Earth Day for Animals

It's that time of year again. Earth Day is here! While I try to do my best to be kind to our planet everyday (as I'm sure you all do), I'm dedicating this entry to my favorite planet Earth inhabitants - ANIMALS! Hopefully, after reading this you will be more inclined to take care of this planet we share with over 8 billion different species of animals. And more importantly, to be kind to animals.

The animal that continues to be the most near and dear to my heart is of coarse the elephant. They are probably the most compassionate, emotionally and socially intelligent animals, who studies have shown, are self aware. They mourn the loss of loved ones, they have complex social relationships and are probably the most beautiful and tender animal I've been lucky enough to encounter. 

The African elephant continues to suffer catastrophic declines in numbers due to poaching for the high price of ivory on the black market and the high demand for ivory from Asia. An elephant is killed every 15 minutes for it's ivory in Africa. That's 96 elephants a day that are violently murdered. Last year alone, 36,000 elephants were killed for their ivory. At this rate there will be no elephants roaming the wild in 2025. Not cool. I can't even imagine what a world without elephants looks like. 

There are however, many worldwide efforts trying to ensure that a world without wild elephants does not become our reality. On October 4th, the first International March for Elephants in support of the The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust took place in over 42 cities across the world. In NYC, we marched across all of Manhattan to the door of the United Nations. We had some fantastic speakers come all the way from the front lines of Africa like Sir. Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants in Kenya, and my favorite Sex and the City girl, Kristin Davis who is a huge supporter of Daphne Sheldrick's elephant orphan nursery in Kenya.

This weekend is also dedicated to elephants at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Run for the Wild at the Bronx Zoo. This year's race, like last year's, is dedicated to elephant conservation. I'm happy to report that this is my 5th year running this 5k race. I could use all the support in my fundraising efforts for our elephant friends that I can get. If you're unable to support financially, please show your solidarity by signing this petition to law makers demanding that they make ivory sales illegal in NY. I bet you didn't know that you can LEGALLY buy ivory in NY, did you? Crazy, I know. Let's put an end to it. 

I couldn't possibly write about elephants without mentioning a very special place in Thailand that rescues and rehabilitates Asian elephants from the abusive life of the tourist trade and logging industry. Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary is the home of about 11 happy and very loved elephants who were rescued by elephant superhero, Katherine Connor. It is an animal lovers dream to see these beautiful beings roaming and swimming and playing so happily and freely. I wish every animal in the world could have the good fortune of living as the animals of BLES do. 

It is however, very costly to run a non-profit sanctuary and care for eleven 5 ton animals. That's a lot of bananas!! And since the majority of the elephants at BLES were rescued from abusive conditions, they all have various medical ailments that require lots of time and money to care for. Please help Katherine and all the beautiful animals at BLES by donating what you can or better yet, adopt your own elephant! 

In other recent NYC animal news, I was happy to join PETA and NYCLASS this weekend to peacefully protest in front of Liam Neeson's Upper West Side residence for publicly criticizing Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to do away with horse drawn carriages in NYC. As an actor who has admired Neeson for years, in particular his role as the compassionate Oscar Schindler, I don't understand why he is using his star power to advocate such antiquated cruelty and abuse to such a graceful and soulful animal. I know you guys don't though, which is why you're going to show your solidarity to horses and sign this petition to ban horse carriages in NYC.

Another animal very close to my heart is the majestic and regal lion. (I'm a Leo and The Lion King is my favorite movie.) On March 15th, I was happy to join 70,000 people in over 62 cities worldwide at the Global March for Lions to raise awareness about the industry of "canned hunting." 

What is "canned hunting"? Canned hunting is big business. Captive breed lions are taken from their mothers at birth and hand raised by humans. They are put into petting zoos and earn money being petted by tourists, ignorant of their circumstances. Once they are too big to be pet, they await their fate - to be sold to trophy hunters. They are sold as guaranteed kills in enclosed areas with no chance of escape. Because they are "trophies" they are not shot quickly in the head but die a long and slow painful death shot up in their bodies. Their heads are sent back to the USA or Europe as trophies and their bones are often sold to Asia for bogus potions. I'm sad to say that the USA is responsible for 55% of these jackass "hunters" and it's completely legal to bring lion heads & parts back into this country. I can't think of a more unattractive thing a man can do than be a hunter. 

