Elephants in the wild.
Back in the day when CNN was still CNN.
Elephant cruelty alleged in custody case
BRITS, South Africa (CNN) -- A custody case set for decision soon by a South African judge pits a wild animal trainer against accusers who claim 30 young elephants in his care are malnourished, dehydrated, covered in wounds and possibly diseased.
Britain's Spice Girls, U.S. rock singer Chrissie Hynde and wildlife experts from around the world are among those who have taken up the cause.
They've appealed to President Nelson Mandela to help return the elephants to neighboring Botswana, where they were captured in the overcrowded Tuli game reserve last year to be trained and sold to circuses and zoos.
The animals, owned by Riccardo Ghiazza of South African-based African Games Services, "have not only been brutally beaten, but they've been psychologically traumatized as well," says Dr. Joyce Poole, an elephant researcher from Kenya.
'They hate and fear the trainers'
She inspected the animals at a compound in Brits, a small farming town outside Pretoria where the elephants are being trained. "They hate and fear the (trainers) so much that they lunge at them and would kill them if they could," she said.
