Fury as South African animal sanctuary lets a CrossFit gym owner do pull ups on an elephant’s TUSKS
- Gym owner was pictured doing pull-ups on an elephant’s tusks in South Africa
- The incident sparked outrage online, with people calling the move ‘abhorrent’
- Emma Roberts later released a statement defending her actions
A South African animal sanctuary has sparked fury after it let a CrossFit gym owner do pull-ups on an elephant’s tusks.
The woman, who has been identified as Emma Roberts, was visiting the Adventures with Elephants elephant park in Mabula District where the incident took place.
The South African native was pictured performing the fitness move on the elephant’s tusks.
A South African animal sanctuary has sparked fury after it let a CrossFit gym owner do pull-ups on an elephant’s tusks
The woman, who has been identified as Emma Roberts, was visiting the Adventures with Elephants elephant park in Mabula District where the incident took place
The incident sparked backlash on social media, with one person commenting: ‘Can’t believe she did that. She doesn’t have common sense and empathy. The elephant deserves to be treated with respect. Be kind to them.’
Another person said: ‘Absolutely abhorrent. People don’t understand the horror that wild animals go through to “perform.” Elephant spines are not meant for holding humans’ weight.’
‘This is horrible and breaks my heart. Thanks for calling attention to this,’ one Twitter user said.
Roberts, who owns her own CrossFit gym, later released a statement on her now-deleted Instagram account defending her actions.
‘For the sake of this amazing facility I have opted to remove my post,’ she said.
‘For the sake of this amazing facility I have opted to remove my post,’ she said
Roberts, who owns her own CrossFit gym, later released a statement on her now-deleted Instagram account defending her actions
‘I do not agree that sharing an amazing moment with this animal is cruel in any way. However, there are many humans out there who only see the negative.
‘Beating elephants is cruel, riding them is not ideal, keeping them in horrible environments and killing them for their ivory is cruel.
‘Providing them with a home in their natural environment and educating people about how intelligent and wonderful they are is not cruelty.
‘Unfortunately only a small percentage of the world is enlightened enough to see this.
‘Those of you who have sent me wonderful messages, thank you.
‘Those of you who have made this amazing experience for me feel like something I should be ashamed of… Shame on you.’