Elephants, both the Asiatic and the African for centuries, have been adored, have inspired great works of art, and even have been revered as gods, yet they have also been treated with cruelty. AN APOLOGY TO ELEPHANTS explores the abuse of these ancient and intelligent animals and shows how some people are reversing the trend. It describes the often-brutal treatment elephants undergo when they are trained to perform, the psychological trauma they suffer and the physical damage done by inadequate living conditions in some zoos and circuses. In addition to this footage of elephants in the wild and in captivity, AN APOLOGY TO ELEPHANTS also includes interviews with elephant biologists, scientists and activists, including the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)co-founders Ed Stewart and the late Pat Derby; Dr. Joyce Poole, director of the conservation group Elephant Voices; Colleen Kinzley, curator at Oakland Zoo; Dr. Joel Parrott, director of Oakland Zoo; Dr. Mel Richardson, a captive wildlife veterinarian; Katy Payne, founder of the Elephant Listening Project; Cynthia Moss, director of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants; and Dr. Raman Sukumar, a professor at the Indian Institute of Science.