Elephants

Do Not Enjoy Zoo Life Contrary To New Study

Some of you may have seen articles in the media, including the BBC which claimed that elephants in zoos enjoy interacting with visitors. This was in relation to a study carried out by Harper Adams and Nottingham Trent universities and published in the Animals journal. This study looked at various ways visitors impacted the behaviour of over 250 species held in zoos.

The media piece was titled ‘Elephants enjoy zoo visitors, study suggests’. However, the headline was hugely misleading and in fact the results showed that animals in zoos are bored and miserable – out of 302 interactions with the public, only 4% were described as ‘positive’ and even in these cases there were other factors influencing this, including the receiving of food.

We responded to this misleading zoo propaganda, which you can read on the ‘news’ section of our website. Worryingly, both the media and the researchers failed to mention that animals like elephants suffer in zoos and should not be there. This is the kind of misinformation peddled by zoos and their supporters.

I know you share our beliefs - animals do not ‘enjoy’ life in captivity!

With you by our side, we will continue to fight for an end to the keeping of animals in cages and will continue to speak out against places that exploit animals for profit.

Your lasting legacy for the animals

What a comfort to know that, even after we are gone, work to uphold our passions and protect the things we care about so dearly can go on.

That’s the beauty of leaving a gift in your Will. By leaving a gift in your Will, however big or small, you will be making sure that we can continue to be there for vulnerable and suffering animals, for as long as they need us.

Gifts in Wills help to fund some of our most important projects – from going undercover at premises that hold animals’ captive, to putting pressure on governments to end animal exploitation.

If this is something you would like to know more about, please do get in touch with Andrew on 0845 330 3911 or by email andrew@freedomforanimals.org.uk We always recommend that you also speak to a solicitor.