June 21, 2006
More on the Zoo's Elephants
Yesterday we broached the idea of getting rid of the zoo's elephants, freeing them of their tight digs in Woodley Park and sending them someplace where they could romp around as nature intended. Today, we have two updates. It seems that things might not be as bad as we thought.
Not too long after our initial post, a spokesperson for the National Zoo sent us an email detailing the steps the zoo was taking to ensure that the elephants were as happy and healthy as possible. They wrote:
...“roaming” and space are not the ultimate guarantees of elephant health and well-being. Elephants are very complex social animals—their needs are not as simple as acreage. The National Zoo’s new elephant plans are focused on elephant life as a multi-generational herd, and will provide this herd with varied habitats and options for socializing. In addition, knowledge from 50 years of studying elephants is included in the plans for a new habitat (i.e., all indoor space—of which there will be nearly five times more—has all soft flooring, mostly sand and dirt, but some rubberized spaces, too.)And right on cue, today the Post describes the new $60 million elephant habitat that will be completed sometime next year. States the article:
Under the current design concept, the zoo's elephants would have at least four acres of outdoor and indoor space, including a central area in the Elephant House where the animals could socialize 24 hours a day instead of being kept in separate enclosures at night. The herd, which now lives on less than an acre, would grow from three elephants to between eight and 10 adults and their offspring.Though an improvement, some animal rights activists still claim that this is far short of the 40 to 1,000 acres some elephant sanctuaries provide, an argument we're still partial to. While we'd like to see the elephants roaming freely in larger habitats, it's good to see that the National Zoo is taking action.
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While it would be lovely if all zoos could be like the elephant sactuary in Tenn. or even Disney's Animal Kingdom or San Diego's Wild Animal Park which allow for vast spaces for the elephants to roam, they simply cannot. I'm no defender of the National Zoo, but with this new plan they really are doing what they can with what they have. Remember too that the National Zoo has Asian elephants not African elephants and while the Asian elephants in nature do roam, they don't to the extent that African elephants do.
First you got that pothole fixed, and now you got a new elephant habitat. Curious. You should shine your investigative light on world peace next, while you're on a roll.
wait, they're getting more elephants to enlarge the herd?
I was just recently at the San Diego zoo and noticed that they keep 3 elephants (one African, two Asian) in an area about the size of the reflecting pool. I've no idea whether this is adequate, but the SD zoo has a great reputation. Maybe they rotate the elephants on and off exhibit, as they seem to do with the pandas.
One of the reason wild animals, elephants included, roam so much is because they are in search of food, not because they feel like going for a walk. And I think people forget the mission of places like the National Zoo: Animal Care-Provide the highest quality animal care.
Science-Advance scientific excellence in conserving wildlife.
Education-Teach and inspire people to engage in conservation of wildlife, water, and habitats.
That third one is a biggie. Few people care about something they can't see. Having species in Zoo's as ambassadors of their wild cousins is important to help people care and want to help.
Very bad idea. Five times the amount of indoor space is nothing to be proud of-- anyone who has been to this zoo knows that these animals currently have a tiny indoor enclosure. I'd also argue that while these animals are being touted as magnificent ambassadors of their wild cousins, elephants have been exhibited in captivity for hundreds of years and their wild cousins - Asian- continue to be pushed toward the brink. Habitat conservation and assistance in these animals native lands is the answer, not a $60 million expansion. $60 million could make tremendous inroads in elephant conservation and management in the animals' native lands.
Jay -- well put!!
In spite of what the zoo would have you believe, space is crucial. It's simple: Elephants are big animals and they need big spaces. Research has shown that elephants not only walk to find food: they walk because they're BUILT to walk. Asian eles may not walk as far as Africans (although The Elephant Sanctuary's website says that their eles walk 3 to 15 miles per day) but they are more susceptible to the foot problems that are fatal to so many zoo eles. A zoo like National gives good medical care -- but how much of that care is for ailments, like foot problems and arthritis, that are caused by the zoo environment itself? There's a good and easy way to prevent them: large spaces, varied terrian and natural substrates.
$60 million -- think about it. that's an extraordinary amount of money. And for what? The National Zoo's razzle-dazzle comes down to a conventional zoo exhibit. As Joyce Poole says, Elephants don't live in houses in the wild. The Elephant Sanctuary built a new barn last year that will hold 20-30 elephants and is totally environmentally friendly for no more than $3 million.
Zoos like San Diego look good to humans, but their eles have many problems that you can learn about only if you examine their medical records. The Oakland Zoo, arguably the most progressive zoo in the country, has six acres for its eles. Other zoos are thinking about expanding their ele exhibits to as much as 10 acres. That is the wave of the future -- ele exhibits that are much more like preserves than what you see now.
I personally will never consider the National Zoo progressive as long as they lag in another key area: They are still using free contact in which the keepers use ankuses (hooks) to direct their eles. They already use protected contact for Kandula (they do not directly approach him; the keepers deal with him only through the enclosure bars or when he's in the restraint chute) because he's so rambunctious and powerful. Free contact is outmoded. It's a way for the keepers to maintain dominance over their charges. There are other, much better management methods.
Think about how you feel when you ride the subway at rush hour. That's what it's going to feel like for the 8 to 10 elephants the zoo envisions for this new exhibit. It's simply too much money for too little space.
I would be interested to know what you guys think about The Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida, owned by the same owners of Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey. They have bred a number of Asian Elephants in the past couple of years and seem to have a very natural habitat for them to live in.
This is to Anne regarding Ringling Bros. breeding facility in Florida.
Every elephant bred at the Ringling facility has performed or will perform in the Ringling Bros. circus. At least four elephants (Ringling no longer announces pregnancies, or even births until days or weeks after the event, so it's impossible to know how many baby elephants have died over the past few years) born at the Ringling Bros. facility died before their fifth birthday.
The breeding facility does not have a natural habitat. Ringling Bros. likes to give the impression that the entire 200 acre facility is for the elephants roam, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the female elephants are rotated from their stalls in a cement barn to small yards (less than an acre). The male elephants live in small stalls and chains most of the time and are used as studs to breed with the females. Both male and female elephants are often chained inside the barn.
Please email me at respmozy@verizon.net if you want the sources for the above facts.