Elephants are beautiful, intelligent, and social creatures. Most people don’t realize that many captive elephants are beaten, chained, and denied almost everything that is natural and important to them. Elephants are NOT rides, and offering them as such is a form of abuse!

The elephants at the Maryland Renaissance Festival are continually surrounded by throngs of people, and remain on display each weekend for months at a time while people climb on them and pose for photos.

Elephants are the most intelligent animals under dolphins, and experience extreme sadness and depression when removed from a social setting and forced to do manual labor, such as carrying people around for 8 hours a day.

Consider this- their spines cannot support the weight of people. Carrying people on their backs all day can lead to permanent spinal injuries. Imagine carrying a 50 pound backpack for nine hours a day, every day on your back. Even after an hour or so, you can feel the weight of the backpack. Imagine what it would feel like to have it on your back nearly all of your waking hours, and the long-term damage that can come from having it on your back all day. It’s the same with elephants.

Elephants are transient animals, and when not allowed to roam free, they develop head bobbing and tics, as well as emotional distress. This understandably causes aggression and poses a risk to humans—since 1990, rampaging elephants have killed 13 people and injured 120.

Why bring this unnecessary risk to the Renaissance Festival? With 300,000 people attending each season, there is a significant risk to patrons by having an elephant in such a confined and crowded space. Please consider signing this petition to ask the Maryland Renaissance Festival to discontinue the display of elephants.

NOTE: If we are successful, please know that I plan on following through to help find a home for these animals. I have made a number of connections with elephant rescues who are aware of the petition and the potential need. Thank you for your continued support!