Animal rights campaigners in the Philippines will submit an online petition with 60,000 signatures to the government demanding that a neglected elephant be transferred from Manila Zoo to a sanctuary in Thailand.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Monday said it would submit the petition to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala to highlight their campaign for Mali the elephant to be kept in more humane conditions.
“Mali has been locked up in what amounts to no more than a prison for 35 painful years,” PETA Asia campaign manager Rochelle Regodon told The Philippine Star.
“The international outcry for an end to Mali’s loneliness and suffering grows louder with each passing day, but the Manila Zoo has turned a deaf ear. Now, it’s time for Secretary Alcala to take action.”
The 38-year-old elephant was taken from Sri Lanka in 1977 and has spent about 35 years in a small concrete pen, 33 of them completely alone, according to the PETA website.
“Following a sustained campaign in her behalf by PETA Asia, Philippine President Benigno Aquino issued a directive stating that Mali should be considered for transfer to a sanctuary after an evaluation of her health, but Manila city officials are stalling,” read a statement on PETA’s website last October.
“PETA Asia has secured a place for Mali at a sanctuary in Thailand, where she could have acres to roam, rivers to bathe in, fresh vegetation to eat, foraging opportunities, the company of many other elephants, and, of course, the care of elephant experts 24 hours a day.”
Some veterinarians have concluded that Mali is suffering from potentially fatal foot problems and requested that she be removed from the Manila Zoo, according to The Star.
The female elephant’s transfer has received international support from French actress Brigitte Bardot, wildlife conservationist Jane Goodall, and author JM Coetzee.