Saving Anne the Elephant: The True Story of the Last British Circus Elephant

by Claire Ellicott

When shocking images emerged of Anne, Britain's last circus elephant, being beaten by one of her keepers, it sparked a national outcry. Undercover footage showed the gentle creature cowering in fear as the youth repeatedly inflicted violent attacks on her, making her wince in pain. The public was appalled and demanded that Anne be freed from the circus where she had spent nearly 55 years performing and be allowed to live out her final years in peace. Claire Ellicott, a reporter at the Daily Mail , broke the story after the campaign group Animal Defenders International passed to the newspaper the footage they had secretly shot. From then on, the paper, animal charities, and experts worked tirelessly behind the scenes to save Anne and deliver her to safety. But there were fears for her health due to her crippling arthritis and old age, and at one stage it was thought that she might have to be put down to ease her suffering. Thankfully the vets decided that they could treat her, and she officially retired in 2011. It was agreed that Longleat Safari Park would be her new home and she settled in nicely. Meanwhile, her keeper is believed to have fled to his native Romania and her owner Bobby Roberts was prosecuted for animal cruelty the following year. The Daily Mail ran a funding appeal to build her a refuge at the park specifically designed for her needs, and she moved in to Anne's Haven a year ago. Since she was rescued, she has gone from strength to strength and the arthritis which caused her to drag her back legs has dramatically improved. Having recovered her mobility, she is able to play and go for walks with newfound energy. Now, at last, she has the chance to live out her final years in a happy and safe place.

288 pages, Hardcover

Published June 1, 2016

Reviews

[Abi Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting learning about the ins and outs of Anne’s rescue - and the various challenges of differing views from different groups, campaigners, NGOs and circus groups in regards to levels of cruelty they acknowledged and solutions they saw fit. Writing was a bit repetitive - but makes sense as is written by a journalist - almost every chapter could be its own article but I enjoyed it.

Very illuminating how the same act can be perceived as ok in one decade and then as abhorrent in another, based on human popular opinions - rather than the direct impact on the victim.

[Jessica Jade · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t always write reviews, but this one I’ve got to. And it’s a long one, but please read it before reading this book - there are spoilers though but it’s all on the internet anyway.

I would never normally give a non fiction animal story two stars but unfortunately this one deserves it, and I’m being quite generous with the two stars to be honest.

The main reason for this low rating is because this is not a book for animal lovers, for someone wanting to read a story about an animal that was abused finally being rescued because that is not what this book is at all.
In my opinion the wrong person wrote Anne’s story. If you can even call it Anne’s story.

This book is awful. Theres far too much written in the defence of animals being kept in circus’s. There shouldn’t be ANY. This book should be about why animals SHOULDN’T be kept in circus’s not why the Roberts’ thought it was ok.
I don’t want to read his excuses or that he loved her like family because if that was the case he wouldn’t have kept a full grown, very unhealthy, alone elephant in a tiny cage driving around the country chaining her to the floor, using her to make his money. Yes times may have been different but that doesn’t mean I want to read his excuses when I picked this book up to read about her being saved.


I picked this book up because it was called ‘saving Anne the elephant’ I wanted to read about her being taken away from this terrible life and given a wild one once again.
Yes she was saved, but this book certainly isn’t about saving her. (Infact she still doesn’t have the best life available to her (although it is much much better now) but there are many charities out there still fighting for her. She’s still alone, but thankfully no longer chained. Since Bobby Roberts believed she ‘didn’t like other elephants’ there was no rush to get her with her own kind, and now due to her believed age, health issues and delays in rescuing her she can no longer be moved or introduced to a herd.
This might be how Anne has to spend the rest of her life, thankfully it’s a million times better than with the roberts’. But I will add, if they’d never been allowed elephants in their circus in the first place, this wouldn’t have been Anne’s life. She wouldn’t be on her own now. I’m sure many people will be of the same opinion who pick up this book hoping to read a story about an elephant being saved. So why did we have to keep reading about his excuses?)

