Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants

It is incomprehensible that doing this to a highly intelligent, social being is considered educational by the zoo industry.  Please join Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants in bringing awareness to the consequences of keeping Bamboo, Chai and Watoto in tiny, impoverished conditions.

Jungle Party is the Woodland Park Zoo’s largest fund raiser of the year and all the donors must drive right by us.  Please come to show your support for the release of Bamboo, Chai and Watoto to the 2,700 acre Elephant Sanctuary in TN.

When: Friday, July 15, 2011
Time: 4pm – 6:00
Where: NEW location from previous years: Woodland Park Zoo’s WEST entrance – on Phinney Ave N. at N. 55th, Seattle, WA  98103

Some great news: ALDF law suit refiled.  The first attempt at making the City of Seattle and Woodland Park Zoo accountable for the mistreatment of elephants in violation of Washington State and Seattle animal cruelty laws was dismissed on the technicality of standing.  The zoo was not exonerated from causing harm and suffering – hopefully this time they will have to release the elephants.

The International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos was a huge success. Supporters took over the three overpasses adjacent to Woodland Park Zoo. Six banners brought awareness of the suffering of Bamboo, Chai and Watoto as thousands of drivers drove by – many of them honking in support! Please join us the next time we do this.

International Day of Action for Elephants

The Ballard News-Tribune this week reported on an appeal filed by concerned citizens and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, after their lawsuit against the zoo and the City of Seattle was dismissed on a technicality. Here is an excerpt:

Today, concerned citizens represented by the Animal Legal Defense Fund are filing an appeal in the Washington State Court of Appeals in their lawsuit against the City of Seattle and Woodland Park Zoo. The Animal Legal Defense Fund intends to stop the City’s unlawful use of taxpayer dollars to support the Woodland Park Zoo’s treatment of elephants in violation of Washington State and Seattle animal cruelty laws.

On May 27, King County Superior Court Judge Michael Heavey dismissed the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s lawsuit against the City of Seattle and Woodland Zoo citing a technicality.

The lawsuit, filed in June 2010, by plaintiffs Mary Sebek and Nancy Farnam, accused the City of Seattle of acting illegally in providing support for the Woodland Park Zoo and its ill treatment of elephants.

Read the full story here at ballardnewstribune.com

Seattle, WA – On the 4th anniversary of Hansa’s death from the deadly herpesvirus, Chai, the Asian elephant at Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) was artificially inseminated (AI) for the 61st time.  Six year old Hansa, Chai’s daughter, died of the deadly herpesvirus.

WPZ is a herpes-infected environment.  WPZ’s records for Watoto dated May 5, 2008 state Watoto tested “positive for EEHV3a virus in her blood.”

Dr. Jennifer Conrad, DVM, an expert elephant veterinarian said:  “Woodland Park Zoo is a herpes exposed facility and therefore the zoo should no longer engage in an Asian elephant breeding program.  The simple truth is the risk of death for the offspring is too great.”

There is no cure for EEHV and WPZ has no infection control in place. Chai could pass the herpesvirus to her own fetus.

Elephant herpesvirus attacks the internal organs causing massive hemorrhaging and a painful, gruesome death.  “To even take a chance of causing another defenseless calf such a horrific death is unconscionable and unethical” says Nancy Pennington, co-founder of Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants.

WPZ enjoyed a huge spike in attendance and revenue when Hansa was born.

Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants will join IDA (In Defense of Animals) for the International Day of Action for Zoo Elephants to expose the plight of elephants suffering in zoos worldwide.

This year we will “take over” the three Highway 99 overpasses by Woodland Park Zoo. We will be a live billboard for the elephants!

Where: Picnic Shelter #4 in Lower Woodland Park.
Across the street from the Green Lake Aquatic Center on Greenlake Way N, you will see a Seattle Parks Dept. sign for the off leash dog park, tennis courts, and picnic shelters.  Go up that (unnamed) road to the parking area for Shelter #4.  See maps: Demo street map | Demo location map
Date: Saturday, June 11, 2011
Time: Noon to 2pm

In Seattle, Bamboo, Chai and Watoto, spend 16 – 17 hours a day locked in a tiny barn stall – the human equivalent of about a 4’ x 4’ cell.  This lock-up lasts about 7 months each year with one of the elephants being in solitary confinement.  Outdoors they are caged in less than 1 acre.  This confinement and traumas throughout their lives have caused serious captivity-induced ailments and psychological distress.

“Teaching our children that suffering is entertainment is just plain wrong,” says Nancy Pennington, co-founder of FOWPZE “getting our elephants to the 2,700 acre Elephant would be such a valuable lesson in compassion and selflessness”.

May 27, 2011

Seattle, WA – Judge Michael Heavy dismissed a lawsuit filed by local animal activists against the City of Seattle and Woodland Zoo, citing a technicality. After hearing 10-minute arguments from both sides in King County Superior Court on Friday, the judge granted the City and Zoo’s motion to dismiss the case.

