Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants

Good afternoon board members, Thank you for sharing a few minutes of your time today. I also want to thank you for the time, energy and financial support you provide to Woodland Park Zoo.   It’s a great resource for our community and for conservation. However, I too have significant reservations about the zoo’s elephant program.  My concerns are not about the care they are given, but about the insurmountable limits on the resources we can provide.

I work at Google as a software designer, and I AM a bit of a math nerd, but it doesn’t take much smarts to see that the numbers don’t add up. There are too many troubling statistics for me to cover tonight, so I’ll just touch on three.

First: space.  Asian elephants typically roam over an area on the order of 200 square miles. That’s 128,000 acres — 128 THOUSAND TIMES as much space as the one acre that Chai, Bamboo and Watoto all share.  And that’s the conservative estimate — many elephants roam far larger areas.

Secondly:  companionship.  Elephants are incredibly social creatures who, in the wild, travel in large herds and frequently interact with other groups. Over the course of a day they might encounter 20 to 200 other elephants. These social connections are known to be vital for an elephant’s well being. So it’s fair to say that in the elephant world, three is hardly a crowd… especially when two of those elephants don’t get along and must be constantly separated.

Third: foot and joint disease. In the United States in the last decade, there were 74 deaths of zoo elephants above the age of 10.  Of those, 22 are known to have died from foot or joint disease.  That’s 30 percent. This type of death is almost unheard of in the wild, so clearly the zoo environments and resulting inactivity play a huge role in cutting these lives short.

From Woodland Park Zoo’s own reports, Bamboo and Chai have been treated for foot abscesses — with Chai receiving 80 treatments for foot infections in 2008 alone.  Also, Watoto and Bamboo are reportedly showing symptoms of joint disease.  Sadly, our elephants are all on track to join that fateful 30%.

On a personal note, I live not far away in Ballard with my wife and a 1-year-old daughter. And like most parents I’d like my child to grow up with self awareness and the strength to stand up for her convictions. But I can only teach her those lessons if I lead by example — which is why I’m here tonight asking you to please consider transferring the elephants to a sanctuary, where they can have plenty of space to roam, lots of  companionship, and an environment conducive to foot and joint health.

As much as I’d love to bring my daughter to Woodland Park Zoo, I would be a bit of a hypocrite to do so knowing that the elephants have so little of what they need to live long and healthy lives.

The Elephant Sanctuary has posted a great message of support for Lily Tomlin and other celebrities who use their resources to help those in need. In this case, elephants who are suffering in a life of confinement.

I always enjoy hearing how celebrities use their fame and money to give back. It’s even better when the celebrity is a fellow Michigander, like Lily Tomlin.

Tomlin has chosen to devote her spare time in a crusade against elephants in captivity. And on January 20th, she will speak on behalf of the new documentary Elephants and Man: A Litany of Tragedy. The film covers the history of elephants in captivity and exposes the cruelty that is at the center of this history. You can watch the film on YouTube, split into seven segments, but prepare yourself for the graphic content.

Throughout the years, Tomlin has spoken out against zoos housing elephants. She fought against the $42 million enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo, championed a quest to relocate an elephant at the Dallas Zoo, and has joined the battle to urge Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo to remove their three elephants.

Read the full story on elephants.com

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports on a tragic death of a zoo elephant keeper at the Knoxville Zoo.

Photo from knoxnews.com

Stephanie James didn’t need to die.  If the Knoxville Zoo used protected contact which means that there is always a barrier between the elephant and keeper, James would be alive today.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) which accredits zoos abrogated their responsibility by not requiring protected contact as a condition for accreditation. Protected contact is used in only about half of AZA accredited zoos.

However looking at the bigger picture:  It’s time for humans to understand that we can’t take a highly intelligent and social animal like an elephant and deprive it of all that is instinctual.  If the public knew what it takes to dominate an 8,000 pound elephant they would be appalled.  Edie’s reaction to decades of dominance, severe confinement, lack of space and sensory deprivation is not surprising – about 1 elephant keeper a year is killed in zoos and circuses.

The answer to saving keeper lives is to not display elephants in zoos in the first place.

Read the full story here

Photo courtesy of broadwayworld.com

Kudos for these celebs who stuck their necks out to expose the cruelty perpetrated upon elephants in zoos.  Hopefully more people will understand the consequences of their patronizing zoos.

Read the full article:

Cher, Baldwin, Tomlin et al. Set for Elephant Documentary Premiere

Photo by SCPR

Southern California Public Radio reports on a lawsuit brought against the Los Angeles Zoo, to shut down the elephant exhibit.

“While elephants are forced to stay in zoos, they really don’t live in zoos,” says Casselman. “They die in zoos.”

Read or listen to the full story here

Photo credit: The Elephant Sanctuary

Check out the recent letter from the new CEO of The Elephant Sanctuary:

Dear Friends,

I’m so pleased to be writing to you at last, in this my first ever e-Trunklines. It’s been an exciting journey so far, getting to know all the staff as well as our precious elephants. I’ve had minimal time to adjust from England to being in Tennessee—I got off the plane and set more or less straight to work! There is so much to be done, but first of all I needed to meet the staff and the elephants. As I write I’ve just got back from spending the day working with our Q-barn eles and their caregivers. I worked yesterday with Tange and Flora in Africa and tomorrow I’m looking forward to spending time in Asia.

We all know the elephants are the stars of the show, which always has been and always will be ‘all about the elephants.’  But I do want to tell you all how pleased I am to have met, talked to and worked with the caregivers. They are truly amazing in their knowledge and passion. Although they are nothing less than the elephants deserve, I have rarely met such a dedicated group of people. And our administration staff have impressed me just as much—they remain 100% committed to the elephants even though they seldom even see them.

The histories of our elephants are full of drama and interest and sometimes sadness, but their present and future lives with the Sanctuary inspire me and fill me with hope. I look out at what the Sanctuary has provided—acres and acres of gentle pasture and wooded hills, springs, creeks, ponds, and warm barns. There is nowhere like it on earth and I am blessed to be here.

Thank you for all you do for the Sanctuary and the elephants it cares for. I want you to remember we would not be here if it weren’t for you.

Wishing you all a happy and peaceful 2011.

Rob Atkinson
CEO