PRO ELEPHANT NETWORK

Our mission is to end the capture and exploitation of Elephants by humans. We advocate for the release of captive-held Elephants into natural systems.

[PRO ELEPHANT NETWORK @ProEleNetwork]

Professor Kristen Stilt and Dr Macarena Franceschini, Harvard legal scholars have joined the battle to free Lammie, Ramadiba and Mopane from the JHB Zoo. https://t.co/R8hFlkNe6Y

[EMS Foundation @emsfoundationsa]

#FreetheJohannesburgElephants

[EMS Foundation @emsfoundationsa]

“The case of Lammie, Ramadiba and Mopane — the three African elephants being kept at the Johannesburg Zoo under reportedly distressing conditions — is a deeply tragic one.

In 2019, Ramadiba and Mopane were transferred from captivity in the Eastern Cape to the Johannesburg Zoo, where reports now indicate that they are displaying signs of distress, frustration and listlessness associated with prolonged confinement and unnatural living conditions.

The environment does not speak for itself, and if we as human beings fail to act as its custodians, we risk accelerating the destruction of species, ecosystems, rivers, forests and oceans that future generations will depend on. As renowned activist Jay Naidoo has noted, elephants carry deep cultural and spiritual significance across many traditions, including among South Africa’s diverse peoples.

This is why ActionSA would support any lawful and appropriate legislative or legal intervention — including the matter currently before the courts concerning the Johannesburg Zoo — that advances the dignity, humane treatment and long-term preservation of South Africa’s invaluable wildlife heritage.
ActionSA remains concerned that sections of government are increasingly failing in their duty to protect South Africa’s rich environmental and wildlife heritage, too often allowing commercial interests and institutional convenience to take precedence over ethical conservation and animal welfare.
ActionSA is actively engaging with environmental stakeholders, conservationists and concerned South Africans as we work to table an updated version of our already first-in-class environmental policy. South Africans deserve a clear understanding of which political parties are genuinely committed to protecting our wildlife, oceans, mountains and forests — and which continue to neglect the constitutional responsibility to preserve them for future generations.”
— Alan Beesley MP, ActionSA Member of Parliament

[Carte Blanche @carteblanchetv]

What a fantastic update on Duma the elephant! In September this year, #CarteBlanche followed Duma (then called Charley) as he was moved from the Joburg Zoo to his new (and final) home at Shambala Private Game Reserve. You can watch that story again now on our website. https://t.co/O2D6D81NBT

[PRO ELEPHANT NETWORK @ProEleNetwork]

On the 2nd May 2025 PREN sent an urgent letter to @LAZoo
https://t.co/OSp0AG6UpD SILENCE !!! @NonhumanRights @MayorOfLA

[EMS Foundation @emsfoundationsa]

Professor Kristen Stilt and Dr Montez Franceschini, Harvard legal scholars have joined the battle to free Lammie, Ramadiba and Mopane from the Johannesburg Zoo. “The City of Johannesburg continues to defend the elephant’s captivity in court a move seen as many as both fiscally irresponsible and ethically indefensible”https://t.co/FTil4HBHV4

[EMS Foundation @emsfoundationsa]

A life behind bars: The silent suffering of South Africa’s zoo animals https://t.co/B8qTdzDJE2 #TowardsFreedomJohannesburgZoo @AnimalLawReform @enviro_lawyers @IOL @SABCNews @ProEleNetwork

[PRO ELEPHANT NETWORK @ProEleNetwork]

@emsfoundationsa @IOL @Harvard This is great news. A giant leap in the right direction. No elephant deserves to be held captive in a zoo. No zoo anywhere can possibly give an elephant what he/she needs to thrive.

