PAWS-GoodBye to Annie

PAWS Says Goodbye to Beloved Asian Elephant Annie

Dear Friends,

It’s been a while that I shared stories from my travel and my wildlife conservation work with you.  In the fall, I spent almost 5 weeks in Europe visiting with family and celebrating my sister’s 70ties birthday.  It was nice to see the whole family together.  I further had a chance to travel to Turkey, Czech Republic and former East Germany, all places that were new to me.  Eventually, I will share my impressions and images with you. 

Once back, I had organized a Photo Walk at the PAWS Sanctuary [Performing Animals Welfare Society] in early November.  As most of you know I support the organization and offer these Photo Walks to raise awareness about issues surrounding animals in captivity.  Elephants suffer greatly in circuses and zoos.  PAWS has for the last 30 years given sanctuary not only for a variety of performing or captive animals including 39 tigers, but has created a wonderful habitat for 11 African and Asian elephants at the PAWS ARK 2000 in the Foothills of the Sierra.  Our group of 11 had a great day “Seeing the Elephants” and I will share some comments and a very insightful summary of the experience by one of my participants in my next blog.

Today though, I am saddened by the latest PAWS news [November 20, 2014] of the death of Annie, one of the Asian Elephants.  Please learn about her life in captivity in zoos prior to finding sanctuary at PAWS 1995.  Her last 20 years at PAWS were spend in an environment much closer to her natural needs with pastures to roam, a pond to swim and a warm barn with natural ground [not cement] to rest at night.  She was 55 when she succumbed to her severe arthritis and foot disease – a frequent affliction for captive elephants.  In the wild, these magnificent animals can live  to over 70 years, however, 55 years of age is old for a captive elephant.  Her last 20 years allowed her to gently age with dignity under the loving care at PAWS.

I remember Annie from my many visits at PAWS - here enjoying a “bath” from one of her keepers:

Rest in Peace, Annie, and be reunited with your natural family in elephant heaven.

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Below is the Newsletter released by PAWS on November 20, 2014:

PAWS Says Goodbye to Beloved Asian Elephant Annie

It is with very heavy hearts that we at PAWS share news of the passing of our dear friend, Asian elephant Annie - best known for her joyous romps in the lake that is part of our Asian elephant habitat at the ARK 2000 sanctuary. She had endured severe arthritis and foot disease, which gradually worsened over many years. After it became clear that the medications and treatments used to treat her chronic conditions were no longer providing relief, she was humanely euthanized on Tuesday, while lying on soft soil and surrounded by those who cared for and loved her. At age 55, she was among the oldest Asian elephants in North America.

"Everyone at PAWS will miss Annie. She was a very special elephant," said PAWS
president Ed Stewart. "I'm proud we were able to give her a peaceful and more natural life at the PAWS sanctuary for nearly 20 years. We restored her dignity and gave her the care and respect she deserved."

Annie was born in Assam, India, around 1960, and taken from her mother at a very early age for use in the zoo industry. She was immediately put on display in a zoo in Wisconsin, where she spent much of her life chained to a concrete floor.

In 1994, the nation was shocked by videos showing Annie and her companion Tammy being cruelly trained. While held by ropes and chains handlers "broke" the elephants, mercilessly beating them into submission. This was no undercover video; the zoo recorded the training session as instruction for other keepers. (This footage was included in the 2013 HBO documentary, "An Apology to Elephants," narrated by actress and comedienne - and friend of PAWS - Lily Tomlin.) Under public pressure, the zoo opted to relocate the elephants to PAWS. 

Annie arrived at PAWS in 1995, rescued from the Wisconsin zoo with Tammy, who passed away in 2003 at age 52 from chronic foot disease and arthritis - the leading causes of death for elephants in captivity. Despite their great intelligence and size, in captivity elephants are forced to live in small, barren enclosures that cause a multitude of physical and psychological harms. Their social, physical and psychological complexities may make them one of the most deprived of all captive wild animals.

