HANAKO FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What is this campaign about? Who started it?
Canadian communications specialist and animal advocate Ulara Nakagawa first wrote about Hanako on her blog in Oct 2015, after seeing her at the Inokashira Zoo in Tokyo, Japan. Rita Claessens, an elephant lover and activist from Belgium, was so moved by this story that she started a petition to present to the zoo asking them to send Hanako to a sanctuary — or at least improve her living conditions.
To date, the petition has gathered nearly half a million signatures. Through this, Hanako’s story was brought to the attention of the world, and covered by media outlets including the Associated Press, The Canadian Press, The New York Times, The Daily Mail, and many many more.
What is Hanako’s story?
Hanako was a 69-year-old-female Asian elephant.
Hanako was brought to Japan from Thailand in 1949, when she was just 2 years old. At first, she lived at Ueno Park Zoo and reportedly had other elephant companions for a time being. She was also part of a traveling zoo, (which at one point she tried to run away from).
Eventually, in 1954, she was relocated to Inokashira Park Zoo due to the public’s requests for an elephant. Here she lived in her enclosure without elephant companionship, for over 60 years.
However, there were some bright spots in Hanako’s life. At one point Hanako actually had one true friend in the world: a zookeeper named Kiyozo Yamakawa who truly loved her. Sadly, he passed away in 1995. But in 2006, Kiyozo’s son, Koji Yamakawa, wrote a book about his father’s heartwarming relationship with Hanako, called “Hanako, the Elephant My Father Loved.” It was a big hit in Japan. This story has been made into a book and TV show.
A fundraising campaign for Hanako led to a trip to meet with her zoo in March, 2016. Can you explain what this trip involved?
Funds were raised in order for Ulara Nakagawa and an elephant welfare expert to fly to Japan to meet with the zoo.
The goal of the trip was simple:
Observe Hanako closely, and discuss in an open and collaborative way with her keepers how we can help her live out her remaining few years in a more humane environment. During this meeting Carol would determine whether Hanako should:
1. Be moved to a sanctuary in Thailand or relocated to a better zoo in Japan.
2. Have her current conditions at the Inokashira Zoo made significantly better.
Note: It is very rare for zoos to be this open to meeting with activists and campaigners under such circumstances. The fact Ulara Nakagawa + Carol Buckley were able to meet with them, have unrestricted access to Hanako and her keepers is a positive outcome. It is also something Hanako’s zoo should be acknowledged for. It will also hopefully set an example for the future collaboration of more welfare activists and zoos.
For more details on the trip, please read first-hand accounts via Ulara Nakagawa’s blog posts:
The Hanako Story: Part 1 — Tokyo
The Hanako Story: Part 2 — The Elephant “Retirement Home”
Hanako Update: The Latest (With translated letters from the zoo)
Did Hanako die? How did she die?
Will the zoo get another elephant to replace Hanako? How can this be stopped?
The zoo has stated they will not get another elephant. Here is a translation of the email they sent Ulara after Hanako’s death with more on that, as well as her passing:
June 5, 2016
Dear Ulara,
We received your email on May 27th regarding Hanako’s passing. We are sorry we couldn’t get back to you sooner, as it’s now been 10 days since Hanako’s passing.
We have been so busy with inquiries from the media, etc. and haven’t had a chance to do our regular desk work.
As of June 4 (yesterday), we have received over 4000 bouquets and 7000 cards of condolence for Hanako’s passing. It took some more time to sort them out. This outpouring of support has shown us again how much Hanako was loved by people all over Japan. Her outdoor enclosure is now covered in bouquets.
As to your inquiry about the cause of her death, we’ve attached the documents that we released from the press release. You can also find the information via media reports — but this is the original.
Regarding her inconsistent appetite, it was decreasing slightly on the day before her death but still she ate peaches and bread, etc. So we didn’t notice she’d stopped eating. In the evening, she looked a little tired but it was not unusual. We figured it was within her typical physical fluctuations given her advanced age. On the morning of the 26th, the caretaker found her lying on her side and to remove the pressure to her organs, especially her lungs, we used a wide belt to change her position but she passed away on this day after 3pm. When she died, it was very calm and she didn’t seem to suffer at all. She just seemed to fade away. Like a candle blowing out on its own. That’s the only comfort we felt.
The result of the autopsy was death due to pulmonary respiratory failure. But it’s safe to say it was also of old age.
We feel that one era is over for us. We think about how she was able to give hope and encouragement for the suffering children after we lost the second world war.
However, in this day and age, we know that it’s our role as a zoo to help Japanese people understand that we have to keep elephants in the most considerate of environments, closest to their natural habitat in the wild. With that in mind, it’s won’t be probable that we will get another elephant here after Hanako. We think it will instead be our mission from now on, to communicate Hanako’s life and legacy to future generations.
Hanako’s body was sent to the National Science Museum for further study. We have received criticism by many people for this. They say it’s sad and would rather have seen her buried. We feel this again shows just how strong of a connection people had with Hanako. We are planning to hold a farewell ceremony, perhaps a Japanese custom for her soon.
Inokashira Park Zoo.
What is happening to the remaining funds that were raised from the campaign to help Hanako?
- A fund for Hanako still remains with about half of the donations left over that were raised for her via my fundraising campaign. I ended the fundraising campaign immediately after learning of Hanako’s death but the platform needs a few days to close it down completely. I’ve been informed by Indiegogo that the campaign will end at 11:59PM on May 28, 2016 and be closed forever.
