Help Peaches and Wankie
Posted at 2:51 PM (PST) on Tuesday, November 16, 2004

From PETA:

Gillian Anderson Pleads With Chicago City Council to Help Peaches and Wankie

November 8, 2004

The Honorable Richard M. Daley
Mayor of Chicago
Office of the Mayor
121 N. LaSalle, Rm. 507
Chicago, IL60602

Dear Mayor Daley,

I was extremely saddened to hear from my friends at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) about the untimely death of Tatima, an elephant at the Lincoln Park Zoo. It’s a tragedy that Tatima’s final days consisted of upheaval and sorrow—first a traumatic move from warm and sunny San Diego to a much smaller zoo, then a painful leg injury, and finally indoor confinement through a bitterly cold Chicago winter. With so much stress in her life, it’s really no surprise that she became deathly ill.

Please review the enclosed videotape. It shows Tatima a few months after she arrived in Chicago, followed by disturbing footage taken just a few weeks before she died. As you can see, Tatima lost so much weight at the Lincoln Park Zoo that she was skin and bones. It’s obvious from this tape why zoo officials rarely let her outdoors: They did not want the public to see their emaciated elephant limping around the exhibit.

I am appealing to the Chicago City Council to pass a resolution recommending that the Lincoln Park Zoo send its two remaining elephants, Peaches and Wankie, to a sanctuary and that it follow the example of eight other U.S. zoos by closing its elephant exhibit for good. After losing the only home that they’ve known for several decades, Peaches and Wankie have now lost a companion. I hope that you will agree with me that they would be much happier in a sanctuary, where they would have plenty of space to exercise, fresh air in a warmer climate, and other elephant friends to help them cope with their recent loss. As it currently stands, Peaches and Wankie have nothing but cold, lonely days to look forward to. Now is the time to do the right thing by retiring them to a sanctuary and ending their suffering before it is too late for them as well.

I hope that you’ll thoughtfully consider what’s best for these elephants. I thank you for your time and look forward to hearing from you. You can reach me through Debbie Leahy, director of PETA’s Captive Exotic Animals Department, at 630-393-9627 or via e-mail at DebbieL@peta.org.

Sincerely,
Gillian Anderson

For more information and to see the video, click here.

Also, Star makes appeal for Lincoln Park elephants, Chicago Sun-Times, November 16, 2004.