Please help Qatar Elephants

[Guest guest]

Dear All

We are forwarding a mail we received in the hope that by spreading

the news on these elephants we can start an action to save them from this

abandonment. They are obviously in dire need.

If we get anymore information we will forward it to you.

Thanking you for your time, any help and/or ideas.

Regards

Liezel

Wildlife Action Group - South Africa

www.wag.co.za

 

 

Article appeared in the Gulf Times on the 11th July 2001

 

Summer Misery for Corniche elephants

By K T Chacko

 

Two female Asian elephants, shackled under an awning on the Corniche

near the Qatar National Theatre, have been braving the elements for the past

seven months and surviving mostly on dried grass.

According to sources, the elephants were brought to Qatar by a

circus company which left the pachyderms behind when they folded their tents

and left the country. Reasons for leaving the animals behind could not be

immediately ascertained.

Attached to a rear and fore leg of each elephant is a chain that is

secured to stakes in the ground.

 

Both the elephants have no freedom of movement nor do they have

immediate access to water.

When this reporter visited the animals yesterday evening, they were

found to be drinking water from a bucket. A few bundles of dried grass were

kept at a distance from which the huge animals were given handfuls by a

keeper.

The stranded animals looked underfed and scrawny - elephants are

voracious eaters and devour hundreds of kilos of plant material every day.

Asian elephants are now listed as endangered and have long since

vanished from southwest Asia and most of China.

As the temperature soars and the hot desert wind blows the plight of

the tethered elephants is aggravated as they stand side by side under the

temporary shelter.

Elephants drink huge quantities of water and spend hours in rivers

or lakes during the summer, cooling their bodies and frolicking with other

members of the herd.

In their natural habitat elephants have a diverse vegetarian diet,

including grasses, bamboo, legumes, bark, succulent climbers, creepers and

palms.

 

Hi

I read an article in a local (Doha, Qatar, Middle East) newspaper

about treatment of elephants, which raises concern. I have searched the web

for contact addresses of someone who might be able to help, but have found

none so far. I remembered the Tuli elephant saga, and am sending the article

to you in the hope that you could either assist or advise.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

Regards

Hans Pietersen [agis]

(originally from Centurion, South Africa)