Plea for help for Thai Wildlife
I speak from experience - the Wildlife Freiends Foundation and Elephant Nature Park is an amazing place and does amazing work. They do not deserve this - it's the animals that are suffering at the the hands of corrupt government officials.
The petition - sign here
"I am seriously concerned for the welfare of both animals and staff, currently being intimidated by officials at the Wildlife Friends Foundation in Thailand.
Both Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) and Elephant Nature Park (ENP) have been hard hit by these raids as both were raided by armed officials of the Department of National Parks (DNP) and police units. The officials claim they received an anonymous phone call.
Both WFFT and ENP feel they have been targeted for speaking out on the recent elephant killings at Kaengkrachan National Park and Kuiburi National Park, and the involvement of officials, politicians and wealthy businessmen.
The ENP was founded by Sangduen (Lek) Chailert who has won numerous conservation awards including Hero of the Planet by the Ford Foundation, Hero of Asia by Time Magazine in 2005 and the Earth Day Award. Her work has been featured in National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, BBC and in print media throughout the world. The ENP and WFFT both have an international reputation as having the the best animal rescue facilities, setting the standard in Thailand for elephant care and wildlife rescue. http://www.wfft.org/
As I write this letter, the Department of National Parks are currently forcibly removing 103 animals from WFFT which they claim the organisation does not have relevant paperwork. This is being done using sticks to scare the animals leaving them bleeding, some of who are sick and injured, into small cages and without anaesthesia.
This is blatant corruption and bullying in an attempt to silence the organisation's leaders from being outspoken against the illegal wildlife trade and recent finds of slaughtered elephants in nearby national parks, for which corruption amongst Thai authorities is suspected.
Please please help. The last time the DNP confiscated animals they were never seen again!"
More information - WFFT Resource Center and WFFT Facebook Page
The petition - sign here
"I am seriously concerned for the welfare of both animals and staff, currently being intimidated by officials at the Wildlife Friends Foundation in Thailand.
Both Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) and Elephant Nature Park (ENP) have been hard hit by these raids as both were raided by armed officials of the Department of National Parks (DNP) and police units. The officials claim they received an anonymous phone call.
Both WFFT and ENP feel they have been targeted for speaking out on the recent elephant killings at Kaengkrachan National Park and Kuiburi National Park, and the involvement of officials, politicians and wealthy businessmen.
The ENP was founded by Sangduen (Lek) Chailert who has won numerous conservation awards including Hero of the Planet by the Ford Foundation, Hero of Asia by Time Magazine in 2005 and the Earth Day Award. Her work has been featured in National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, BBC and in print media throughout the world. The ENP and WFFT both have an international reputation as having the the best animal rescue facilities, setting the standard in Thailand for elephant care and wildlife rescue. http://www.wfft.org/
As I write this letter, the Department of National Parks are currently forcibly removing 103 animals from WFFT which they claim the organisation does not have relevant paperwork. This is being done using sticks to scare the animals leaving them bleeding, some of who are sick and injured, into small cages and without anaesthesia.
This is blatant corruption and bullying in an attempt to silence the organisation's leaders from being outspoken against the illegal wildlife trade and recent finds of slaughtered elephants in nearby national parks, for which corruption amongst Thai authorities is suspected.
Please please help. The last time the DNP confiscated animals they were never seen again!"
More information - WFFT Resource Center and WFFT Facebook Page