[EMS Foundation @emsfoundationsa]

IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!! @IOL Judge granted permission for @Harvard to join our legal case yesterday.
Harvard Law School academics seek to join court case for release of elephants from Johannesburg Zoo https://t.co/ehxi5EZQhG

[PRO ELEPHANT NETWORK @ProEleNetwork]

@emsfoundationsa @Mtpatourism @WeWildAfrica WOW!!! Look how far Tswale has come from being tethered and used to entertain humans. Incredible work by the Mpumalanga Conservation Agency and @WeWildAfrica we wish him everything of the very best

[EMS Foundation @emsfoundationsa]

Finally free: Tswale finds his wild home after 20 years in captivity https://t.co/4oX7YEbJxR We are so thankful to everyone involved @Mtpatourism @WeWildAfrica #TowardsFreedom

[PRO ELEPHANT NETWORK @ProEleNetwork]

@emsfoundationsa Congratulations to Duma on his first year of living a more natural life. Onwards and upwards the future looks very bright. Well done to everyone who has been involved with this incredible project. @emsfoundationsa @ZuluCampRSA

[EMS Foundation @emsfoundationsa]

One year in the wild: Pretoria Zoo elephant celebrates his new Limpopo life https://t.co/fP8P5HNtqR

[PRO ELEPHANT NETWORK @ProEleNetwork]

A life behind bars: The silent suffering of South Africa’s zoo animals https://t.co/UQUnB3kFVS @emsfoundationsa @AnimalLawReform @enviro_lawyers #TowardsFreedomProgrammeJohannesburgZoo @IOL @SABCNews

[🇨🇦 🐘Sangita🐘 Elephant 🐘 Iyer 🇨🇦🐘🌻 @Sangita4eles]

THIS IS MAMMOTH PROGRESS!! @Asw2belle we are doing something for the festival elephants. Please share the good news as well. We try to stay focused on results. @CWitvrouwen @Camillembj @ElephantsFuture @Action4ElliesUK @Protect_Wldlife @SonjaWong20 @ZacGoldsmith @HenrySmithUK

[EMS Foundation @emsfoundationsa]

A CRISIS IN MADIKWE? Or an excuse to hunt? EMS Foundation conducted its own onsite research but North West Province Department of Economic Development, Conservation and Tourism refuses to answer our PAIAS https://t.co/lkpZfcwNFk

[PRO ELEPHANT NETWORK @ProEleNetwork]

On the 2nd May 2025 PREN sent an urgent letter to @LAZoo
https://t.co/OSp0AG6UpD SILENCE !!! @NonhumanRights @MayorOfLA

[PRO ELEPHANT NETWORK @ProEleNetwork]

#TowardsFreedom #Duma Thank you @emsfoundationsa and @ZuluCampRSA for never giving up. Thank you to all the collaborators and news makers. @fourpawsint @WeWildAfrica @carteblanchetv @GoodThingsGuy 2025 🐘🐘🐘

[EMS Foundation @emsfoundationsa]

FREEDOM
Freedom creates the opportunity to determine action without constraint. Freedom is also the absence of obstacles to the realisation of desires. The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage.

Duma, is free to make his own choices about when he wants to eat and where he wants to be in the twenty-eight hectares of protected nature that Shambala has provided for him. He is constantly monitored by elephant experts as he learns, at his own pace what it’s like to be an elephant without the constraints of a zoo, where he creates his own daily routine where he does not have to wait to be fed or let out of a night room.

He has waited for more than four decades to stand in the shade of a tree, to drink from a river and to take a mud bath.

The EMS Foundation worked tirelessly for four years with the Pro Elephant Network to negotiate his freedom. With the expertise of our selected experts we successfully evacuated Duma from the zoo and transported him to his new life.

📸 ©️EMS Foundation 2024. Duma December 2024 Shambala.

[WILDLIFE ANIMAL PROTECTION FORUM SOUTH AFRICA @WAPFSA]

WAPFSA strongly believes that Botswana is one of the last places on earth where wildlife, especially elephants, exist in large numbers, and therefore we believe that Botswana 
should be  preserved as a non-trophy hunting area. https://t.co/vIUd6Sy1Cv

[EMS Foundation @emsfoundationsa]

URGENT in person round table discussions between @EZEMVELOKZNWild the owners of Mawana, the Leaders from the affected Communities and NGO’s involved to AGREE on sustainable long-term safety of humans and these elephants @GoodThingsGuy @ProEleNetwork