Send message!Imagine, if you can, a youngster, shipped to a strange and frightening place, never to see her family or home ever again. But no alert is ever issued, no reward for her safe return is offered. This is because the victim is an elephant, Mali, the lone elephant at the Manila Zoo. This nursing baby was taken from Sri Lanka in 1974 and has spent the last 35 years in a small, concrete pen.
Try to imagine living your whole life in a room the size of a bedroom, seeing the same four walls every day. You'd have no friends or companionship and nothing whatsoever to pass the time or provide you with comfort. You'd never get to leave. That's exactly what life is like for Mali.
Mali is a mere shell of the magnificent being she's meant to be. She is the only captive elephant in the Philippines, and she needs to be retired without delay. The Office of the President has issued a directive stating that Mali should be transferred to a sanctuary after an evaluation of her health. A sanctuary can offer her thousands of acres to roam, ponds to bathe in, fresh vegetation to eat, foraging opportunities and, most importantly, the company of many other elephants. But despite the fact that PETA Asia has offered to cover the entire cost of the transfer, authorities are stalling PETA's efforts to facilitate Mali's move to a sanctuary.