                                      

Please sign this petition urging the US Fish & Wildlife Service to protect lions under the Endangered Species act, thus making it illegal to import lion parts into the U.S. Let's put a stop to this barbaric and cowardly "sport" once and for all. 

And of coarse I can't write about animals on Earth Day without talking about NOT EATING THEM! Not eating animals or anything that comes out of an animal is the single best thing you can do to help the environment. 

It's hard to argue with these reasons, huh? The only regret I have is not going vegan sooner. I did it because I could no longer call myself an animal lover while I continued to support the cruel slaughter of  animals that are probably smarter than my dog (sorry Rocky.) I've never felt better, my hair is shinier, my skin is clearer, and I'm just happier all around. It makes sense now that I think about it. Animals on factory farms live lives full of fear, anxiety, sadness and depression. How can we think that eating them day in and day out won't have an effect on our well being? Think about it. 

So my friends, that's all she wrote. Have a happy, healthy and more importantly, compassionate Earth Day. Be kind to yourself, the planet, and to all sentient being on this planet. 

Much Love,

Sue

An Elephant EMERGENCY!! .... CONTINUED

I know I've written about the elephant crisis before, but these amazing animals hold a special place in my heart and I never tire of confessing my love for them. Besides, their situation is dire and deserves some more attention and awareness. I mean, look at these pics!! How can you not fall in love?

It is with a heavy heart that I recently read the following horrifying statistic about the elephant poaching crisis.

*EVERY 15 MINUTES AN ELEPHANT IS KILLED FOR IT'S IVORY TUSKS. AT THIS RATE, ELEPHANTS WILL BE EXTINCT WITHIN THE NEXT DECADE*

Heartbreaking. And for what? So that Asian countries can make jewelry and trinkets? I honestly believe that if this headline was run in the media and brought to the attention of the masses as much as Miley Cyrus twerking at the MTV VMA's everyone would be outraged. (About the elephants, not Miley grinding on a married man. )

Fortunately for elephants and those of us who love them, there are some celebrities using their star power to bring attention the this crisis. So lets follow the example of these righteous public figures and get involved in the fight against poaching.

Kristin Davis, who played Charlotte, my favorite character on Sex In The City, put away her Manolo's to travel to Kenya to help rescue a baby elephant whose mother had been poached. She has been working closely with the David Sheldrick Trust and brought the baby to Dame Daphne Sheldrick's elephant orphanage. Baby elephants are extremely dependent on their mothers for the first few years and their chances of survival are slim if left to fend for themselves. Help Kristin and Dame Daphne and donate funds to this cause or foster your own orphaned elephant.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has vowed to use her political connections to help fight the poaching crisis which unfortunately has many political implications due to corrupt governments. Since the demand for ivory from Asian countries has skyrocketed to $1,000 a pound, major crime syndicates and warlords (like Joseph Kony) will risk the fairly light punishment if caught and use the sales of ivory to fund other  war crimes such as murder, human and drug trafficking. Because of such a strong supply and demand chain, elephant poaching has reached crisis levels that have not been seen in decades. World Wildlife Fund estimates that 30,000 African elephants were illegally killed in 2012, the highest number in 20 years. Click here to find out how you can help make a difference in the fight against wildlife crime.
             
                 

And then there is Tom Hardy. As if it were possible to love this dreamy and talented actor even more, he now helps fight wildlife crime on his new docu-style series, Poaching Wars. My dream man. Tom traveled to South Africa, Tanzania and Botswana to uncover the hard truths about why poaching has reached such crisis levels. Tom meets some of the people affected by this war, such as the farmers who lose cattle in the cross fire and the wildlife rangers who put their lives at risk fighting poachers who are military trained and likened to "navy seal assassins."