Annie's life at the PAWS ARK 2000 sanctuary was far closer to what elephants naturally need. She had a sprawling habitat in which to roam, elephant companions, soft grass to lie down and nap on, and a lake in which she loved to bob, splash and swim. It was always a joy to see Annie enjoying her habitat - something we often shared with you on our Facebook page and on YouTube.

Over the years, Annie experienced a variety of health problems, including an injury caused by a bull elephant during forced mating. Her arthritis and foot problems had progressed, including a severe foot abscess. In 2012, Annie tested positive for tuberculosis, but never exhibited symptoms of the disease. Her general condition remained good, including normal appetite and weight, but Annie's arthritis and foot disease ultimately made movement unbearably painful for her. Tuberculosis has been diagnosed in many elephants used for circuses and to give rides, and in zoos such as the Oregon Zoo and St. Louis Zoo.

It is a sad fact that by the time most elephants come to PAWS they are suffering the debilitating effects of a life spent in inadequate captive conditions. Annie was no exception. Had she remained in her native home, she likely would have been leading a full and enriched life today, surrounded by a family of her own.

"Our job at PAWS is to restore dignity to captive elephants and, for elephants like Annie and Tammy, give them a life free from beatings and chains," explained Ed. "We did our best for them, and continue to make a significant difference in the lives of all the elephants and other wild animals under our care."

As is customary for all elephants that pass away at PAWS, a necropsy is being performed on Annie's remains by pathologists from U.C. Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital and tissue samples sent to a laboratory. 

PAWS thanks everyone who has ever cared about and supported Annie and helped give her - and all of the wild animals at PAWS - a life of dignity, serenity, and love. On behalf of Annie and everyone at PAWS, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Annie goes swimming:

YouTube Video Published by PAWS on Jul 11, 2013

With quiet reflection and gratitude to PAWS,

Meggi

Elephant Sanctuary-Hohenwald-Tennessee

If Shirley Could Talk...

If Shirley could talk, what a story would she tell?  Would she remember her family in Sumatra?  Would she tell of hardship and about the fire on a ship that she escaped from?  Would she carry anger at the humans that ripped her from her family, that made her perform most of her life that deprived her of the company of other elephants?  Shirley has had a whirlwind of a life.  From being caught in the wilds of Sumatra to ending at her forever home here at TES, her life has been a true inspiration of perseverance.

Shirley, now ~66 years of age, now lives in Hohenwald, Tennessee, at a The Elephant Sanctuary (TES) with large acreage of land where she has green grass under her feet and a warm barn to sleep in at night.  Several years ago she was reunited with Jenny, another performing elephant after 22 years apart.  Shirley and Jenny were together at a circus when Jenny was just a calf and Shirley in her 20ties, her surrogate mother for a short time.  When they were reunited in Hohenwald, the remarkable reunion was documented – you can see the video here – and now they inseparable while they live out their life at the sanctuary.

Below is the biography of Shirley with all its twist and turns.  But only recently, her remarkable rescue from a burning ship in Nova Scotia surfaced with the pictures taken in 1963 - more than 50 year ago.  A truly remarkable story of her life of perseverance at the hand of humans.

As I contemplate how we humans treat these highly intelligent and sensitive elephants in captivity under often the most unnatural conditions, we need to ask ourselves what rights do we have to impose such a life?  With excellent documentaries – films – videos available, with increased travel to the lands and forests that elephants call their home, it is time to stop keeping elephants and large wildlife species captive and abuse them just for the entertainment of our human species.

I invite you to read the below biography of Shirley and to watch the remarkable video of Shirley’s and Jenny’s reunion here.

