African elephant named Peggy. In wild elephant herds, females do not kill one another. When aggression does arise, they have the space they need to de-escalate or escape from conflict. Sadly, the restricted confines of zoo exhibits deny elephants this option. The results can lead to tragic and painful death.

The list of abuses doesn’t end there: thoughtless relocation, solitary confinement, forced insemination… these are but a few of the countless sickening misdeeds we’ve discovered. 

Our investigations of these facilities include: 

Conducting covert in-person assessments 
Reviewing thousands of government and veterinary records
Consulting with elephant experts to rebut zoo propaganda with scientific fact

Your donation of $35 today directly supports the costs associated with travel, lodging, research, and equipment necessary for our painstaking investigations. Only by exposing the plight of captive elephants can we hope to contribute to the expansion of their rights and protections, and ultimately, their liberation from these inhumane facilities.

Despite the heartrending nature of our investigations, we are encouraged by the progress they inspire. 

Just hours after we published our 10 Worst Zoos List for 2019 and exposed Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s cruel plan to separate Doc the Asian elephant from his family, the Zoo backpedaled and announced... Doc will stay with his family! Now we are doing everything in our power to send Doc to an accredited sanctuary – together with his family!

The journey to a brighter day for elephants is long and arduous, but with your support, and starting with your generous donation, we vow that we will not rest until the sun rises upon that more compassionate future for elephants and all animals.

Thank you for standing up for captive elephants!