After more than four decades in captivity, Happy the Elephant died without the family, freedom, and social bonds that define an elephant’s life in the wild. The Bronx Zoo is complicit in her tragedy.
Elephants are just the best and my heart is broken 💔😢 to hear how she was neglected and treated so terribly by both parties involved!! Spread this everywhere!!! RIP sweet Happy 😢💔
We are witnessing in real time how humans can treat other humans so what makes you think they will treat animals with the respect and love they deserve? Right this minute, we are a sad excuse of the same animal kingdom from which Happy came. We keep proving over and over again that we don’t all the time deserve to be at the top of this particular kingdom.
We aren't at the top; we just think we are. And we are torturing others of our species all the time. Of course, elephants in their wisdom exclude fully grown males from their society. That reduces the burden on the species. MalesBehavingBadly are responsible for nearly all the torture, mayhem, and murder in the world. Too bad we can't send them off to make trouble in their own little world.
What put us at the top of the animal kingdom was the fact that unlike any other animal in the world, we discovered how to destroy the world and all life on it. That’s one hell of a legacy, wouldn’t you agree?
Poor Happy! Like all the other animals in the zoo, she was chosen to teach our negligent and self-centred species. It is not easy to be a teacher. It was not a calling she chose. But can you imagine how much even worse our species would be, if we never received the teaching that these strange intelligences give us. Even a dog or cat can teach us to reach a little wider.
The excuses of the administrators for not letting her go to a sanctuary were shocking but not surprising. Of course it is true that visitors really want to see an elephant, and if they stay there for a while, the lesson of her being and intelligence would enter them. But it was time for her to retire (while still young enough to have some babies). These people would have worked their grandmothers to death!
I’m sorry to hear about Happy and how this has impacted you, Yashir. Thank you for advocating on her behalf and sharing her plight with the rest of us. Thanks too for caring so much about these beautiful creatures, Happy in particular. The human species is unbearably cruel to the others we share this planet with. Here’s to those who give them the care and respect we are all due. We are with you 💚
I have had a very strong disgust for the Bronx zoo ever since I learned about the Ota Benga exhibit in 1906. Fortunately for Ota his captivity didn't last as long as Happy's, but it tells us so much about human beings and how terrible we treat others. He was given a bow and arrow in case he needed to defend himself from the orangutan that he shared a cage with. Instead he shot it at visitors who made fun of him and the zoo finally had to release him, due to a spokesman for the coalition of black churches petitioning the mayor of New York City for his release. He tried to go back to Africa but because WW1 had started, travel was prohibited and he eventually committed suicide in 1916 while he was in his 30's.
I love elephants and have always felt an affinity. Reading this hurts my heart. RIP Happy.
Elephants are just the best and my heart is broken 💔😢 to hear how she was neglected and treated so terribly by both parties involved!! Spread this everywhere!!! RIP sweet Happy 😢💔
We are witnessing in real time how humans can treat other humans so what makes you think they will treat animals with the respect and love they deserve? Right this minute, we are a sad excuse of the same animal kingdom from which Happy came. We keep proving over and over again that we don’t all the time deserve to be at the top of this particular kingdom.
We aren't at the top; we just think we are. And we are torturing others of our species all the time. Of course, elephants in their wisdom exclude fully grown males from their society. That reduces the burden on the species. MalesBehavingBadly are responsible for nearly all the torture, mayhem, and murder in the world. Too bad we can't send them off to make trouble in their own little world.
What put us at the top of the animal kingdom was the fact that unlike any other animal in the world, we discovered how to destroy the world and all life on it. That’s one hell of a legacy, wouldn’t you agree?
Yashir,
Thank you for your courage honesty and compassion reporting truth to power with evidence. We are in this together. No Kings.
Peace.
Christopher and family in Upstate SC
RIP Happy.
She is finally free. RIP
Poor Happy! Like all the other animals in the zoo, she was chosen to teach our negligent and self-centred species. It is not easy to be a teacher. It was not a calling she chose. But can you imagine how much even worse our species would be, if we never received the teaching that these strange intelligences give us. Even a dog or cat can teach us to reach a little wider.
The excuses of the administrators for not letting her go to a sanctuary were shocking but not surprising. Of course it is true that visitors really want to see an elephant, and if they stay there for a while, the lesson of her being and intelligence would enter them. But it was time for her to retire (while still young enough to have some babies). These people would have worked their grandmothers to death!
I’m sorry to hear about Happy and how this has impacted you, Yashir. Thank you for advocating on her behalf and sharing her plight with the rest of us. Thanks too for caring so much about these beautiful creatures, Happy in particular. The human species is unbearably cruel to the others we share this planet with. Here’s to those who give them the care and respect we are all due. We are with you 💚
Thought of you.:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYUKuwKIRM7/?igsh=czh2M2NicHptY2J3
😭
This is so heartbreaking
I couldn't read the whole thing.
Years ago I saw on TV the documentary about Shirley, who did eventually go to a sanctuary, and I cried.
It changed my entire view of zoos.
Abolish them - or keep them for animals that can't be place.
We can watch animals in their habitats on Zoom now.
I have had a very strong disgust for the Bronx zoo ever since I learned about the Ota Benga exhibit in 1906. Fortunately for Ota his captivity didn't last as long as Happy's, but it tells us so much about human beings and how terrible we treat others. He was given a bow and arrow in case he needed to defend himself from the orangutan that he shared a cage with. Instead he shot it at visitors who made fun of him and the zoo finally had to release him, due to a spokesman for the coalition of black churches petitioning the mayor of New York City for his release. He tried to go back to Africa but because WW1 had started, travel was prohibited and he eventually committed suicide in 1916 while he was in his 30's.