Elephant in the Room 7/15

Thank you to everyone who has already written in! We have had confirmation this morning that Radisson will remove their advertising ASAP and stop supporting the festival! Great news!

Therefore, the contact details of two additional targets, Grand Hotel Katmandu and Yak & Yeti Trader Katmandu have been added to the contact details in the mission below (and Radisson deleted). Please let me know if you had any questions.

Our next mission is to write in behalf of the elephants currently being used in Nepal's Chitwan Elephant Festival.

Eyewitness video footage from last year's festival showed elephants being repeatedly struck and gouged with bullhooks—spear-like weapons with a sharp hook on one end—and their ears being violently yanked. Mahouts (handlers) also beat frightened elephants with other weapons, such as sticks and makeshift wooden knives.

One mahout was seen repeatedly jabbing a baby elephant behind the ear to force her to "play" soccer. Right after the match, eyewitnesses saw that she had several fresh, painful, bloody wounds.

In response to PETA's damning video footage, all former sponsors have pulled their support of the festival. A number of companies, including Eco Holidays Nepal, Eyes on Nepal, Nepal Tours, Pro Nepal Tours, Thamel Travels & Tours Pvt. Ltd., Yeti Travels, Hop Nepal, and Nepal Footprint Holiday, have also stopped promoting the festival.

To learn more about this cruel event, please click on this link: PETAAsia.com/NepalCruelty

Please take a moment to write to the following companies in behalf of these elephants and ask that they stop supporting this cruel festival:

Yak & Yeti Kathmandu

Mr. Radhe Shyam Saraf (Chairman

Email address: reservation@yakandyeti.com.np

Veena World

E-mail address: Travel@veenaworld.com

Grand Hotel Kathmandu

Ram Avtar Goyal (Chairman)

Email address: info@grandhotelnepal.com

Please cc: delhi@grandhotelnepal.com

Important note: Please write your letter as a concerned individual (rather than as a PETA representative). This will increase the chance of it being read, as public pressure is the main impetus for change. This will also make it more likely that our official letters will get through.

Thank you again for your help with this important issue. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any help.

Bringing wildlife criminals to justice. Wildlife crime cases in the fast track with new equipment, special training

A ranger apprehends an elephant poacher. Pangolin scales are uncovered by African Wildlife Foundation’s hardworking canine detection teams. A baby chimpanzee is found hidden in a trafficker’s home. Seizing illegal wildlife contraband is just the beginning of the oftentimes long, arduous process involved in bringing wildlife criminals to justice. Everything from obtaining timely forensic analysis to evidence handling to witness testimony can stall or even derail a wildlife case. To ensure that wildlife criminals do not slip through the cracks, AWF provides support, training, and resources to law enforcement officials across the continent — including on-the-ground court monitors who are uniquely specialized to provide real-time counsel related to wildlife crimes. In our newest article, one of AWF’s dedicated court monitors recounts the real-life challenges facing the men and women working to bring wildlife criminals to justice. Find out how we’re improving wildlife crime conviction rates

Tell Dallas Zoo to Stop Traumatizing Elephants for Profit. The Dallas Zoo continues to conflate conservation with exploitation by holding elephants captive. Elephants in captivity often suffer from chronic sicknesses, unusual behaviors, trauma, and premature deaths. Tell executives it is time to send the elephants imprisoned at its facility to an accredited sanctuary and to shut down its exhibit for good! ACT NOW

Ask Congress to Halt Trophy Hunting Imports! A much-needed bill has been introduced to prohibit the importation of trophies from federally protected wildlife species and ban the domestic canned hunting of them. Currently, the U.S. is the largest importer of wildlife trophies in the world, which includes the body parts of threatened elephant and lion species.

The ProTECT Act would end our nation's involvement in some of the most atrocious wild animal trophy importation and tame animal killings. Join us in urging decision-makers to pass this important bill to save threatened species! ACT NOW

Next, a blind, hobbled and elderly elephant needs your help! For weeks Wildlife SOS staff have been following a beautiful begging elephant we're calling "Karma." Although she has several debilitating medical issues, she is still at risk for being illegally sold to traffickers and disappearing. Karma needs your help now.

For Karma's safety, we can't show photos or give more details about her. Once she is safe, we will disclose those immediately.

This photo is representational only and not of Karma. To keep her safe, we can't show you her photo at this time.

I know we've asked a lot this year ... Karma will be the seventh elephant you've helped to save in 2019. Our rescue funds are running low. We're asking for your help not for ourselves, but for elephants like Karma. Our goal is to get her to our hospital for treatment and lifetime care in less than 2 weeks. Click here to be a part of this mission!

The Yankari Game Reserve is Nigeria's richest wildlife oasis, covering over 2,000 square kilometers of lush wilderness. Visitors can glimpse elephants, West African lions, buffalo, hippos, and more drinking at the rivers that wind through the greenery.

But for years the reserve was left unprotected – and hundreds of peaceful elephants lost their lives.

A mere 100 elephants remain – and that's the largest population remaining in the vast country of Nigeria.

If these elephants have any hope of surviving, we must be vigilant in protecting the Yankari Game Reserve. Will you be one of the 200 participants – two for each elephant remaining – to step up today to have their gift matched, providing 2X the protection for these majestic creatures?

Since WCS was entrusted with protecting Yankari's elephants, not a single incident of poaching has occurred in the entire reserve. But achievements like that don't happen by themselves – they are possible only with the help of generous supporters like you.

Please help to protect the remaining members of the Yankari herd. Your help today will be matched, going twice as far toward defending every elephant, lion, and wild creature whose life depends on our support.

Baby Elephant Being Used as Party Prop to Entertain Guests at Five-Star Resort

Animal rights activists are up in arms after a five-start resort in Thailand used a baby elephant as a party “prop.” The photo has been removed from the Mövenpick Resort Bangtao Beach hotel in Phuket. In the photo, the elephant is by the side of the pool surrounded by guests including children. The resort’s TripAdvisor page shows an example of the baby elephant at a pool.

According to Metro UK, the elephant was brought by a guest for use at a private event. Animal rights activist Amy Jones, from the group Moving Animals, said, “Elephants are sensitive, intelligent animals, not products to be used as a ridiculous party prop. Mövenpick Resort Bangtao Beach should not be promoting and supporting such cruelty, and this stunt will undoubtedly be bad for business as more and more tourists turn away from activities which exploit elephants. No elephant should have to suffer from this kind of abuse, and Phuket must take steps to make sure that these beautiful animals are protected.”

Accor Hotel Group, which owns the resort, gave a statement to Metro UK which included an apology, “We sincerely apologise for this incident and are committed to doing better in the future to raise awareness of the importance of treating all creatures in an ethical way.”

The photo has been posted by other organizations, see it below:

Asian elephants are endangered and currently still part of a harmful tourism industry in Thailand. You can sign this petition standing up against the exploitation of elephants in Thailand’s tourism industry.

Learn more about elephants in Thailand in One Green Planet with the following articles:

Elephant in The Room

"Corporations Are People Too My Friends."

Our companies are known for creating products that enhance people's lives. Through Sunset Corporation of America and its companies, we’re equally dedicated to improving lives. Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.

Our companies are known for creating products that enhance people's lives. Through Sunset Corporation of America and its companies, we’re equally dedicated to improving lives. Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.

Activism and Sustainability: