How to Help

There Are Many Things We All Can Do to Help Retire Tembo and Sunda to a Sanctuary! To contact us for information, interviews, etc. please email us at temboandsunda@gmail.com If you haven't already done so, be sure and sign the petition on the home page.  Thanks!!! 1.  Click on the link below to email the USDA and urge them to confiscate Sunda (and Tembo) and send them to The Elephant Sanctuary.  Sunda's feet were recently photographed and sadly, she has severe foot disease which is common for circus and zoo elephants forced to stand on concrete and hard surfaces their whole lives. https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=2197&JServSessionIdr004=7mv0f4roi2.app245b 2.  Tell the Topeka Zoo and City Council members that you want to see Tembo and Sunda immediately retired and sent to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.  Contact information:   Topeka City Council: this email address will go to all city council members. council@topeka.org To email specific council members click here for their contact information. Mayor Bill Bunten 215 SE 7th, Rooom 352 Topeka, KS 66603 785-368-3710 bbunten@topeka.org Brendan Wiley, Zoo Director Topeka Zoo 635 SW Gage Blvd. Topeka, KS 66606 785-368-9180 bwiley@topeka.org Sample letter: Dear Topeka City Council Members, Mayor Bunten, Mr. Wiley:            Please take immediate steps to retire Tembo and Sunda to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.  Many famous, progressive, AZA-accredited zoos have released their elephants to sanctuaries.  Zoo visitors, scientists, elephant handlers, zoo directors, and veterinarians are all coming to the same conclusion that  elephants are simply too big and their social, physical and psychological needs are too complex to be humanely cared for in a confining zoo environment. Tembo and Sunda are suffering with health problems, stereotypic rocking, and inability to walk many miles a day and be nurtured in a social group.  You have the power to retire Tembo and Sunda to life where they can heal.  Please make the compassionate, ethical and  humane decision, and give them the freedom they deserve after so many years of suffering and confinement. Respectfully,   3.  Share our brochure with as many people as you can.      4.  Document living conditions and behavior Tembo and Sunda need many people to go to the Topeka Zoo, take photos and videos of them, make notes of their behaviors, and send them to temboandsunda@gmail.com  or send hard copies to Animal Outreach of Kansas at P.O. Box 442454, Lawrence, KS, 66050.   In your filming, photos, and documentation please do the following:   Document the date and time of your visit as well as the weather conditions and temperature.  These are all very important  Look for repetitive behaviors such as rocking back and forth and swaying side to side.  Please videotape these behaviors if possible.

Also look for leg lifting, limping or repeated transfer of weight off of one foot. Videos of these behaviors is also really important. Document any aggressive behavior toward each other.  Film or photograph if possible and make notes.   Also look for wounds on their bodies, make notes of them, and try to get a photo of them.   If they are not outdoors, you may be able to see them through open barn doors swaying back and forth inside. Your camera may or may not be able to see them in the building, but please make notes of what you do see.  The doors may be closed, and they may not have access to the outside. If so, please make a note of that. Also, please make notes as to the condition of their yard, e.g., muddy, not draining properly, hard packed, lots of poop. toys available, water in their pool. If you see them in the pool, be sure and note that.  Politely ask elephant and other keepers (if you happen to see them) questions regarding the elephants.    As we gather this information over several months time, this will help build the case for getting Tembo and Sunda out of the Topeka Zoo and into the Elephant Sanctuary.  We will present your findings to the new zoo director as well as educate the public with the information we all gather.  If you wish your observations to be anonymous, please let us know that.  Please remember to date your observations.     If you know any children who would like to do this, that would be wonderful.  Letters and observations from kids will be especially valuable. Feel free to contact us at temboandsunda@gmail.com with questions, ideas, and to let us know if you would like to help in other ways. 5.  Tell friends and family about the issue. 6.  Join our Followers list so we can keep you updated.