Jenny, at TES

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Shirley

Born: 1948
Birthplace: Sumatra
Birth status: wild born

• Captured from the wild: 1953
• Life before the Sanctuary: performed for twenty-four years with the Carson and Barnes Circus, then lived at the Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo for another twenty-two years
• Reason for coming to the Sanctuary: crippled and living alone
• Shirley moved to the Elephant Sanctuary July 6, 1999

Height: Nearly 9 feet
Favorite Food: Apples

Shirley is our oldest elephant, wild caught in Sumatra over fifty years ago.

Her back right leg was broken thirty years ago when she was attacked by a fellow circus elephant. She is missing a large section of her right ear as result of a fire which not only injured her ear but also left several scars on her back, side and feet.

Hohenwald, Tennessee (June 9, 1999) - Shirley, a rare Asian elephant who has spent most of her life entertaining audiences all over the world, will retire July 6 to the Elephant Sanctuary, the nationally renowned, natural-habitat pachyderm refuge located in Hohenwald, TN.

"We're overjoyed that after such a storied career Shirley will be joining our other elephants," said Carol Buckley, founder and executive director of The Elephant Sanctuary. "Yet, making way for her arrival will be both emotionally and financially demanding."

"The transport and care of an elephant like Shirley doesn't come cheap" she adds. "We'll need the help of our supporters and volunteers, as well as new sources, to provide a seamless transition to this new chapter of Shirley's life."

Shirley was fifty-one when she was retired to The Elephant Sanctuary. She has quite a colorful past. At age five, she was captured from the wilds of Asia and was purchased by the Kelly–Miller Circus. In 1958, while the circus was traveling through Cuba, Fidel Castro seized power. Shirley and the entire circus were held captive by Castro's forces for several weeks before being set free. Unfortunately that was not the end of Shirley's saga. A few years later, her circus ship was docked in Nova Scotia, when a fire broke out in the engine room. This incident caused the ship to sink, killing two animals. Luckily, Shirley was rescued without harm.

Story and photos about the ship fire in Nova Scotia.  -- Pl scroll below!

In 1975, at age twenty-eight, while performing for the Lewis Brothers Circus, Shirley was attacked by another elephant. Her right hind leg was seriously broken. It was not set and healed poorly, causing everyday life to be somewhat difficult. Regardless of her injury Shirley was forced to perform in the circus for nearly two more years before being sold to the Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo in Monroe, LA.

Usually female elephants live in-groups, but for safety concerns related to her injury, Shirley was kept apart and lived alone at the zoo for twenty-two years. According to the Sanctuary Founding Director Carol Buckley, the Zoo was generous to Shirley by providing her with a loving environment, but the time came when the Zoo felt Shirley could lead a healthier life in a natural habitat. That is when the Zoo contacted The Elephant Sanctuary.

"We knew we could trust The Elephant Sanctuary to offer Shirley the kind of life she deserves," explained The Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo Director, Jake Yelverton. "It was in Shirley's best interest to retire her to a place that was more suitable."

"It goes to show after everything Shirley has been through, what survivors these animals really are," said Buckley.

Shirley moved to the Sanctuary July 6, 1999 joining Tarra, Jenny and Barbara, the three residents.

September 9, 2003
This dear note was sent by a three year old after he met Shirley on our site.

Dear Shirley:
I will give you ice cream on a plate.
I will give you one motorcycle. ONLY ONE!
I will kiss you on your ear.

Love Cyrus

Shirley at TES

[ Ref: http://www.elephants.com/aboutSanctuary.php]

Story and photos about the ship fire in Nova Scotia.

Story and photos about the ship fire in Nova Scotia.

Shirley — A Place in History

Shirley was one of dozens of circus animals rescued from a vessel destroyed by fire in Yarmouth harbour.

We are grateful to Bob Brooks/Yarmouth County Museum Archives, 
Nova Scotia, Canada for these photographs.

Shirley, on the left, shares a bucket of water

Residents never forgot elephants

One of three pachyderms that are part of Yarmouth folklore has been located: Shirley, last survivor

September 19, 2001 - Richard Foot, National Post

HALIFAX - For thirty-eight years the people of Yarmouth, N.S., have been talking about elephants—pecifically three Asian elephants who came to town on board a circus ship in 1963, and were rescued from the vessel when it was destroyed by fire in Yarmouth harbour.

