Zoo elephants

The Telegraph (UK) reports that the RSPCA is recommending that UK zoos no longer keep elephants in zoos because it is inhumane. Here’s an excerpt:

They have a far shorter life-span and higher infant mortality rate than wild elephants and also suffer from high levels of obesity, a report found.

They also show behavioural abnormalities and a level of lameness equivalent to that endured by intensively farmed livestock “recognised internationally as cause for great welfare concern.”

But conservationists said the Government funded study should have called for an outright ban on bringing anymore elephants into UK zoos.

Read the full article in the Telegraph

Dondi

An elephant in a Massachusetts Zoo has died at the young age of 36, according to In Defense of Animals’ blog:

IDA filed a complaint today with the USDA, urging an investigation into the death of Dondi, an Asian elephant held at the Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon, Massachusetts. She died on Wednesday, after suffering an unidentified illness. Dondi’s unexpected death raises a red flag because at age 36 she should have been in the prime of life.

Check out the full story here.

An elephant in a Shrine Circus in Pennsylvania kicked and killed his trainer.

Elephants in circuses suffer from brutal training and treatment, are forced to spend hundreds of hours in small travelling containers, and are deprived of everything instinctual to their nature.

Please voice your outrage over keeping elephants in circuses.

Here is info and graphic videos of how elephants suffer in circuses:   http://www.circuses.com/

Here is info on the Shriner’s mission:  http://www.alepposhriners.com/shrinersmission.html

Contact info:

Irem Shrine, P. O. Box 307, Dallas, PA 18612.

Shriners International Headquarters, 2900 Rocky Point Drive, Tampa, FL 33607, email: shrinepr@shrinenet.org.

Email Shrine Circus: roger@shrinecircus.com

Write your local Congressperson and ask them to support legislation that would abolish elephants in traveling shows.

San Rafael, Calif. – In Defense of Animals (IDA), joined by a top authority on elephant behavior and biology, today strongly criticized the St. Louis Zoo for recklessly breeding elephants. The charge follows an announcement by the zoo that the elephant Rani is again pregnant, despite serious complications following the last two births at the zoo and the threat posed by a deadly elephant virus.

In a statement released today, Dr. Keith Lindsay, a conservation biologist with thirty years experience studying wild elephants in Africa with the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, stated:

“Elephants deserve our respect and human decency, not confinement and control in degrading, dangerous conditions. St Louis Zoo is a classic example of how not to keep elephants in captivity. The problems are many and easy to see: eight elephants in a subdivided enclosure of just over an acre when they really need square miles, physical ailments resulting from the lack of movement, a cold climate requiring even closer confinement for months on end, and an incurable disease that is more likely to spread in such a tightly-packed group. How can zoo authorities be thinking of breeding under such conditions, inflicting additional stress on the mothers and bringing tiny calves into such a world of suffering?”

With the zoo’s two most recent births, each calf suffered life-threatening situations unseen in wild-living elephants. Maliha, born in 2006, failed to gain weight when mother Ellie didn’t produce enough milk and required extraordinary measures to insure her survival. Jade, born in 2007, was rejected and attacked by her mother on more than one occasion, suffering “superficial abrasions and contusions” during one incident, according to zoo records.

Then in February 2009, Jade contracted a deadly elephant virus that mainly strikes elephants in captivity and has killed 35 percent of Asian elephants born in U.S. zoos over the last 12 years. She is one of the rare survivors of the disease, though she suffered an unprecedented relapse in December. The virus also infected cage-mate Maliha, who was non-symptomatic. There is a high risk that any elephant born at the St. Louis Zoo will contract the deadly virus.

“It is unconscionable for the St. Louis Zoo to continue breeding elephants, knowing full well that any infant born there faces a high risk of maternal rejection, disease and death,” says Catherine Doyle, IDA campaign director. “The zoo’s irresponsible actions have nothing to do with elephant conservation and everything to do with maximizing profits to be made from a new baby elephant. The Zoo should be condemned by anyone who cares about the well-being of elephants and their future on this planet.”

Dr. Lindsay continued: “The St. Louis Zoo’s justification for breeding elephants appears to include a ‘responsibility’ to save the species from extinction, but genuine conservationists see no role for captive breeding in the preservation of wild populations. Elephant conservation requires money for the serious work taking place in Asia and Africa, and zoos (along with other organizations) can help with fund-raising, but there is no need to keep elephants in appalling conditions to make this effort possible.”

For more information, please visit http://www.HelpElephants.com.

Elephant on an Indian sanctuary

A major indication that zoos are on the wrong side of history when they insist on keeping elephants in tiny zoo “habitats”, this article came out of the Associated Press this past week:

NEW DELHI — All elephants living in Indian zoos and circuses will be moved to wildlife parks and game sanctuaries where the animals can graze more freely, officials said Friday.

The decision affects around 140 elephants in 26 zoos and 16 circuses in the country, said B.K. Gupta, an officer at India’s Central Zoo Authority.

