Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants

Martha Norwalk

Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants will be on Martha Norwalk’s Animal World radio show at AM 1150 from 9am – noon on Sunday, March 21, 2010.

The consequences of zoo confinement on elephants and specifically Bamboo, Chai and Watoto at Woodland Park Zoo will be discussed. Guests will include Carol Buckley, founder of The Elephant Sanctuary, who will share stories of how elephants heal at the sanctuary. Also on the show will be Dr. Mel Richardson, former veterinarian with Woodland Park Zoo, Catherine Doyle, elephant expert with IDA, and others.

Please e-mail comments or questions to animalworldlive @hotmail.com or call toll free 1-888-298-5569.  A good audience response will show Martha Norwalk you appreciate her help in spreading awareness.

Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants located in Seattle, WA works closely with IDA (In Defense of Animals).  We are pleased that IDA has filed a complaint with the USDA (below).

San Rafael, Calif. – In Defense of Animals (IDA) filed a complaint today with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), charging that the Woodland Park Zoo’s elephant breeding practices violates the federal Animal Welfare Act by knowingly exposing offspring to an unacceptably high risk of infection with the often-fatal Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV). The zoo recently announced it had again artificially inseminated the elephant Chai.

“It is grossly irresponsible for the Woodland Park Zoo to continue breeding elephants, knowing that any infant born there faces a high risk of disease and death,” said Catherine Doyle, IDA campaign director. “IDA is calling on the USDA to stop the reckless breeding of elephants in herpes-affected zoos by adopting a policy that protects calves from unnecessary suffering and horrific deaths.”

In 2007, seven-year-old Hansa died from a previously unknown variant of the herpes virus. The zoo subsequently made public the fact that the strain of EEHV that killed her is present in the African elephant, Watoto. Following Hansa’s death, a leading EEHV expert stated that because Hansa never left the zoo since birth, the virus likely was passed from her mother, Chai, or one of the other elephants.

Little is known about EEHV, though the overwhelming evidence indicates it primarily strikes young Asian elephants in captivity, usually causing death through massive internal hemorrhaging. Almost 40 percent of Asian elephants born in AZA-accredited zoos in the last 12 years have succumbed to the disease.

In addition to its complaint regarding the Woodland Park Zoo, IDA filed complaints against three other herpes-affected zoos that are actively breeding elephants:

• The Houston Zoo, long considered a “hot spot” for EEHV, has two pregnant elephants. Four of the zoo’s five elephants have tested positive for the virus, including the pregnant females. Six calves born at the zoo died from the virus.
• The St. Louis Zoo has two elephant calves who were stricken with the virus in 2009; one was asymptomatic and treated, the other required drastic veterinary treatment and recovered but experienced a relapse in December.
• The Oklahoma City Zoo, which sent two females to the Tulsa Zoo for breeding, is attempting to impregnate the elephant Chendra, an EEHV survivor. A second elephant, Asha, who was likely exposed to the virus, is already pregnant.

“Federal animal welfare law requires animal exhibitors to use appropriate methods to prevent and control disease. The only sure way to prevent new EEHV cases is to stop breeding elephants in herpes-affected zoos,” said Dr. Elliot Katz, IDA president and a veterinarian. “The USDA must move swiftly to insure that zoos do not expose more innocent calves to this devastating disease.”

To read IDA’s complaint against the Woodland Park Zoo, please go to:  http://www.helpelephants.com/WoodlandParkZoobreedingcomplaint.pdf

For more information, visit www.HelpElephants.com.

Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants is asking the public to call for a halt to WPZ’s deadly and irresponsible breeding program. Read the posts below for more details.