The animals were marched from the ship through groups of gawking fishermen and awestruck onlookers. Firemen rescued tigers, llamas and leopards, too, but it's the fate of the elephants that has long intrigued the locals.  After the fire, dozens of the exotic animals were loaded on to trucks and driven back toward Florida, home of the Kelly and Miller Bros. Circus.  En-route, the trailer carrying the elephants crashed, and news reached Yarmouth that the pachyderms who survived the fire had perished on the highway.

"That's the last we heard," says Laura Bradley, archivist at the Yarmouth County Museum, who says the tale of the three elephants has remained a popular part of Yarmouth folklore.

Today, however, the tale has changed. Ms. Bradley has learned that one of the beasts from the 1963 fire is alive at an elephant refuge in the deep, verdant woods of western Tennessee.  Her name is Shirley—she is an old and haggard creature—but her existence and whereabouts have electrified the staff at the Yarmouth museum.

"I was surprised and thrilled to know she had survived," says Ms. Bradley. "I had written those elephants off when I read they'd been in a road accident. I felt it was the end of their story. But now the story lives on." 

Shirley (on the left) on board the ship

Yarmouth historians and staff at The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Ten., are eager to swap notes. The museum has archival photographs of Shirley's dramatic rescue from the circus ship; the sanctuary has the remaining details of Shirley's extraordinary life.  Says Carol Buckley, director of the sanctuary: "The museum has a booklet on the fire and photographs -- I'm very anxious to get any of that, it's part of Shirley's history."

News of Shirley reached Yarmouth through the Internet when a museum volunteer received a message from someone who had stumbled across the Web site of The Elephant Sanctuary.

The sanctuary claimed it had an old elephant that once survived a ship fire in Nova Scotia.

"I went to the Web site," says Ms. Bradley, "and when I read Shirley's story, I sobbed."

The elephant's biography, pieced together by the sanctuary from a succession of zoo and circus owners, says Shirley was taken from the wild as a calf and sold to the Kelly-Miller circus. For the next 25 years she trained and travelled across North America, often in wretched conditions, entertaining crowds under the big top. She was in Havana in 1958 when Fidel Castro seized power.

In June, 1963, the circus loaded Shirley and a menagerie of other animals on a cramped and ramshackle steamship, the Fleurus, for a summer tour up the East Coast of Canada. After three harrowing weeks at sea, the Fleurus reached Yarmouth, first stop on the tour.

The ship sinks

Bob Brooks, a celebrated Canadian photographer who started his career in Yarmouth, recorded the visit with photographs and a diary that remain in the care of Ms. Bradley.  "He went on board when the ship arrived," she says. "It was listing badly to starboard, there were rotting chickens being fed to the carnivores, the place was full of flies and dung. The elephants were chained and struggling to stand straight on the tilting ship. Bob said they looked poorly."

The next day a parade of animals -- elephants, bears, llamas, zebras, lions, and cheetahs -- performed for the curious in a nearby field. After the show they were caged back up on the Fleurus, where a fire broke out in the engine room. There was a desperate effort by firefighters to release the live cargo from the ship, while local hunters stood guard with rifles in case an unruly animal bolted into the town.

"The sight of elephants, zebras and the leopard being walked along the wharf, with the chaos of the fire in the background, is something that Yarmouthians have never forgotten," says Ms. Bradley.

Brooks' photographs of the event made a two-page spread in the Toronto Star's weekend magazine.

The circus tour was abandoned and the stranded animals were eventually trucked back to the United States.  Although the elephant trailer did crash in a traffic accident, at least one of the elephants obviously survived.

