Steven M. Wise—founder and president of the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP); an attorney, author, and legal scholar, Wise is leading NhRP’s pioneering effort to free an elephant named Happy from the Bronx Zoo through a writ of habeas corpus, aiming to change her...
Kitty Block—President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), as well as CEO of Humane Society International, HSUS’ global division—discusses getting a precocious start working in animal welfare, in that her Mom was an animal activist. Block...
Carol Buckley—a longtime expert in the care of captive elephants, who co-founded The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, moving on to found Elephant Aid International, a nonprofit organization “that creates innovative approaches to the care and management of captive...
Barbara Trask Lovett—president of Save Nosey Now, member of the Board of Directors of The Elephant Advocacy Project, and generally a veteran advocate for improving the lives of captive elephants—recounts part of her background and how earlier efforts for Sea...
Caitlin O’Connell—a noted scientist who’s spent much of her career studying elephants and their communication, and author of several books, most recently “Wild Rituals: 10 Lessons Animals Can Teach Us about Connection, Community, and Ourselves”—addresses some of...
Ginny Sweet—co-founder (with Harry Toro) of Corsos for Heroes, an organization based in Lutz, Florida, that donates specially-trained service dogs, of the Cane Corso breed, to military veterans who are contending with one or more disabilities—describes some of the...
Jeffrey Masson—the New York Times bestselling author of books about animals and their emotions, including “When Elephants Weep” and “Dogs Never Lie About Love”—explains how being on the cusp of turning 80, and contemplating his own mortality, formed the chief...
Michelle Gadd—who heads global conservation for Walters Conservation, created and funded by philanthropists Mark and Kimbra Walter, and owner of White Oak Conservation, a 17,000-acre spread in northeastern Florida, which houses and cares for endangered and...
Heidi Jo Markel—longtime film producer and founder of Stop Poaching Now! (SPN), an organization dedicated to combating poaching through conservation strategies and educational efforts—recounts her foray into producing movies, starting by trying her hand at acting...
Scott Blais—co-founder of the Global Sanctuary for Elephants, whose initial facility is the Elephant Sanctuary Brazil—begins the conversation aiming to answer my question about what makes elephants magical, what provokes such passionate response to them in so many...
