Last Five Tuli Elephants Free
12/24/99
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Title: Last Five Tuli Elephants Free
Source: Environment News Service, http://www.ens.lycos.com/
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: December 24, 1999
PRETORIA, South Africa, December 24, 1999 (ENS) - The five Tuli
elephants remaining in captivity at the African Game Service property
received the gift of their freedom Thursday as they were returned to
the wild following a 17-month long battle to win their release. The
elephants have now arrived at Marakele National Park in South Africa.
The five African elephants were among 30 baby elephants captured from
the wild in the Tuli area of Botswana during a severe drought in July
1998. Animal dealer Riccardo Ghiazza moved the elephants to a
facility in Brits, South Africa where he and his staff were training
the animals to live in zoos.
Training methods captured on videotape included beatings and
deprivation. Public outrage in South Africa and around the world was
stirred when video of the beatings was shown on a popular South
African television program earlier this year.
The National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (NSPCA), under executive director Marcelle French, filed
animal cruelty charges and fought for freedom for the animals. While
the case wound through the South African courts, Ghiazza exported
seven of the elephants to zoos in Europe last winter.
The NSPCA cared for the remaining 23 and has found homes for them in
national parks and private reserves in South Africa. The five freed
Thursday are the last of the 23 Tuli elephants to be placed back into
the wild.
"The many twists and turns in this case made the outcome uncertain
until the very end," said Irwin. "The Humane Society of the United
States is very grateful to everyone who made it possible for these
animals to live out the rest of their lives in freedom."
The NSPCA obtained a search warrant and police escort to enter the
property of African Game Services on September 2, 1998 when video
footage was taken of the condition and treatment of the elephants.
Criminal charges were laid against Ghiazza and his company African
Game Services. The NSPCA was granted on-site seizure of the elephants
"to prevent further suffering" by the Brits Magistrates Court on
October 14, 1998.
Ghiazza's appeal against this decision took weeks to be heard but the
decision that the NSPCA seize the elephants was upheld. Immediately,
Ghiazza appealed to the Pretoria Supreme Court where it was agreed
that the matter would be taken under review. The date set for the
review hearing, September 7, 1999, was almost eleven months after the
NSPCA was originally granted the right to remove the animals, yet had
effectively been prevented from doing so through legal delays.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) assisted the NSPCA by
providing financial, technical and moral support. An HSUS expert on
captive wildlife consulted with the NSPCA staff on the care of the
elephants and testified in the custody case.
"These elephants would be in zoos throughout the world were it not
for the determination of the NSPCA staff, who endured long hours in
very difficult circumstances to care for these elephants," said
Dr. Teresa Telecky, director of the HSUS' Wildlife Trade Program.
"As we enter the next millennium, let the Tuli Elephant Saga be a
reminder to us that elephants are very intelligent and social
animals. To tear them away from their families and to subject them to
chains and beatings merely to entertain us is wrong and should never
happen again," said Telecky.
Ghiazza's case has not yet been settled and meanwhile he is still
exporting wild South African animals to zoos and safari parks around
the world.
On October 5, a consignment of 167 South African wild animals from
African Game Services was flown to China in a Singapore Airlines 747.
The animals ranged from suricates to endangered African wild dogs and
black rhinos. They were intended for Panyu Xiangjiang safari park.
The NSPCA is extremely concerned about the growing export trade in
African wild animals to China, said French.
The full history of the Tuli elephants can be found online at:
http://www.nspca.org.za/tuli/history/history.htm