Sham Zoos and Sanctuaries

Sham zoos and sanctuaries are facilities that claim to provide a safe haven for animals, often including elephants, but instead exploit them for financial gain. These places often present themselves as legitimate sanctuaries, deceiving tourists while subjecting animals to harmful practices. [1 15]

Sham sanctuaries force animals into stressful interactions with tourists, using brutal methods like the “crush” or phajaan process to break their spirits. [5 6 4] This process involves separating young elephants from their mothers, confining them in small spaces, depriving them of food and water, and subjecting them to repeated beatings until they become submissive. [3 4 5 11]. Physical abuse, confinement, and isolation from their own species are common, causing both psychological and physical harm. [6 9 14 16]

A hallmark of these facilities is the prioritization of profit over animal welfare. They sell interactions such as rides, bathing, or feeding as entertainment, which not only harms the animals but also reinforces the idea that animals exist for human amusement. [1 5 7] Sham sanctuaries typically do not provide animals with spacious, natural habitats where they can engage in normal behaviors; instead, animals are often kept in cramped, unnatural conditions to maximize tourist exposure. [6 9 17]

In summary, sham sanctuaries exploit animals under the guise of rescue and conservation, subjecting them to cruel training, confinement, and forced interactions for profit, rather than prioritizing their welfare or providing genuine sanctuary. [1 5 15]

Two Tails Ranch in Williston, Florida, has faced significant criticism and scrutiny for its treatment of elephants and public safety practices. The facility has a documented history of USDA citations for failing to maintain secure perimeter fencing, with repeated violations noted for inadequate barriers that put both animals and visitors at risk. [8] These lapses have resulted in dangerous incidents, including elephant attacks on workers and visitors, as well as concerns over disease transmission such as tuberculosis among the elephants. [8]

The ranch has also been the subject of controversy over the welfare of individual elephants. In 2018, Anna Louise, a 35-year-old African elephant, died suddenly after being transferred to Two Tails Ranch. [8] Additionally, Asha, an elephant transferred from the Natural Bridge Zoo, lost her tusk under unclear circumstances, raising further welfare concerns. [1] Two Tails Ranch is known to rent out elephants for circuses, weddings, parades, and other events-practices widely criticized as exploitative and harmful to the elephants' well-being. [1 4 8]

Animal welfare advocates have repeatedly called out the ranch for its use of bullhooks-sharp metal tools used to control elephants-which are considered abusive and are banned in several states, though still legal in Florida. [4 6] Reports indicate that elephants at Two Tails Ranch are kept in restrictive environments, leading to frustration and aggressive behavior. For example, Asha was involved in incidents where she injured a keeper and killed another elephant, which advocates attribute to stress from confinement. [4]

The ranch’s practices have resulted in federal citations not only for shoddy enclosures and lack of adequate fencing but also for failing to meet basic animal welfare standards. [8] Despite these issues, regulatory bodies like the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) have sometimes concluded there were "no welfare concerns" after inspections, though these findings are disputed by animal advocacy groups. [1]

Similarly, the Endangered Ark Foundation in Oklahoma presents itself as an elephant sanctuary but has been exposed as a roadside zoo that breeds, trains, and warehouses elephants for circus acts, charging visitors for dangerous close encounters-practices that no reputable sanctuary would allow. [3 5 7] The facility has a record of serious injuries and even deaths resulting from human-elephant interactions. [5 7]