Please support Save the Asian Elephants in our work to end the cruel treatment of elephants in India.
Young elephants are snatched from their forest homes to supply tourist attractions, temples and festivals. Capture from the wild often entails slaughtering the mothers and other herd members who attempt to protect their young.
PAJAN – THE BRUTAL ‘BREAKING IN’ PROCESS
The captured calves are isolated and then forced into a pen and tied with ropes to prevent them moving. They are deprived of water, food and sleep. Terrified, they are brutally, often fatally, beaten with rods, chains or bullhooks (a rod with sharp metal hooks at the striking end) and stabbed with knives and nails. This practice – “pajan” – is designed to break their spirits and brutalise them into submission. The photograph shows a baby elephant beaten to the ground in this "training" process.
We respectfully urge:
- Narendra Modi to end pajan and ensure the proper treatment of captive elephants. These magnificent creatures should either be released into the forests or kept in genuine sanctuaries.
- David Cameron to urgently fulfil his Government’s Manifesto commitment to “support the Indian Government in its efforts to protect the Asian elephant”.
- The Association of British Travel Agents to press its members to remove elephant attractions from their itinerary in India and the rest of Asia. Only visits to genuine sanctuaries and wildlife reserves where tourists observe elephants at a respectful distance (and do not ride them) should be permitted.
Your signature is vital; we need maximum visible support as we enter crucial meetings with the UK Foreign Office and the UK tourism industry.
See STAE's work featured in Mail on Sunday:
16/08/15: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3199391/Tortured-tourists-Chained-spot-20-years-Beaten-submission-secret-jungle-training-camps-terrible-plight-Indian-elephants-LIZ-JONES.html and
23/08/15 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3207447/Your-roar-outrage-gentle-giants-MoS-readers-extraordinary-reaction-abused-elephants-story.html
http://stae.org