Ms. Buckley says Shirley toiled in circuses until 1977, when another elephant attacked her and broke her hind leg.  Now a cripple, she was transferred to a Louisiana zoo, where she lived the next 22 years alone in a small, solitary compound, allowed not a breath of contact with her fellow kind.

In 1999, the zookeepers sent her to The Elephant Sanctuary, a private, 300-hectare haven established especially for sick or unwanted, female elephants.  When Shirley arrived there, she was 52, on the brink of old-age. Today she wanders freely and keeps the company of six other cow elephants, including Jenny, a younger animal Shirley first met in a circus barn.

Last year National Geographic featured Shirley in The Urban Elephant, a TV documentary on captive pachyderms.  Ms. Buckley says producers may want to do a follow-up program, after learning about the rich new details of the Yarmouth fire.

As for Ms. Bradley, she says she now has a complete and happy ending to add to the strange story of the circus ship that caught fire in Yarmouth harbor.  "Shirley is a symbol of hope," she says. "Every time I see an animal in a circus, I think maybe they, too, will have a happy ending and find their sanctuary."

The Fleurus was the last circus ship ever to reach Yarmouth. In 1997, the town became the first in Nova Scotia to ban all circuses, traveling by land or sea, with exotic animals in tow. Although at least four circuses still tour Canada each year with elephant acts, twenty-five other municipalities across the country—in British Columbia, Quebec and Newfoundland—no longer welcome them to town.

[Ref:  Bob Brooks/Yarmouth County Museum Archives]

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 What a remarkable story!  

Til next time,

Meggi

Best Friends Sanctuary, Utah

Caring for the Unwanted – Volunteering at Best Friends, Utah

It’s been a while since I visited your inbox with new stories and images.  I just returned from a longer road trip that took me to Utah and Arizona where I visited National Parks – Bryce Canyon and Zion – and Navajo Nation Tribal Areas in Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly (see map below).  Any of you who have been in Utah and/or Arizona will agree that the area is blessed with beautiful landscape, high desert with its starkness and awesome red rock formations.  As I work through my images I will share more of that part of my journey in a future blog.

Best Friends Society Headquarters in Angel Canyon, Kanab, Utah

However, this whole trip actually originated by my yearly goal to volunteer some of my time for a good animal cause.  I have been a supporter of the biggest domestic animal sanctuary in the US:  Best Friend Society, in Kanab Utah, since I visited them almost 10 years ago.  Established almost 30 years ago, Best Friends pioneered the ‘no-kill’ movement.  At the time, more than 17 million homeless pets were dying each year in shelters.  Today that number has dropped to around 4 million which is a tremendous progress.  But Best Friend is not stopping there and is promoting ‘trap-spay/neuter-release programs in communities all around the country while also supporting local community organizations in their efforts to establish ‘no-kill’ shelters. 

Millani - with her striking blue eyes!

In the effort to ‘save them all’, Best Friends takes in from shelters around the country those animals that are , in Angel Canyon – beautiful red rock country!  Here, ~1700 domestic animals have found sanctuary, are cared for, are healed from neglected and abusive situations under the care of wonderful staff supported by an army of volunteers.  The large clinic with its veterinary staff is skilled to deal with those animals that need medical treatment.  When I first visited Best Friends, the tour guide drove us around in a jeep to the horse pastures, pig heaven, the bunny house, Parrot Gardens, Dog Town where we were greeted by happy noisy dogs of all sizes, to Cat Village with its very spacious indoor/outdoor facilities with lots of cat trees and rafters for the shy cats who liked to be let alone.  Overlooking Angel Canyon, Angles Rest Cemetery is a quiet place where those who passed away find solitude with each grave marked with the name of the animal that found its resting place here.

You might remember having heard about Best Friends during and after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans 5 years ago.  Best Friends’ army of volunteers answered the call for help and established a temporary shelter for the animals left behind in the flooded area.  In the end, Best Friends were able to reunite over 80% of the animals with their owners and took in the remaining animals with the goal of finding them good forever homes.

