Germany: Distressing Footage from Wuppertal Zoo
Elephants exploited for commercial purposes: Footage captured between May and July 2018 and published today by PETA shows how the animals at Wuppertal Zoo are forcibly subjugated by zookeepers, made to pose for photos with visitors, and forced to perform tricks.
Elephants exploited for commercial purposes: Footage captured between May and July 2018 and published today by PETA shows how the animals at Wuppertal Zoo are forcibly subjugated by zookeepers, made to pose for photos with visitors, and forced to perform tricks.
Mayor Andreas Mucke and the city council factions were informed by PETA in a written letter, but showed no interest in a personal meeting. PETA is therefore now publicly calling on those responsible at the zoo and the city of Wuppertal to immediately put an end to the abuse of the African elephants.
«It is outrageous that Wuppertal Zoo degrades elephants to living photo backdrops and gymnastic props,» said Dr. Yvonne Würz, biologist at PETA. «The animals are ‘trained’ with the elephant hook to make them pose and carry people on their backs. Such mistreatment has nothing to do with species conservation or education.»
Species-appropriate keeping in zoos is impossible by design
The mistreatment of elephants in Wuppertal is not an isolated case. Nearly half of all German zoos that keep elephants still house the animals under ‘direct contact’ conditions, in which keepers control the elephants using an elephant hook.
PETA is fundamentally opposed to keeping elephants in zoos, as this cannot be done in a species-appropriate manner regardless of the housing conditions. In the wild, elephants live in stable social groups and roam many kilometres each day. Stress and obesity are the main reasons why elephants in zoos die on average significantly earlier than their counterparts in the wild. More on animal rights.