Please call or write:

Sally Bagshaw, City Council, Chair of Parks Committee, 206-684-8801
Phillip Roewe, Legislative Assistant, Parks Committee, 206-684-8801
Richard Conlin, President, Seattle City Council, 206-684-8805
Tom Rasmussen, City Council, Vice Chair Parks Committee, 206-684-8808
Bruce Harrell, City Council, Parks Committee, 206-684-8804
Jean Godden, City Council, Alternate Parks Committee, 206-684-8807
Deborah Jensen, President, Woodland Park Zoo,  206-548-2416

Send email to the following:

sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov, Philip.Roewe@seattle.gov, richard.conlin@seattle.gov, tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov, bruce.harrell@seattle.gov, jean.godden@seattle.gov, deborah.jensen@zoo.org

Seattle, WA – Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants (FOWPZE) is calling the 56^th artificial insemination of Chai a tragedy.  FOWPZE says breeding must end at Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) due to the high risk posed by the elephant herpes virus that killed Hansa in 2007 and multiple miscarriages suffered by Chai.

Any calf born at WPZ may likely die from Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV) before the age of 10.  Here are the facts:

• Hansa (Chai’s calf and an Asian elephant) died from EEHV on June 8, 2007
• Watoto, who lives with Chai, tested positive for EEHV May, 2008.
• WPZ has no way to keep a calf from being exposed to EEHV since her/his own mother is likely a carrier, as are the other WPZ elephants.
• WPZ has no infection control in place and there is no cure for EEHV.
• Of the young Asian elephants who get sick with herpes, 85% die.
• EEHV causes an excruciatingly painful and gruesome death.

A calf will not contribute to elephant conservation or survival of the species because:

• He/she will never be released into the wild.
• Herpes is not an issue in the wild.
• Reproduction is not an issue in the wild.

Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants has made WPZ management, the Woodland Park Zoological Society, and the Seattle City Council aware of this deadly breeding program.  The facts, statistics and current science clearly show it is irresponsible to breed at this herpes-contaminated zoo.

“The public was deeply saddened by Hansa’s death from herpes.  Any calf born at WPZ is being set up for another tragedy” says Nancy Pennington, FOWPZE co-founder.

Despite the loss of Chai’s first calf, Hansa, to a deadly and contagious herpes virus, WPZ attempted to impregnate Chai yet again, as reported in the Seattle Times. The Times spoke with FOWPZ cofounder, Alyne Fortgang:

Alyne Fortgang, co-founder of Friends of the Woodland Park Zoo Elephants, said Thursday that Chai’s insemination is “an absolute tragedy.”

“Keeping elephants in captivity and breeding them is so abnormal,” she said. “It kills them prematurely.”

Fortgang said she’s been lobbying the zoo to release its elephants to a sanctuary in Tennessee. She cited facilities such as the Detroit and San Francisco zoos, which closed elephant exhibits in recent years because of the difficulties in caring properly for the mammals.

“Keeping elephants in zoos actually teaches children the wrong message — that we can use animals as entertainment regardless of their suffering,” she said.

The story was also reported in the Ballard News Tribune.

All of Woodland Park Zoo’s elephants are female. In addition to Chai, the other members of the herd are 43-year-old Asian elephant Bamboo and 41-year-old African elephant Watoto. Hansa, Chai’s female offspring born in 2000, died unexpectedly at 6.5 years old from a newly discovered elephant herpesvirus.

Alyne Fortgang, cofounder of Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants, said it is irresponsible for the zoo to go forward with a breeding program when there has already been reported cases of herpes infection and death within the elephant population.

The zoo has no infection control in place and no cure for herpes, which means there is a death sentence on any calf born there, Fortgang said.

Read the full story in The Seattle Times.

Read the full story in the Ballard News Tribune.

The following press release was distributed on Thursday, January 21, 2010 by In Defense of Animals. The St. Louis Zoo is currently home to Sri, who originally lived at the Woodland Park Zoo for 21 years. While the Zoo insists that it would be cruel to send Bamboo, Chai, or Watoto across country to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, they had no problem shipping Sri to Missouri to breed.  Sri got pregnant and the fetus died in utero.  Sri still carries the dead fetus 5 years later.

