About 5 months ago PETA created a "walking, talking 6.5-foot-tall robot named Ellie" according to peta.org. This robot is voiced by actor Priyanka Chopra, who is the star of ABC's new hit show Quantico. Check out the video of Ellie in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x3k45sZl3g.
The elephant travels across the country to teach schoolchildren about animal suffering. In fact, she has visited 3,000 elementary school students. Ellie is actually a visual of the recently freed elephant. Chopra tells the children her story explaining her painful life of separation between her, as an infant, and her mother. She was used in a circus, where the handlers use intimidation and physical punishment against the elephants they use for shows. Thankfully, she was rescued and is now living her life out at a sanctuary. See the photo below of elephants at an elephant sanctuary, the Elephant Nature Park I visited in Chiang Mai, Thailand last summer!
The focus behind this project is that "Ellie is teaching kids that elephants belong in the wild, with their families, and that they suffer in captivity, where they're subjected to abuse and unable to engage in natural behavior," says Chopra. This is amazing, and hopefully it will catch on and help teach children and adults the reality of circuses.
Facts about elephants according to http://www.happyelephantcontest.com/fun-facts/:
-Elephants are the largest land animals in the world.
-Elephants can live to be over 70 years old.
-Only one mammal can’t jump — the elephant.
-The average weight for an elephant heart is about 27 to 46 pounds!
-An elephant’s skin is an inch thick.
-Elephants purr like cats do, as a means of communication.
-Tusks are an elephant’s incisor teeth. They are used for defense, digging for water, and lifting things.
-Elephants are social creatures. They sometimes “hug” by wrapping their trunks together in displays of greeting and affection.
-Elephants are highly sensitive and caring animals. if a baby elephant complains, the entire family will rumble and go over to touch and caress it. Elephants express grief, compassion, self-awareness, altruism and play.
-Elephants cry, play, have incredible memories, and laugh.
-The elephant trunk has more than 40,000 muscles in it.
Let's show the world how great these creatures are, PETA is!
