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| Retired elephants enjoy freedom and community at The Elephant Sanctuary in Howenwald, Tennessee |
| How you can help Mona:
*Write the Zoo Director Dr. Bill Foster, CEO Birmingham Zoo, Inc. 2630 Cahaba Road Birmingham, AL 35223 205-879-0409 888-Zoo-Bham (888-966-2426) 205-879-9426 (fax) wfoster@birminghamzoo.com *Sign the petition to send Mona to a Sanctuary: http://www.gopetition.com/online/5964.html * Write 'letters to the editor' epage@bhamnews.com *Learn more about the issue: www.alabamawildlifeadvocates.org, The Elephant Sanctuary Elephant Free Zoos |
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| The Elephant Sanctuary allows animals to live life as nature intended. Imagine Mona finally enjoying freedom and friendship after a half a century of captivity at The Birmingham Zoo. |
| About Mona:
Mona is a 56 year old Asian Elephant. She was captured in the wild in 1951. She has been at the Birmingham Zoo for 50 years, since 1955. Since the death of Susie, her companion of 48 years, Mona is the only elephant left at the zoo. Female elephants are highly social animals and Mona is sure to be lonely and confused. Solitary confinement is a punishment that Mona does NOT deserve. Please write polite letters to Zoo director Dr. Foster requesting that he immediately release Mona to a Sanctuary! Letters and drawings from children are also very effective! Speak from your heart! Contact information is provided at the bottom of the page. Mona: the issues *It is time for us to give Mona the consideration she deserves. Mona has been held captive for 50 years in the same small concrete exhibit and it would be an injustice to deny her retirement at a sanctuary. *We must consider the enormous physical and psychological needs of elephants and face the fact that these needs cannot be met in barren, concrete enclosures such as the exhibit in which Mona has spent the last 50 years of her life. *The Elephant Sanctuary will provide Mona with over 2,700 acres of natural habitat for roaming and the companionship of others of her kind. The amount of space allotted to the average zoo elephant is 60,000 times smaller than a wild elephant’s home territory. Because they cannot walk freely, many elephants in captivity suffer from painful osteoarthritis and foot infections. But she’s been there her whole life, isn’t the zoo her home? Mona never chose captivity at the zoo- captivity was forced upon her. After 50 years of confinement, she deserves our compassion and understanding. Don’t zoos educate children about wild animals? In the wild, elephants roam over 25 miles a day. Seeing a captive elephant confined to a tiny barren enclosure sends the wrong message and suggests that it is ok to deny an animal all of her physical and psychological needs for the sake of human entertainment. Zoo vs. Sanctuary *Accredited zoos are permitted to keep their elephants in chains for up to 12 hours a day. At the Elephant Sanctuary, chains are not permitted. *Accredited zoos are permitted to hit their elephants as part of standard training procedures. Hitting elephants is never allowed at the sanctuary. *The average life span of captive zoo elephants is 38 years. In the wild, elephants can live for more than 65 years. Captivity induced foot problems are a leading cause of the premature death for zoo elephants. Elephants at the sanctuary are allowed ample space to roam and soft surfaces for standing. As a result, foot problems and infections are much less common in the sanctuary environment. Scroll down to see how YOU can help Mona! |
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