David Ebert–the founder of Weeping Elephant Project, which, according to its website, “focuses on the awfulness of the use of captive elephants for zoos, circuses and other forms of supposed entertainment,” but has great ambitions for rectifying the plight of these pachyderms—recalls his 33-year career as a commercial litigation attorney, exploring opportunities, as he approached retirement, to help animal organizations. 
Ebert was chiefly offering his services as an experienced, skilled, successful lawyer, but, he says, no satisfying
prospects emerged from his inquiries. Not long after he retired, he co-founded an organization that was exactly what he was looking for: the Animal Defense Partnership, a non-profit that provides free legal services to other non-profits advocating for animal protection. In the decade since it was launched, Animal Defense Partnership has represented more than 400 clients, many of whom, Ebert explains, initially found the “free” part of ADP’s too good to be true. He would explain to someone at an animal organization the legal services that ADP was offering them, pro bono, and they’d respond with great enthusiasm, wondering what it would cost them. Nearly a decade after starting ADP, he created Weeping Elephant Project. Ebert had long been intrigued by elephants, an interest that intensified immeasurably, he recalls, after a profound experience at the end of a weeklong visit to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an elephant orphanage in Kenya. Ebert spent time that week with Shukuru, a young elephant who couldn’t return to the wild, and unlike other elephants there, could be touched by visitors. Gathered on the last day, trading farewells with fellow visitors and Sheldrick staffers, Ebert explains, resident elephants were ambling in various directions, when Shukuru changed direction, headed toward Ebert, then stopped: Clearly saying goodbye. Ebert was a changed man. And this transformative experience propelled him to establish the Weeping Elephant Project. He articulates the WEP mission—seeking to improve life for the 285 captive elephants in the U.S., while recognizing there simply isn’t space at the legitimate sanctuaries 
to relocate many, if any, of them. Ebert also describes their current investigation of Busch Gardens
Tampa Bay, an amusement park/zoo combo, whose animals on display include elephants; their investigation indicates two elephants were euthanized in just the last two years. He goes on to explain that part of this WEP effort includes a campaign urging folks concerned about the well-being of elephants at Busch Gardens to email the operation, expressing outrage at their treatment and saying they refuse to return to the theme park while that treatment continues. That recent effort, Ebert notes, quickly yielded 110,000 emails. That’s not a typo. 110,000. Ebert feels that’s evidence of momentum toward Busch Gardens making some improvements in the elephants’ day-to-day environment, which includes extensive noise, and worse, including fireworks displays, roller coasters and construction in close proximity to the elephant habitat. We’ll track this story on “Talking Animals,” and surely present a follow-up broadcast. Meanwhile, Ebert anticipates some significant media coverage of WEP’s Busch Gardens investigation, and invites concerned citizens to visit the WEP website to learn how to participate, and to consider donating in support of their ongoing efforts: https://weepingelephant.org/
ALSO: I spoke with Noah Greenwald, Endangered Species Co-Director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Greenwald appeared on the show to discuss newly-available information that indicates the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has lost some 36% of its staff under the Trump administration. He first provided a brief overview of the Center for Biological Diversity and its mission. In that context, Greenwald addressed the specifics of the staff reduction at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—in hard numbers, it looks something like 9957 staff members decreased to 6333—and the significant implications of losing so many scientists, attorneys, and others, yielding the end, or at least temporary suspension, of affording protections to species that otherwise would be declared endangered. (https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/)
COMEDY CORNER: Zoltan Kaszas’s “Rescue Dog” (https://www.zoltancomedy.com/)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.
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