An Apology to Elephants

I've always known that circuses and zoos weren't the place for wild animals, and I've always had a feeling that the acts that these beautiful creatures were forced to perform to entertain crowds were NOT something they did in nature, (a claim made by their trainers). But I've never actually seen footage of the abuse that was inflicted upon these amazing creatures. What a sickening eye-opener! I spend the majority of this film drowning in tears! It absolutely broke my heart!During this film, they talk about an incident that had happened at the Knoxville Zoo (in Tennessee). I actually remember this happening, because we had moved close enough to Knoxville to get the news first hand. Plus, I VISITED the zoo and witnessed the Knoxville elephants, myself. (I've only been there once. That was more than enough times for me! There weren't enough redeeming qualities to bring me back.) It was easy to recognise just how unhappy the elephants were because of the constant side-to-side head swinging motion. They were forced to live in an environment that didn't even CLOSELY resemble anything that would be considered natural. Plus, the area they lived in was way too small, which is one of the reasons for their rocking motion: elephants love to ROAM! And because they barely had room to walk, they adopted that swinging motion in order to keep their bodies moving. They were so skinny, so sad, and so MISERABLE!!But anyway, from what I've read of that poor young lady who was killed--she LOVED the elephants, and she really tried to brighten their unhappy days! But unfortunately, those sad creatures were beyond repair. PLUS!! The Knoxville Zoo was ill-equipped to handle these poor, neglected, and DAMAGED elephants! The zoo should've NEVER allowed that young lady to be anywhere near that elephant. How sad for her AND her family.And the ELEPHANT!People and elephants were never meant to be together like. (Or ANY wild animals, for that matter.) But unfortunately, due to the arrogant nature of man, they believe that they are above the laws of nature.I'm hoping that, by watching this documentary, people will think twice before paying to watch these abused animals perform, and therefore supporting their continued abuse. I realize that this is a pipe dream, but if enough people boycott these venues, maybe this barbaric practice will stop.One can only hope!!

I loved the circus as a kid. Frankly, I still love the circus. When I was 15, my best pal and I went to the matinee show of Ringling Bros who were performing in Oakland. Being friends who loved to get into trouble, when hung around after the show and made our way down to the tunnels and exhibition halls of the Coliseum being nosey. It was the first time I saw the animals up close...the reality was startling. The big cats were being sedated in their small cages and we made our way out to the elephant tents. Watching the handlers mistreat these wonderful creatures while shackling them was more than I could handle and the memory has stayed with me forever. We crashed the evening performance, but I don't remember anything except what I saw below the Coliseum.Years later as a parent, I asked my sons if they wanted to go to the circus. We had free tickets. I never shared with them my last outing at the circus almost 20 years prior. They enjoyed the people, but not the animals. They were sad for them. They never wanted to go to animal performance circus again.Baby elephants ripped away from their family and shipped off to heaven knows where. Tortured to perform unnatural stunts for entertainment, reminds me to much of how my ancestors came to this country and why. It is time to first protect our glorious inhabitants in the wild and to put an end to entertainment use of animals...all animals in a circus.Lastly, I've never been more proud of my hometown of Oakland, CA for having such a premier zoo. Good job.

This was an eye opening documentary. It was very hard to watch, in fact I stopped watching 3 different times but something made me go back and finish it. Maybe I felt I as a human owed it to the elephants to see what has happened to them and is still happening to them even today. How can humans be so inhumane?! I know one thing: I will NEVER go to another circus in my life. And I will also never go to any kind of entertainment where animals are abused. Even a rodeo and that's making a big statement from a Texas girl. Please watch this documentary and pass the word to your friends to not support local or traveling circuses. It's a simple, small step and very easy to do.

Great documentary on Elephants. I'll never look at a circus and think their animals are well taken care of. In fact, I'll never take my children to a circus, unless the Elephants are able to act their normal ways. I agree with one of the statements, saying something to the effect that is not normal for wild Elephants to walk on their back legs, putting their faces to the ground with their legs in the air. It's unnatural to take them out of the wild to make them do things that aren't natural to do. Abuse is abuse and those who have abused these precious Elephants will be judged by God. They should be loved and treated with the greatest respect, nothing less. Such sadness I felt as I watched men and women touch Elephants with metal rods in delicate places. Sometimes it was shown a man or woman just hitting them! That's wrong. Wrong is wrong and will never be right or ok to treat Elephants badly or advising them. I pray those who check on the care of circus animals will have them brought before the courts. They deserve to be punished for the years of torture the Elephants have gone through.