14 DAY TRIAL // Both PETA and several other animal rights activists – celebrities Brigitte Bardot and Steven Patrick Morrissey included – are now asking that 38-year-old Mali, the world's loneliest elephant, move to Thailand as soon as possible.
As these greenheads explain, Mali has been living alone at a zoo in the Philippines for over three decades, which is why it is of utmost importance for its psychological wellbeing that its solitude is put an end to.
Apparently, the Manila Zoo, where this unfortunate animal now resides, has done very little to make sure that the enclosure in which the elephant is kept meets its needs in terms of comfort and entertainment.
Thus, Mali only has a relatively small pool at its disposal, and occasionally bids its boredom farewell by splashing around. However, it very much lacks direct contact with others of its kind, Daily Mail says.
Given the fact that elephants are social beings by nature, it comes as only logical that, as the years went by without its being introduced to other elephants, Mali began displaying signs of depression.
“Not only is Mali's physical health at risk if she continues to stay at an institution that lacks the resources and knowledge to care for her properly but her isolation from other elephants is causing her intense mental suffering,” argued a spokesperson for green-oriented group PETA.
The people now trying to rescue it hope that the Filipino government will agree to send Mali to an animal sanctuary in Thailand (i.e. the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang province), where the animal can live the rest of its days close to about 50 other elephants.
For the time being, it looks like the Filipino government is not against Mali's being “deported” to Thailand.
Still, veterinarians will have to carry out several tests so as to establish whether or not the world's loneliest elephant is fit enough to embark on this journey.