This book had the opportunity to raise awareness of what’s happening to elephants like Anne and stop it happening again. Because yes it still happens.
But each time it headed that way, and talked about how many circus animals have been saved so far, the cruelty they all face each and every second of the day, etc it then lead back to trying to justify animals being kept in circus’s. While also telling us again how cruelly Anne and other animals are treat. It makes no sense. There was a whole section in the middle just about the roberts’. Their interview and their life taking wild animals around the country in cages as though it was brilliant. One part even tried to say it was bad to ban him from taking his animals on the beach. What a life of luxury occasionally getting to walk on the beach only to be back in a cage again half hour later.

This book is a debate. With itself. It’s like the author can’t decide what side she’s on. One minute expressing how cruel it is, the next explaining why it was ok. (Repeatedly since the author repeats herself constantly) she was even going to go to court on the circus’s side?! Who does that and then writes about saving an animal she was going to court about to defend?!
and it’s infuriating to read. It’s not what it WANTED to read when I read what this book was about. It’s not what I was lead to believe I would be reading.
A book has never made me this angry - but not only for Anne’s sake (I mean of course I was angry for Anne’s sake) but for the sheer stupidity of this book. It’s deluded. It’s outdated and it’s not what it should be.

A great opportunity was missed with this book. Seriously. And I really hope someone else out there who actually likes animals rewrites Anne’s story and gives it the justice it deserves even if Anne didn’t get that.

Also, just to mention. The law on circus animals still isn’t that great. The Born Free website has all the information - but wild animals can still be kept by circus’s. They just can’t perform. Domesticated animals can. The law still doesn’t protect animals and more awareness really needs to be raised about this.

I’ve got a ton more to say on this but this review has gone on far too long so I’ll leave it there. My last note is do not buy this book, instead read about Anne’s story online. Very glad I picked this one up in a charity shop.

[Tammy Winter · Rating 1 out of 5]

As much as Anne's story is incredible unfortunately this book fails to deliver that story in a meaningful way. This book is written by a journalist and it shows. It really does feel like a 200 page news article and in some instances it looks like her previous articles have simply been copy and pasted into the book. The reason i say this is because at multiple times the same little tidbits keep getting repeated over an over again ( we get it the queen fed Anne!) this would make sense if this is a new article a week after the last and you need to introduce the facts to new readers but in a book this comes across as either repetitive filler or sheer laziness to fill your page quota as quickly as possible.

If its not the same facts over and over again it's another interview taken from the papers and whacked in saying what someone else has already said beforehand. It really is a shame because it makes this book incredibly boring theres no personality in it its simply just newspaper clippings in hardback form. I had a hard time finishing it because id either be so bored i didn't dare pick it up or too tired to carry on after 30 or so pages.

Anne's story is one that took a nations heart and ran with it but this book is not that, read the old newspaper articles online or watch a video about Anne because there is not much here you couldn't already find, in better quality, for free somewhere else.

[Bethany Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like although this was written by a journalist this was lacking a lot of common knowledge and discussion with a very biased view although this Book should of been mutual in referring all this information over to the reader this seems very biased and the terminology she used to describe people and professionals within the industry came across offensive and I believe there should’ve been an extra chapter talking about the lack of education that is seen within circuses which could have been the stimuli or the reasoning for this type of behavioural training in animals as zoos have access to professionals within the industry where a success due to their transportation do not have access to animal professionals which could be the lack of education is implementing the behaviour training of the animals and I think discussing that point is very important as well as when you were talking about animal professionals you stated that although they said he was a Dynasty you did not agree and you thought this was a average response I think understanding someone’s point of view and criticising them within a book that feels more like a journal undermined your overall knowledge of the species and the animal industry I think this book should’ve been done by a professional within the animal industry with a nonbiased view point where it can relate pertinent information without being offensive to other professionals

[Jill B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed how informative this book was on the circus industry as well as Anne, the last circus elephant, and how it addressed the situation from different perspectives of each party involved. The story did flow in a factual way. I do think parts and facts were repetitive throughout. I expected a story format and it was more a factual account of events in which each chapter is a different account of the event. I do think it could’ve been condensed. I do think it would make a great comic or picture book for older children as there are a lot of good points for conversation around the circus, animal captivity and activist groups.

[Ffion Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

No words can describe how much I enjoyed this book, not mentally but emotionally. I am very much against animal abuse and anything really that involves animals welfare being affected cruelly. I felt emotionally attached to this book and was extremely drawn to it. Amazing book, definitely recommend.