While the African elephants are critically endangered, their Asian cousins aren't fairing too well either. Asian elephants suffer from a different kind of evil and exploitation. Years ago when governments in countries such as Thailand called for the end of logging in their northern forests, many elephant handlers (mahouts) were left with few options to care for their families and feed their elephants. Today, most elephants are used in the tourist trade or for illegal logging. Both of which subject these incredibly sentient beings to torture beyond imagination. Baby elephants are ripped away from their mothers to be tied up, beaten and tortured for days in order to "crush their spirit" and make them compliant. It is a practice called "phajaan." These are some very hard truths that most tourists to the East are not aware of. Elephants are used to beg in the streets or sent to tourist camps to give rides with enormous metal seats on their backs used to carry as many people as possible. Both of these practices subject the elephants to mental, emotional and physical torture, and usually drugging so that their appetites are curbed and they increase their work time. No elephant is born domestic. Elephants in the wild naturally roam free with their families and the babies stay with their mothers for years. Anytime you see an elephant giving rides, playing soccer, painting a picture, or doing any type of trick, know that it was tortured and beaten into a life of servitude for tourist entertainment. It breaks my heart to see pictures of baby elephants tortured and abused within an inch of their life. See for yourself. Is this kind of torture worth your elephant ride or having your picture taken with a poor defenseless baby elephants?

                                     

Fortunately for these beautiful and sensitive animals, they have a hero in Katherine Connor, founder of Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand. Katherine has dedicated her life to saving these abused and tortured animals and gives them a life of love, peace and freedom at her sanctuary. I am ecstatic to be able to visit this elephant wonderland in the fall. Katherine's sanctuary is unique in that it's not about elephant rides or tricks. The elephants at BLES are free to roam together and are given love and care they have not known until they were brought to the sanctuary. BLES is a non-profit sanctuary that is entirely dependent on funds generated by visitors to the sanctuary, private donations, and other organizations. Please help Katherine and these soulful animals by adopting your own elephant and donating some funds so that she may continue her work as an elephant superhero.

When travelling to places where elephants are indigenous, please remember the following so that we do not support these evil practices and increase the demand for elephants being abused and killed.

• DO NOT BUY IVORY PRODUCTS
• DO NOT TAKE ANY ELEPHANT RIDES
• DO NOT PAY TO FEED OR HAVE YOUR PICTURE TAKEN WITH AN ELEPHANT
• DO NOT PAY TO SEE AN ELEPHANT DO ANY TRICKS

 

So my friends, while it is heartbreaking to learn that elephants are being murdered by the thousands for their ivory and beaten and tortured as babies for tourist entertainment, it is in our power to stop it. If we all stop supporting these practices through consumerism, there will be no reason for these beautiful creatures to suffer anymore. The fate of these magnificent animals is in our hands. Please do your part to help them. 

Much love,
Sue

An Elephant EMERGENCY!

  First, watch this....

I think we can all agree that elephants are one of the most majestic, gentle, amazing and tender animals we have on this planet. Apart from being the largest land mammals, elephants are very social and intelligent. They are incredibly loving and form great bonds with their family and their herd. Plus they never forget! I wish I had that kind of brain power! 

Unfortunately, the future of these magnificently gentle giants remains uncertain. The biggest threats elephants face is poaching, conflict with humans, and habitat loss. Elephants across Africa and Asia are being poached for their ivory at alarming rates. It was estimated that about 25,000 - 40,000 elephants were killed last year alone for their ivory tusks, making it the worst year on record in the history of elephant conservation. 

Fortunately for elephants, and all of us who love them, there are many wildlife super heroes out in the trenches fighting to prevent them from being a memory on this planet. And even greater for us who care so much about elephants, we are able to get involved and do our part to ensure the future of these playful pachyderms. Read on for some of my favorite elephant heroes, foundations, and fundraisers to learn how you can help elephants too!