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.
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Watoto alone, pacing in Shower Room

Seattle, WA – Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) has been inducted into IDA’s (In Defense of Animal) Hall of shame.  Lack of space, captivity-induced ailments, and the deadly breeding program all add up to suffering for Bamboo, Chai, and Watoto.  This suffering in addition to WPZ’s search for ways to cut costs, begs for the elephants to be released to the 2,700 acre Elephant Sanctuary (TES)— at no cost to Seattle taxpayers or WPZ.

From a humane perspective, elephant experts say WPZ’s less-than-one acre elephant exhibit is inadequate for these migratory giants who are genetically wired to travel great distances.

Seattle’s winters force the elephants indoors for 16 – 17 hours a day.  “Their stall permits them to pace only a few steps in any direction. Outdoors they have less than 1 acre!” says Nancy Pennington, Co-founder of Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants (FOWPZE).

WPZ’s  medical records reveal that Watoto, Bamboo and Chai suffer from colic, arthritis, obesity, herpes (which killed Hansa at 6-years- old) and foot infections.  Foot disease is the number one reason zoo elephants are euthanized and Chai has suffered from foot infections for over ten years.

“Particularly heartbreaking is witnessing Bamboo, Chai, and Watoto’s repetitive neurotic behaviors— the effects of long term suffering” says Pennington.

WPZ is planning to artificially inseminate Chai for the 56^th time in the spring.  Any calf born at this herpes-infected Zoo will likely die from the disease just as Hansa did.  WPZ has no infection control in place.   There is no cure for this excruciatingly painful disease that results in an almost certain death in young Asian elephants.

FOWPZE is calling for our elephants to join 15 other elephants at The Elephant Sanctuary; roam hills, forests and meadows; and swim in a 25-acre lake—all in a lush sub-tropical climate.

WPZ needs to make the unselfish and prudent financial decision to let Bamboo, Chai and Watoto heal from the traumas of zoo confinement.

Joan Baez

Joan Baez played a show at the Woodland Park Zoo recently, and stopped in at the elephant exhibit to get a first-hand look at how the elephants live at the zoo. This unanticipated and unsolicited article is her reaction. Here is an excerpt:

The elephant caretakers were kind enough to show me around the barn and introduce me to Watoto, Bamboo, and Chai. I blew into their trunks, and they blew back. We fed them carrots through the bars. They had almost no room to move, and when let outside they had only a tiny amount of barren ground to pace.

The concert was a huge success, not in small part because the Seattleites treated the rain as though it were a call to enjoy the wonders of Mother Nature. I dedicated a song to the elephants, making up the words as I went along, to the spiritual “Pilgrim of Sorrow.”

Watoto, Bamboo, and Chai were left pacing their unhappy quarters. Hopefully, if indeed elephants never forget, they can remember the happier times of their former lives. Better yet, with your help, they might be able to once more live in open space. With a concerted effort I believe they can be moved, and the ugly little secret of abused elephants at the zoo will be removed with them. Seattle is too wholesome a city to sustain such a blight under its generous skies.

Read the full story on Joan’s website.

The Ballard News-Tribune posted a great opinion piece about the conditions and expense of the elephant exhibit at Woodland Park Zoo, written by elephant advocate and FOWPZE co-founder Alyne Fortgang.

Woodland Park Zoo announced it will be closing the Night House exhibit in order to save money. It is reported that the zoo is cutting $700,000 dollars, including 12 full-time jobs, from its $29 million budget.

The most expensive animals to keep on display at a zoo are elephants – close to $400,000.00 a year for the three elephants housed at Woodland Park Zoo.

In addition to being expensive, the postage stamp-sized exhibit is woefully inadequate for the planet’s largest land mammal.

For about seven months of the year, the elephants are locked in a barren barn stall for 16 to 17 hours a day due to climate.

Outdoors, they share less than one acre of yard. Science has conclusively shown that deprivation of space and social contact causes mental and physical suffering in elephants, resulting in their lifespan being shortened by decades.

Read the full article about the WPZ elephant exhibit here.

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