‘Real-life Dumbo’ baby elephant is forced to dance and perform tricks for tourists in heart-breaking footage shot at a zoo in Thailand
- Elephants in a zoo in Thailand are forced to do handstands as tourists watch on
- A baby elephant nicknamed ‘Dumbo’ is forced to perform tricks for zoo visitors
- Thousands sign petition urging Phuket Zoo to release Dumbo to a sanctuary
Elephants at a zoo in Thailand are forced to perform handstands on their front legs and pedal a bicycle made with car tyres across a stage.
One shocking video shows how a baby elephant, nicknamed Dumbo, is forced to perform tricks for visitors at a show at Phuket Zoo.
Campaigners have claimed that the infant performs up to three times a day ‘under threat of the sharp bullhook’ in the shows, which are 20 minutes long.
Campaign group Moving Animals said Dumbo has a ‘skeletal body’ and suggest that he could be suffering with malnourishment and exhaustion. They also claimed he is locked in chains when not performing
Thousands of people have signed a petition online calling on Phuket Zoo to release Dumbo the elephant to a sanctuary.
Campaign group Moving Animals said the animal has a ‘skeletal body’ and suggest that he could be suffering with malnourishment and exhaustion.
They also claimed the animal is locked in chains when not performing.
A spokesman for the group said: ‘We watched as tourists laughed and took selfies, all while this baby elephant stood with her eyes closed, quietly sucking on her trunk.
‘The cruel life that ‘Dumbo’ the baby elephant will endure is heartbreaking, and so we’ve started a petition calling for her release to a sanctuary.
‘We hope that one day soon she can live in a place where she can feel happiness and peace, without the threat of abuse or being forced to perform’.
Elephants at a zoo in Thailand are forced to perform handstands on their front legs and pedal a bicycle made with car tyres across a stage. Thousands of people have signed a petition online calling on Phuket Zoo to release Dumbo the elephant to a sanctuary