- The Help Hanako team (with the consultation of experienced NGOs and campaigners) will carefully decide next steps for the remaining funds. Compared to what other major animal welfare NGOs, sanctuaries and organizations have in their donation pools (in the hundreds of thousands and millions), Hanako’s is a small, grassroots campaign. Comparatively, with our $18,000 (approx.), we only have a limited amount funding to work with. We will need to take some time to carefully decide what will benefit the most amount of elephants in need. One idea we are exploring is to divert them towards a campaign to help expose the unknown situation of other captive elephants in Japan — in Hanako’s honour. But we will need the help of others to carry such a larger campaign out.
- There is some talk of using it for a statue of Hanako. We believe the funds will be better invested in the living “Hanakos” who need our help.
- Hanako’s campaign was always so rushed because we knew at 69-years-old, every day the clock was ticking for her. Now, we have some time. I hope we can use it wisely, as she would have hoped, and do the best thing.
Is there an elephant sanctuary in Japan?
During their visit in Japan, Ulara and Carol, went to investigate a so-called “sanctuary” in Japan which turned out to be a private zoo/circus. It has become clear there is no sanctuary in Japan for elephants, or anything close to one. In fact, sadly, it appears that most of Japan’s approximately 15 or so solitary, captive elephants who are kept in very similar conditions to Hanako: alone, in tight spaces across various zoos.
Who is the elephant expert who went to assess Hanako?
Carol Buckley is the founder of Elephant Aid International. Prior to this she was the CEO of the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee for 15 years — which she also founded. In 1997, TIME Magazine awarded Carol a Hero for the Planet Award for her innovative work in co-founding the first natural habitat refuge for elephants in the United States.
Carol is an internationally recognized authority in the rescue, treatment, rehabilitation and humane management of captive-held elephants. Now with more than 40 years experience working with elephants hands on, she is recognized for her work with elephants by top elephant experts around the world.
What did Carol have to say about Hanako? Is there a report available?
After 2 days of observing Hanako and talking with the zoo staff and her keepers, Carol advised against Hanako being moved.
She also put together an assessment report for Hanako. This report contains over 2 dozen recommendations (both immediate and longer term) to improve Hanako’s living conditions. This report was presented to the zoo in both English and Japanese. It is available at this link (English) for download: http://www.carolbuckley.com/elevisions/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Hanako-Report_FINAL.pdf
Why couldn’t Hanako be sent to a sanctuary? Or at least relocated to a better zoo in Japan?
Hanako was simply not fit physically or emotionally to travel. This was an opinion shared by many animal welfare and elephant experts and vets who weighed in on the situation from a distance, as well as Carol Buckley who visited her in March, 2016 and zoo caretakers and staff.
Many people were disappointed (some angered) by the conclusion that Hanako should not be moved to a different zoo or sanctuary.
However, the bottom line is that at 69 years of age, she was the oldest living elephant in Japan (and one of the oldest in the world). She was comparable to a very elderly human patient in hospice care. Therefore, she was simply neither mentally nor physically fit to be moved to Thailand or another zoo in Japan. At her age, it would have been far too dangerous and even cruel to try.
Did the zoo implement any of Carol’s recommendations before Hanako died?
Hanako’s people are her chosen companions. Therefore, Carol has recommended in her report that the zoo increase the amount of quality time Hanako is able to spend with them, add behavioral enrichment to her enclosure for when they’re not around and further educated themselves on reading elephant behavior. For more on this, refer to the ‘Social Deprivation’ section of Carol’s report.
The good news is that they had made several changes based on her recommendations. In the short couple of months after the visit and report, the zoo communicated with us that they had:
- Increased the amount of quality time the keepers spend with Hanako. As of April 2016, they assigned her keepers with less responsibilities (with other zoo animals) so they can spend more time with her.
- This includes also, closing down her indoor exhibit for 1 hour a day in the afternoon, so that Hanako can have undisturbed time with her keepers, being hand-fed and brushed.
- They also attempted to begin installing a security fence in her outdoor enclosure so that her keepers could spend more time with her outdoors as well. However, Hanako reacted negatively to this change and refused to come out to her outdoor enclosure. The fence was removed several days later as a result.
- Added a new 1-meter barrier between Hanako and zoo visitors to add distance from the public for her personal comfort. This was covered in the ‘Safety’ section of Carol’s report. Carol determined that having her personal space violated causes her stress and anxiety.
- Ordered and were ready to install plastic flaps for the opening of her indoor enclosure to winterize the area to stop the draft and hold in the heat. (See ‘Health — Shivering’ section of Carol’s report for more on this).
What was being done to keep the pressure on the zoo to carry out more changes for Hanako and improve her life?
We were working with the Inokashira Park Zoo with the support of local and global NGOs to execute faster and more effectively on the recommendations Carol made in her report. Read more about the specific progress that was being made before her death, in her eulogy here: https://medium.com/@ulara.nakagawa/r-i-p-hanako-17a84fd15799#.u6zz4l1ki
Since Hanako couldn’t be moved, couldn’t she at least have had a companion?
We were absolutely against and did not support introducing another elephant into the zoo. The space is simply too small for two elephants and when Hanako died, the new elephant would then be alone, living in inhumane conditions. We also do not believe it is fair to support bringing more elephants to Hanako’s zoo — or any other zoo for that matter — in Japan to live out their life in captivity. Hanako’s zoo has publicly stated they will not replace Hanako with another elephant, and instead will try and educate future generations on the importance of natural environments for wild animals like her.
