The plight of the captive Elephants

Habitat loss and human control
Is a terrible twin
To the elephant soul
Disease in captivity
Becomes the thing
In the wilds they are safer
For Nature does bring
Protection that’s it in a nutshell
And we
See healthier animals
Out there running free

Human involvement raises the stakes
The Asian community
Has what it takes
There are now fewer
And humans appear
To be closer to them
And so now it’s clear
TB both forms
Are rampant today
It isn’t a new disease
But it is way
More serious now
As bacterium has
Evolved
it’s resistant to drugs
Which has not been
Resolved

Captivity clearly is bad
I surmise
No natural immunity
So the demise
Of many more elephants
Takes place today
Humans you see
They get in the way
Elephant handlers
Often are sick
Transmission is easy
The arithmetic
Simple poor diets
Closer quarters and heat
Poor diagnosis
So it’s harder to beat
The drugs are expensive
Treatment takes a year
There are side effects too
Creating more fear
Serious side effects
Costing a lot
A misdiagnosis
So many have got
TB it appears
Some 13 per cent
In the wild it’s not common
Clearly wasn’t meant

When we get involved with the wild ones
We see
All sorts of problems
We are the key
Endangered elephants
Cannot afford
All of this contact
It is no reward
Circuses zoos working elephants they
Would be far better off in the jungles
Away
From selfish employers
Who struggle to be
Supporting the elephants
As naturally

The inexpectation that elephants
Feel
After being captured
It’s very real
An unnatural habitat
And poor diet too
Must affect their immune system
That’s clearly true
Carted around made to walk everywhere
On man made concrete
It just isn’t fair
Emotionally elephants
Suffer a lot
Human involvement
And a lot they have got

They are unprepared
For a new life like this
Whether working in circus
It cannot be bliss
Unwarned disconcerted
Dumbfounded we see
Them struggle around
Treated mercilessly
Their immune systems are
Under fire
Close contact with humans
The air can be dire
Disgruntled disillusioned
Disappointed we know
They do feel let down by us
Out of the flow

Circus is alien totally so
Their inventiveness there
Is given a blow
For them it’s absurdity
Stuck in a ring
Doing dubious trucks
That in essence bring
Meaningless drivel
It’s not what they do
It may please the audience
It may please you
But they are pissed off by it
They can’t understand
And they are then tortured
By man by his hand
Bull hooks the tool of the monster
We see
Smashed into their flanks
Till they scream till they be
Lame in such agony
Broken down they
Stand on their hind legs
And trumpet away

Untruths are rife
In the circus of fear
What goes on behind closed doors
Isn’t that clear
Manipulation is evident, they
Are given a hiding
Most every day
Don’t you feel for these giants
Torn out of the field
Lost in a caged truck
They are concealed
In a total hell hole
Bashed and chained in a cage
Till their feeble and sick
And just wiped off the page

Www.elephantcare.org

Go and check them out they do wonderful work and need as much support as we can give them