When I went to San Francisco for the Wildlife Conservation Network's Wildlife Expo I was lucky enough to attend Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton's presentation. For those of you who don't know him, he is one of the world's foremost authorities on African elephants and the first to have alerted the wold of the ivory poaching holocaust in the 1970's. He is founder of Save the Elephants, and basically an elephant superhero. I won't lie, I got teary eyed when he showed the images of all the confiscated tusks and decomposing elephant bodies they come across in the field. I thought to myself, "Surely, if everyone knew about this, someone would do something to stop it!" And then it occurred to me, I'm someone, and you're someone. So let's do something. 

Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton and his team are helping African elephants on every level with research, education, and protection projects. Help out this elephant superhero by donating some funds for the cause! 

A cool thing that Dr. Douglas-Hamilton shared was that one of China's biggest stars, Yao Ming, traveled to Africa to see first hand what the ivory demand of his country is doing to elephants. He teamed up with WildAid and created some amazing PSAs against buying ivory. Since China is one of the biggest consumers of ivory products, these PSAs are made to reach about a million people a week in China. Hopefully, little by little, the message "When the buying stops, the killing can too." will make it socially unacceptable to purchase ivory products. 

Another elephant superhero is of coarse, Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick. Through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust established in memory of her late husband, Dame Daphne shows her love and compassion for elephants through her work at her elephant orphanage nursery. She has successfully hand reared over 130 new born elephant orphans from just hours old up until their two milk dependent years. Daphne and the keepers at the elephant orphanage become the new family of these baby elephants who grow up in Tsavo National Park in Kenya where they mingle freely with wild herds and eventually become fully integrated back into the wild community. Some of Daphne's orphans have now had wild born young, which they bring back to show their human mom!! Even more amazingly, you can help her by fostering your own orphaned elephant! 

There are many other amazing organizations and foundations fighting to keep elephants safe and out of harms way. Here are some of my favorites, and links to how you can help their efforts for elephants:

World Wildlife Fund - Join their campaign against wildlife crime,  create your own fundraising page, and adopt an African elephant!  With the help of wildlife activist and one of my favorite actors, Leonardo DiCaprio and WWF launched the "Hands off My Parts" campaign against wildlife crime and got the Thai Prime Minister to accept a half million signature petition to ban ivory trade in Thailand. 

International Fund for Animal Welfare - Join the Elephant March by saying no to ivory! 

Wildlife Conservation Society - based out of my local Bronx Zoo, the WCS is working tirelessly to help elephants on every level. Join them by signing their petition to the US delegation to CITES (Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) to develop a plan to enforce laws that already exist to protect elephants and crack down on poachers. 

You can also support me as I make tracks for elephants this year at the WCS Run for the Wild! which raises funds for elephants. Along with my team, Junk In My Trunk, we are trying to raise as much funds as possible to help elephants out of this crisis - so please donate what you can! I'm very excited about this event as I've done it for the past three years. The previous years have been to benefit tigers, penguins, and lions! 

PETA - If you love elephants, you want to help and protect them from every kind of harm. And that means not exploiting and abusing them for the sake of profit and entertainment. The Ringling Bros Circus is infamous for beating elephants to get them to do very painful tricks. The most important thing you can do to help stop this is not go to any circus that uses animals. Elephants of all ages, from babies to the elderly, are beaten with bull hooks, electro shocked and tied up to break their spirits. Teach your kids compassion and respect for all animals. Sign this petition with PETA to the USDA to demand they help suffering circus elephants. 

While it is heart breaking to learn of all the terror and cruelty that our beloved elephants face all around the world, we CAN do something to help. In researching all the great people and organizations that are doing what they can to help elephants, I came across an amazing young girl from California. Juliette West is the project leader for a documentary film where she traveled to Thailand to help elephants. While the film hasn't been released yet, the trailer looks amazing and I will definitely be first in line to watch it and support this great cause!! How I Became an Elephant was made by Rattle the Cage Productions which makes documentaries about animal and environmental protection. How awesome! 

So my friends, please do what you can to help elephants. They deserve to be happy and free, not fighting for their lives in the wild, or abused and caged up in a circus. It's scary to think that elephants could become extinct within a generation. It is up to us to help and do what we can. Every little bit counts and adds up to a big thing - as big as an elephant!! 

Much love, 
Sue