Again, after the super storm Sandy last year, Best Friends supported the rescue efforts for the domestic animals there. 

Over the years, I heard of other stories about Best Friends that strengthened my resolve to spend some time there.  And on September 11, I started bright and early for the volunteer orientation, safety training, and pinned my volunteer batch on my shirt and drove to Cat Village to roll up my sleeves and help wherever help was needed.  Yes, the sanctuary is so large that one has to drive from the main building to the various locations where the animals are, as well as to the central cafeteria for a healthy vegetarian lunch.  This eliminates the drive to town – Kanab – since Best Friends is nestled in the canyon about 15 miles north of Kanab.  Although I love all animals, I had decided to spend my time in Cat Village where ~500 cats are house in several specifically designed houses which allow the cats to be inside – the winters can be cold at 5000 ft elevation – or outside in large patio enclosures.  Each house has dedicated staff supported by volunteers to care for about 60-70 cats.  The cats are roomed in several indoor/outdoor enclosures with about 17-20 living together.  The enclosures have cat trees, scratch boards, toys, lots of warm soft resting pillows, and rafters under the ceiling for cats that are shy or need some more alone time.

As a volunteer, I spend my mornings assigned to a room with 15-17 cats to do the daily cleaning.  I was impressed that with so many cats and of course litter boxes, the place smelled fresh and clean, and I learned the tricks how this is accomplished:  all pillows and cloth surfaces were brushed daily with a water-Downy solution – or sometimes with lavender – and being washed once a week.  All solid surfaces received a wiping with OdoBan and with fresh litter and mopping the floors, my cats enjoyed a beautiful clean home.

To coax the shyer cats down from their rafters, I handed out treats freely.  Helping socializing the shyer cats was on the schedule for the afternoon since Best Friends’ goal is to adopt the animals to forever homes.  If you ever have visited shelters, it is always the more socialized friendly animals that find homes more easily than the shyer ones.  During the afternoons, I also packed my small camera to see what I could capture.  

When I left the sanctuary to continue my trip it was with a heavy heart.  The cats of Morgaine House where I spent my volunteer time had all in their own way been wonderful.  Shy Brooklyn would come down from her rafter to be petted and when I called and brought her her special food.  Kixie let me pet her after I read to her on her first day at the sanctuary – she missed her home.  Lilith, a young beautiful tortoise cat, who had a congenital disorder that hinders her to walk well, used to sit on my lap in the afternoon purring up a storm.  Squirrel, true to her name, climbed all over me and loved to end up on my shoulder.  Xena with her beautiful white face loved to be petted but not held.  If they could talk, what stories would they tell us?  Some are still grieving the loss of their person;  some are healing from situation that were not beneficial to them – animals that came from hoarding situations, had never had enough to eat, had been mistreated.  The hope is

that they learn to trust humans again, that the loving environment at Best Friends shows them that their misfortune is over and that maybe they will find ‘their person’ and a loving home.  As of this writing, some of the cats from Morgaine House have been adopted:  Lilith and Xena and young Buttercup all found caring

people that adopted them – Bon Voyage and a happy life with lots of love!!

In the end I was sad to leave but happy to have had the opportunity to work with such dedicated people - who even walk those cats that need physical therapy on a leash!  Most of the staff comes to Best Friends after visiting and maybe answering a desire to get off the fast pace life.  Life in Kanab is rural at a slower pace.  But I can see the rewards working for an organization that is truly dedicated to those who don’t have a voice; an organization trying to find solutions at the core of the problems:  increase spay and neuter programs, stop puppy mills, abolish breed discrimination, proceed with the ‘no kill’ mission in shelters countrywide, better regulations for Internet pet traffic, and others.  I left hopeful that these problems can be overcome and that the world can become a better place for the animals.  As for me, I think I might very well be back – Best Friends and Angel Canyon might be calling me – let’s see how my journey will continue.

Til next time

Meggi