David Ebert
I’m a retired lawyer and founded Weeping Elephant Project in 2025 as a means of more fully devoting myself to reducing the suffering of captive elephants. The project focuses on the awfulness of the use of captive elephants for zoos, circuses and other forms of supposed entertainment. WEP is a continuation and expansion of my work on behalf of captive elephants in the US over the past decade.
I’m also the Co-Founder, President Emeritus, and a former board member of Animal Defense Partnership, a 501c3 that provides legal services exclusively to animal protection nonprofits, entirely without charge. ADP , which we formed in 2016, now represents 400+ clients working in the US as well as US-based organizations advocating for change in other parts of the world. In 2024, my last full year with the organization, ADP provided $2.1 million in billable legal services to its clients, for free.
I’m a member of or advisor to: Pro Elephant Network; Voice for Asian Elephants Society; Physicians Association for Nutrition; Scarlet Spark; Free All Captive Elephants; The Asia for Animals Coalition/Capacity Building and Elephant Working Groups; Rowdy Girl Sanctuary’s Rancher Advocacy Program; TerraMar Research; and Global Animal Law Association.
I received my B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania (1982) and my law degree from New York University School of Law (1986). I practiced law for 33 years, before retiring in 2019.