The AP even acknowledged what elephant experts have been saying for years (at least those not affiliated with zoos):

Increasingly, research shows that elephants in the wild have longer life spans and better health and reproductive records than those in captivity, Sukumar said.

Zoo elephants often die prematurely and contract diseases or suffer obesity and arthritis more frequently than in their natural habitats, he said.

The sad news out of this article is that many captive elephants in India live terrible lives in temples and logging camps. Those elephants will not be released by this order. But as EcoWorldly points out, it is definitely a major step in the right direction.

Read the full AP story here

Dan Piraro has been a supporter of animals and animal activists for many years, even participating in local fundraisers.


Woodland Park Zoo: Less than one acre outdoors and Seattle’s climate forces elephants to be locked in small, barren barn stalls for 16 – 17 hours a day for about 7 months a year.
The Elephant Sanctuary: 2,700 acres in a sub-tropical climate.

If you believe Bamboo, Watoto, and Chai should live like elephants at The Elephant Sanctuary, please write to: Tom Rasmussen (Seattle City Council) and Deborah Jensen, (Woodland Park Zoo president): tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov, deborah.jensen@zoo.org
Or call Deborah Jensen at 206-548-2416 and Tom Rasmussen at 206-684-8808.

According to a press release from In Defense of Animals, the USDA has fined the Los Angeles Zoo for failing to provide veterinary care to Asian elephant Gita, who died in 2006.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has hit the Los Angeles Zoo with a stipulated penalty of $3,281 for failure to provide veterinary care in the 2006 death of the elephant Gita, according to information just provided to In Defense of Animals (IDA) by the USDA.

“It’s outrageous that the USDA took so long to come to this pathetic conclusion, especially when the L.A. Zoo’s negligence caused Gita to suffer a slow and agonizing death,” said Catherine Doyle, IDA campaign director. “The paltry fine is nothing more than a slap on the wrist for the L.A. Zoo. It’s a sad reflection on how little value is placed on the life of an endangered species like the Asian elephant.”

Gita’s death on June 10, 2006, made headlines after IDA exposed the zoo’s failure to provide veterinary care to her after she collapsed and was unable to rise. Despite being observed down on the ground overnight, zoo personnel took no action to help the elephant, who died soon after keepers discovered the ailing elephant in the morning. It was estimated that Gita lay suffering for as long as 17 hours.

For decades Gita suffered from painful chronic foot disease and arthritis caused by inadequate conditions for elephants at L.A. Zoo. Her necropsy report noted that her severe arthritis or an extremely infected abscess on her back (caused by Gita leaning against her pen to take pressure off her painful front feet and joints) may have triggered a blood clotting disorder that caused her collapse and subsequent heart failure.

You can also check out the related AP article.

Caged Tiger

Best Friends Magazine has a terrific article this month, written by Lori Marino, Gay Bradshaw and Randy Malamud, entitled The Captivity Industry: The reality of zoos and aquariums.

Dr. Gay Bradshaw was extremely helpful to Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants in helping to understand Bamboo’s abnormal behavior when we first began our campaign to help Bamboo in 2005.

The intro to the article reads:

Millions of people visit zoos, marine parks and aquariums
every year. Ostensibly, these places provide an opportunity
to look at, connect with and appreciate the beauty and
behavior of the animals. Indeed, everyone is drawn to the majesty
and mystery of animals who look and live so differently than we
do, but nonetheless seem so similar to us.

But more is going on than meets the eye. Exactly what are we
learning about other animals in these places? How is the zoo experi-
ence different for the animals than it is for the visitors? And what
might we learn about ourselves by casting a more examining eye
on the institution of zoos and aquariums?

Download the article: The Captivity Industry

The St. Louis Zoo is grappling with a second case of a potentially deadly strain of herpes that first struck an elephant calf more than a week ago.

Tests show Maliha, 2, has the same elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus, or EEHV, that was diagnosed earlier this month in her half sister Jade.

But zookeepers say the cases could not appear more different, raising more questions about a mysterious illness that has killed Asian elephants across the nation.

Read the full story on STLToday.com

Baby Jade

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the St. Louis Zoo, where Seattle elephant Sri was shipped off several years ago (so much for zoos not wanting to break important elephant bonds) has discovered a case of deadly herpes virus in their 2-year-old elephant, Jade. Our own Woodland Park Zoo is mentioned in this article as yet another zoo who has lost a young elephant to herpes.

Jade, a 23-month-old Asian elephant at the St. Louis Zoo, has been diagnosed with a strain of herpes that has proven fatal to elephants at other zoos and in the wild.

Jade is receiving antiviral medication and round-the-clock care from the veterinary and keeper staff, the zoo said.

She had been acting lethargic Sunday. A blood sample submitted to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park’s elephant herpes research laboratory Monday revealed the presence of elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus, or EEHV. The virus causes a bleeding disease in elephants.

In just the past two years, the disease has killed elephants at the Calgary Zoo, Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, the Houston Zoo and the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Mo. The disease is responsible for half of the deaths in young elephants, according to the National Zoo. That concerns zoos because elephants have had difficulty breeding in captivity and have a high infant mortality rate.

Read the full story here.