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The founder of Hope Elephants, a rehab center in Maine that provides medical care for retired or injured circus elephants, has been crushed to death by one of his elephants. In response to the news, Melissa Gates, Founding Director of Animal Rights Maine, a local group that worked with national animal advocacy organizations to try to block the 2011 opening of this “inhumane” and “unsafe” facility, stated:

“This tragedy could easily have been avoided if authorities had heeded the countless warnings from elephant experts prior to green lighting this facility. These elephants deserve to live out their lives at a true sanctuary, with healthy herds that satiate their emotional needs, enough room to thrive, and in a climate conducive to their needs.”

Jim Laurita, founder of Hope Elephants

Elephants are intelligent and socially sophisticated animals who are deprived of virtually everything that comes naturally to them in captivity. In circuses, they are beaten into submission with bull hooks; confined for up to 100 hours at a time in box cars; and forced to perform tricks in exchange for food. Maybe the elephant who crushed Mr. Laurita suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after 40 years in circus captivity. And maybe she would not have killed someone had she been retired to an actual sanctuary in a moderate climate instead of a small, zoolike enclosure in the cold state of Maine. Ms. Gates from Animal Rights Maine says that her group will advocate to relocate Hope’s elephants to a sanctuary.

Whether we like it or not, celebrities have the power to influence public opinion in areas that have nothing to do with their careers – gun control, abortion, poverty, disease and, of course, animal rights. Many have used their voices to advance justice for animals; a few have helped to turn back the clock.

Liam Neeson, for example, has campaigned aggressively in support of NYC’s inhumane horse-drawn carriage trade, attempting to convince the public that the horses have good lives. He has used his voice to turn public opinion against the advocacy groups, reversing in a matter of weeks much of the progress made over several years in changing the hearts and minds of New Yorkers. It is moments like these when we wish celebrities would mind their own business.

Then there’s basketball star Yao Ming who is using his voice (and his 7’6 height) to convince Chinese people to stop buying ivory, which has led not only to the decimation of elephant populations but also to untold sorrow and suffering for the hundreds of thousands of elephants who have lost family members. Mr. Ming’s anti-shark finning advocacy has cut shark fin consumption in half in China, and his 30 second public service announcement about elephant orphans could make the same happen with ivory:

Mexico City and six of 32 Mexican states have banned wild animals in circuses. The battle between activists and Mexican circus industry has turned violent, with reports of circus security guards assaulting peaceful protesters.

Critics of animal rights activists like to say things like, “With all of the poverty around the world, why are you wasting your time on animals?”  Among the many responses that we can give to them is: “People in Mexico, who are poor by our standards, are themselves speaking out against animal cruelty.  If they can help abused circus animals in their country, then we can help them in the U.S.”  If you live in a city that has circuses with animals, please join the efforts of local activists to educate members of the public about why they should boycott the circus. Or you can organize a demo in your area.

At a fundraiser in the South of France for his charitable foundation, Leonardo Di Caprio raised $25 million to protect wild animals.  He said, “The wild species that depend on us to protect their habitat, like tigers whose numbers have plummeted to under 3,200 left in the wild, or African elephants, who are being slaughtered at a rate of over 30,000 a year for their ivory tusks — they have no voice. We must be their ambassadors. We must be their protectors. We must stop their slaughter. We must now make an effort to protect the rich biodiversity that could allow nature to eventually recover.”

Some people applaud when celebrities become advocates for a cause; others wish they’d go away.  Regardless of your position, celebrities can and do effect change.  It was in part because Alec Baldwin narrated Meet Your Meat that I watched the video on factory farming and went vegan.  I am grateful to the dozens of stars who lend their powerful voices to animals.  Of course, we’d all like some celebrities to vanish — like Liam Neeson, who is a spokesman for NYC’s inhumane horse-drawn carriage trade, and Anthony Bourdain, who defends and promotes foie gras, the a “delicacy of despair.”

Poachers in Kenya have killed Satao, “one of the last surviving great tuskers, bearers of genes that produce bull elephants with huge tusks reaching down to the ground.”  Satao’s murder comes on the heels the slaughter of another “legendary tusker, Mountain Bull, deep inside the forests of Mt. Kenya.”  Apparently, Satao was “so intelligent that he knew he needed to protect his enormous tusks by intentionally hiding in bushes so they couldn’t be seen.”  And, while he did survive one brutal attack with poisoned arrows, he ultimately fell victim to the ivory trade.

Elephants are among the most intelligent land animals.  They communicate with language; they visit the gravesides of their deceased family members; and, as mentioned in the article, they hide from their biggest enemy, humans. They know they’re under attack, but their ability to defend themselves against armed poachers is limited.  Find out how you can help protect them by visiting The Tsavo Trust.