R.I.P. Dondi the elephant
July 30th, 2010 by admin
ARFF is mourning the death of “Dondi,” a solitary female Asian elephant who was a regular performer at Flea World, a flea market in Sanford, and at Santa’s Enchanted Forest, a Christmas festival in Miami. (Click here to view video of a performance at Flea World in February.)
Dondi died of unknown causes on July 28.
ARFF held numerous demonstrations on behalf of Dondi. For years, ARFF pleaded with Dondi’s owners to retire her to a sanctuary where she could be free from constant travel and have an opportunity for normal social relationships. It is tragic that her life ended without being given that chance. Dondi deserved better.
Sadly, Dondi was not the only elephant in Florida forced to live alone. Visit ARFF’s website to learn how you can help “Nosey,” an elephant currently traveling with the Liebling Bros. Circus.
I sent the following letter to Southwick Zoo, where Dondi was kept except for when she had to go work in flea markets and amusement parks in Florida.
justine@southwickszoo.com
Ms. Brewer, I am so sorry to hear about the death of Dondi. I could only think of how a human being would survive if forced to live alone, separated from other human beings. I understand that poor Dondi lived alone all her life and also was forced to perform and give rides at your zoo during the summer. During the winter, she had to perform and give rides at Flea World, the giant flea market and amusement park in Florida.
What a sad life for poor Dondi. I hope you will empathize with her lonely existence and encourage other zoos NOT to use elephants in this manner. If you were to ask humans if they would rather view a happy elephant in his/her natural habitat (or a once-captive elephant released to an elephant sanctuary) versus an elephant who is handled with a bull hook and lives in a small environment with no pond, no sister elephants who has to give rides and perform tricks, you would see that humans do NOT want to see sad elephants in sad environments. Elephants that are either in their natural habitat or in an elephant sanctuary where they enjoy grazing, socializing, dusting themselves, playing with each other, wading in ponds are happy elephants.
We could NEVER call it normal to hold elephants captive in zoos where they have little room to move about, much less roam. Because elephants are highly social animals who, in the wild, live in large family groups in which females remain with their mothers for their entire life & Asian elephants have a natural lifespan of 60-70 years, zoos are constantly doing a disservice to elephants. Recent scientific studies show that elephants in zoos die decades earlier than those in relatively protected wild populations.
Is this what we truly want our children to learn? No! Elephants in circuses & zoos don’t provide a realistic educational tool for children. Children are seeing broken-spirited animals reacting to a stressful and unnatural environment.
I implore you to rise to a higher standard, as other zoos are doing, by not replacing Dondi with another elephant. Please honor Dondi by saying - “That’s it. No more elephants at our zoo. We are going to pay homage and respect to Dondi by no longer having elephants here.”
If you made a statement like this, the world would stand up and take notice. We would have such respect for you as one who truly has the welfare of elephants at heart. We would respect you as a leader amongst zoos and zoo directors. We are confident you will continue to think of Dondi — her life and her death — as you move forward.
Thank you.
Kim Hogan
Lynchburg Va
It is sad Dondi passed away, she was a incredible creature that i had the incredible oportunity to live right down the street from where she spent her summer months at Southwick’s Zoo. I had the chance to see her grazing with her keepers in the 100 acre field many times during the day.
She had a family that she loved dearly.
People should not pass judgement before they have all the facts. Dondi was rescued from a lumber camp in Asia. She was not born in the wild and would not have survived had it not been for the Schacht’s family.
My heart goes out to the Schacht family as they are true ambassadors to the voice of animals.
Maybe you should know these people before you pass judgement on them.