The court ruled that the plaintiffs lack standing to bring the suit. The suit alleges that the manner in which WPZ manages its three elephants violates Washington anti-cruelty statutes.  The court’s ruling did not reach the merits of the plaintiffs’ contentions.  Nevertheless, as Judge Heavy ruled from the bench, he twice stated his personal belief that the zoo’s elephant exhibit is objectionable, stating at one point, “…to confine animals in small habitats, take away their freedom in grossly confined spaces, outweighs children seeing (wild and rare) animals.”

The plaintiffs have a number of options available in response to the court’s order, including appealing the court’s dismissal or refilling their complaint. Their decision will likely come within the next few weeks.

The following information is directly from the recent newsletter of the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS):

When PAWS director Ed Stewart visited the City of Toronto on May 12, 2011, to present PAWS’ formal offer of free lifetime care, relocation and transportation expenses for the Toronto Zoo’s three African elephants, opposition from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums was expected.

What was not expected was the egregious misinformation disseminated by the AZA to the Toronto Zoo Board of Management and the media. This information is considered by PAWS to be not only unprofessional, but also defamatory.

PAWS realizes the AZA’s positions are not always unanimously supported by its member zoos, and because of this PAWS has worked cooperatively on behalf of captive elephants with a number of AZA accredited zoos. Thus, PAWS has provided sanctuary to elephants retired from zoos in Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Alaska.

A letter from PAWS founder, and co-director, Pat Derby, has been sent to the AZA demanding a retraction of their defamatory remarks. A copy of Pat’s letter follows.

(Click the “Continue Reading” link to read Pat Derby’s Letter to the AZA)

Continue Reading »

Woodland Park Zoo

The Stranger takes a very in-depth look at Woodland Park Zoo’s elephants, their quality of life, the tragic death of Hansa and various mental and physical illnesses suffered by all of WPZ’s elephants, and much much more.

Read the full article, Cash Cows: Is Woodland Park Zoo Mistreating Its Elephants?

The following excerpt from the article shows that another nearby zoo, Pt. Defiance in Tacoma, is able to acknowledge that these tiny zoo habitats are inadequate for elephants, due to their physical and mental needs.

The Detroit Zoo is the only zoo in the nation to voluntarily retire all of its elephants to a sanctuary. The Bronx Zoo has stated that it will shut down its two-acre elephant exhibit once the elephants living there now die off. Even the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma acknowledges that elephants need more room to roam than it can provide and is exploring “transitioning away” from keeping elephants (again, once its current elephants die off).

“We’d like to have more space—our yard is about an acre—but our footprint doesn’t allow much for expansion,” says John Houck, deputy director of the Point Defiance Zoo. There are also only about 150 Asian elephants nationally, and captive breeding programs just aren’t working, he says. “We need to see about nine calves born a year, nationwide, and we’re averaging about two. It’s really a numbers game. When we lose these two current elephants, what will we do?”

Still, the Woodland Park Zoo has no plans to retire its elephants or expand its space. It continues to try to breed more babies on its one-acre plot.

Read the full article here

Closing the elephant exhibit at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium is within sight but what about the two elephants living there?

Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium (PDZA) is holding a public comment meeting to discuss their 10-year plan which includes closing their tiny elephant exhibit – but not until poor Hanako and Suki die.

WHY WAIT for them to die? Why force them to continue to live in this physically and psychologically harmful environment?

Please come to ask (or write) that the humane decision be made. Ask for Hanako and Suki to be retired to an elephant sanctuary.

When: THIS Monday, April 25^th from 4:30 – 6pm. Come anytime!

Location:
Metro Parks Headquarters Board Room
4702 South 19^th Street
Tacoma, WA

If you can’t come: Please e-mail the zoo at:  strategicplan@pdza.org

Or snail mail: Attention Strategic Plan, 5400 North Pearl St. Tacoma, WA 98407
You can also join their facebook page and leave comments supporting the end to the elephant exhibit. https://www.facebook.com/PtDefianceZoo

To be most effective, be polite and thoughtful.

The Ballard Tribune had a nice write-up about the battle to get the WPZ elephants out of their cramped zoo enclosure, and into the 2700-acre Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee:

In close quarters: local activists continue to demand more space for the Woodland Park Zoo elephants

Also check out the response to this article from The Elephant Sanctuary’s CEO

Here is an excerpt from the article:

One of the main complaints against WPZ is that the three elephants endure solitary confinement and a lack of social experience.

With roughly one acre of yard space outside, these elephants have four pens to roam in and their heated indoor barn is divided into four separate holding areas, according to the zoo’s website.

Iain Douglas-Hamilton once wrote in a National Geographic article that elephants travel for three things: sex, sustenance and safety.

“We have all of that here – the elephant’s travel is resource-based and we are always looking for ways to enhance that,” said WPZ’s elephant curator, Bruce Upchurch. “What we have now is enough. We have quality space, it’s just the amount that’s the issue.”

Alyne Fortgang, co-founder of the Friends of the Woodland Park Zoo Elephants, doesn’t agree.

“After years of having people take pictures and staring at them, these elephants have become living shells of a being,” she said. “They look like zombies, exude little emotion, and hardly even act alive compared to wild elephants that are in movement 20 hours a day.”