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Kenya's death
Archive
On the evening of April 13th 1998, an African Elephant named Kenya
was found collapsed at the Hoffman winter quarters in Grantham.
Circus King are based here, as well as Uncle Sam's Great American
Circus (formerly the Russian Circus).
Kenya, aged 13 years was apparently knocked down during an altercation
with another elephant and, despite being winched to her feet by
local fire crews, she died the following day.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the owner, Philip Hanson, had
had Kenya and her flatmates - Mary, Lily and Tikka - since they
were babies. The controversy over Kenya's death deepened when it
was discovered that Hanson had previously duped the press by posing
with a healthy elephant which the press believed was Kenya. Several
weeks earlier, the winter quarters had been visited by the RSPCA
who said that the elephants appeared to be in good condition. We
do not know, however, what level of expertise the RSPCA inspectors
had with regard to elephants.
The truth behind Kenya's death may never be discovered, but as
long as wild elephants are confined in circuses and forced to perform,
tragedies such as this will continue to occur.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
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Please write to your local MP at The House of
Commons, London, SW1A OM,and to Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street,
London, SWlA 2M. Ask for the banning of the importation of young
elephants from their countries of origin for the circus and
zoo industries and the banning of elephant acts in circuses
(elephant acts are banned from circuses in Finland). |
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CAPS in this and other campaigns. |
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