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An ABC News Live report just exposed the Endangered Ark Foundation in Choctaw County, Oklahoma, for what it really is: a seedy roadside zoo that exploits elephants for profit in cruel, dangerous interactions with the public. A woman who visited the facility in 2021 alleges that she was seriously injured during one of these encounters.
As reported by ABC News, the woman allegedly required multiple surgeries and years to recover from injuries to her knee and head. Direct encounters with exploited elephants have resulted in dozens of human deaths and catastrophic injuries, including in 2014 when an elephant from Endangered Ark crushed a man to death.
The Endangered Ark Foundation Is Just Another Sham Sanctuary
The Endangered Ark Foundation—which advertises itself as a “sanctuary” for retired circus elephants—is actually a breeding compound and “training” facility for the notoriously cruel Carson & Barnes Circus. This roadside zoo chains elephants and uses them for encounters in which visitors are encouraged to hand-feed, bathe, pet, and pose for selfies with the animals.
The feds have cited Carson & Barnes Circus for more than 100 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act—including for failing to provide animals with basic necessities such as adequate veterinary care, the minimum required space, shelter from the elements, and clean water. Additionally, its head trainer was previously filmed viciously attacking an elephant named Becky with a bullhook (a weapon resembling a fireplace poker) until she screamed in pain. Becky is still used for hands-on encounters at Endangered Ark.
Some elephants confined at Endangered Ark are still forced to tour with circuses—like Viola, an elderly elephant who earlier this year made her third attempt to escape from a circus.
Take Action for Elephants
Elephant calves learn crucial social and behavioral skills from their mothers and other relatives, with whom they share intense emotional bonds. Elephants used by Carson & Barnes don’t get to experience all this in their natural homes. When the company isn’t hauling them across the country and forcing them to perform uncomfortable, demeaning tricks at circuses, it confines them at the Endangered Ark Foundation, where the abuse continues.
Elephants don’t want to be forced to perform or interact with humans—and they need YOUR help to end this cruel cycle of exploitation. Please politely urge Carson & Barnes to end its cruel animal acts, send the animals to reputable sanctuaries, and highlight its human talent instead:
