Mali the elephant has spent 33 lonely years in a concrete pen in the Philippines, and it's killing her. But still the government won't allow her to go to a better place.
Torn from her family at age three, she was sent to Manila as a gift to then-President Ferdinand Marcos. She has since lived three decades of her life at the capital city's zoo isolated from other elephants, with only a small pool for entertainment. She suffers from severe depression and damage to her feet, the leading cause of death to zoo elephants.
President Benigno Aquino said Mali should be examined to see if she's well enough to travel, even though we already know staying will kill her.
Activists insist Mali's transfer not be delayed any longer and say the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre will take Mali as soon as the Filipino Government will let her go.
Please ask President Aquino to let Mali go - asap!
We, the undersigned, ask President Aquino to do the right thing and let Mali go to a place where she won't suffer as she does at the Manila Zoo - where she can interact with other elephants and feel the soft earth beneath her damaged feet.
Clearly, with the damage done to her health already, along with the years of lonliness she's endured, the benefits of giving her a happier life and more natural habitat far outweigh any risks involved in moving her to Thailand.
We know that elephants are social animals that need to interact with others of their species, and we know the damage done to their bodies by living penned up on a concrete floor, along with the negative health effects caused by restriction of exercise and other normal activities that go with this imprisonment.
Imprisonment is what this is, and there's no justifiable excuse for Mali to be denied the sanctuary being offered her by the Thai Conservation Centre.
We ask that you please allow Mali to go to a better place - that you release her immediately.
Thanks for your time.
