Monday 11 July 2016 | 35

Three elephants in the prairie

Three elephants in the prairie

Mis à jour le 05 March 2018

Lechmee, Mina and Kamala, who are now quite old, are still locked up in the Medrano circus. Thanks to Code Animal and One Voice, they can have the retirement that they deserve in a sanctuary in France. It is just up to the circus to make this choice.

Hr blog

Three elephants walk in the prairie. The blind Lechmee is guided by her friends, Mina and Kamala, to the chestnut trees where she inhales the smell of the leaves and delightedly muzzles the rough bark with her trunk. Hills and scattered clumps of trees stretch out around them, with crop fields and the road on the foggy horizon. Lechmee can't see any of this, just vague shapes, but she feels it, she listens, and she shakes her ears. She is happy. The noise of the circus is behind her. After fourty-three years of noisy fanfares and cracks of the whip, she finally discovers birdsong, mumbling conversation with her two companions and endless promenades in the heather land against the setting sun.

How peaceful! How exquisite it is to finally live for these much-travelled elephants! Born in Asia in the 1960's, they were taken away from their families and then bought as children by Tyseley Pet Stores. Once in Britain, Lechmee, Mina and Kamala were first sold to the Chipperfield circus, and then found themselves under the iron rule of the Medran circus, but luckily always together.

Today, their suffering has ended. Lechmee and her friends have come to the Elephant Haven sanctuary, in the Périgord-Limousin regional park, receiving the very best care from the elephant experts there. They have joined other elephants, all tired by a life in captivity, who occasionally jump into a compulsive dance from one foot to the other, or swing their trunk manically. The trace of chains will remain in their minds long after the physical signs have gone, probably forever. Their memory is powerful, they can recall every detail of their violent lives: the prods in their groin, barked orders, the shouting of the crowd, the shows, the travelling, the carparks and the freezing mornings with the pain in their joints against the metal lorry floors. Lechmee has lost the use of her front right foot, and can only move slowly now. But her friends wait for her and stay close, as they always have done.

We have to stop dreaming now…This happy picture is still just a dream. Lechmee, Mina and Kamala are still shackled to the Medrano circus and still take part in shows. Lechmee is required by the 18 th of March 2011 decree to be placed in a fixed residence, due to her state of health. But not on her own, this would kill her, and would destroy her two companions. These old elephants, who have been inseparable for half a century, should be able to live the rest of their lives together in peace. This is what Code Animal and One Voice are asking for with Elephant Haven.

Their destiny is hanging by a thread. One word. One decision. The circus can allow for a dignified and peaceful retirement for its elephants in a natural sanctuary. This gesture would be received by the public with gratitude.

If this decision is not taken, Lechmee, Kamala and Mila will die one by one from exhaustion, without ever having found the happiness of walking free, unchained, as when they were children. And that will be a failure for everyone.

But we don't think for an instant the Medrano circus will make the right decision!

Yvon Godefroid
Hr blog

In the subject

Against all odds for Samba, the last ‘circus’ elephant, whose suffering has broken the State’s indifference We will defend the animals from the Franco-Belge Circus before the courts.

Comments 35

I accept that publication of my comments is subject to the code of conduct.

Mga95 | Friday 06 January 2017

Je déteste les cirques et je n'y ai jamais emmené mes enfants ! Eux n'y emmènent pas non plus les leurs et tant mieux !!
Comment peut-on faire autant souffrir des animaux pour le simple appât du gain ??
Alors que tant d'espèces disparaissent chaque jour !!! Est-il utile de rajouter d'autres victimes à cette extinction ?? Je suis révoltée, outrée, écœurée et je me demande si je ne préfère pas les animaux aux humains ????? Parfois ......

Si j'en avais le pouvoir, j'interdirais les cirques, il y a tellement d'autres façons de se distraire.

MINOUCHE | Friday 18 November 2016

je vous invite à aller voir ce site " assowassanna.com"......
VOIR ce que l'on peut vivre quand on est en inter-action avec l'animal, dans un total respect.
CERTAINES PERSONNES ONT COMPRIT, que l'animal est un être vivant, qui vibre et ressent ' tout autant que l'humain' voir bien mieux. Avec lequel il peut y avoir une communication " incroyable"
l'animal n'est pas un objet...OUVRONS NOS YEUX, ET NOS CŒURS... Ils ont tant à nous apprendre...
je ne peux que m'incliner devant les animaux, qui continuent de nous donner, malgré tout ce que l'humain leur fait subir.
il est venu, le moment ou les choses doivent changer dans cet espoir que cela " soit".
MERCI DE LIBÉRER CES 3 ÉLÉPHANTES............ ELLES MÉRITENT UN PEU DE PAIX ET DE CALME
puisse le cœur des dresseurs l'entendre .....MERCI

Hello | Saturday 17 September 2016

Pas de pétition, pas de reportage télé ??? Dommage avertir le public et donner son opinion, on ne fait pas mieux je crois en 2016.

One voice | Friday 23 September 2016

Bonjour, il existe une pétition que vous pouvez trouver en suivant ce lien : https://www.change.org/p/le-cirque-médrano-libérez-lechmee-kamala-et-mina
Il est malheureusement difficile d'obtenir des reportages télé... Nous préparons actuellement une action en justice, il faut donc avant tout que la justice passe, mais nous espérons plus de soutien médiatique une fois que cela sera fait. Bien cordialement :)

soizic | Thursday 11 August 2016

Quand est-ce que l'on va interdire les animaux dans les cirques?
Le cirque du soleil le fait bien et le spectacle est tout aussi beau!!!