AR-News: (US CA) Zoos across U.S. debate proper care of Asian elephants

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Tri-Valley Herald
Sunday, July 04, 2004 
 
Studies show pachyderms need company,  acreage 
By Zerah Lurie 
NEWSDAY 
When Wanda and Winky, two female Asian elephants at the Detroit Zoo, are  
transplanted, most likely to a sanctuary in the South, they may be the first  
elephants relocated by a major animal facility for humane reasons.  
"We now more fully understand an elephant's needs," Ron Kagan, director of  
the Detroit Zoological Institute, said in a May 20 statement. "Just as polar  
bears don't thrive in hot climates, Asian elephants shouldn't live in small  
groups without many acres to roam. They clearly shouldn't have to suffer winters 
 of the North." 

 
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"The animal welfare ethic is emerging more prominently," says Wayne Pacelle,  
president of the Humane Society of the United States. "It used to be that  
basically you were just showcasing animals for the visitors." But over time, he  
said, we've "seen the mission expand . . . to include animals' welfare." 
Kagan  hopes the zoo's decision will generate discussion about the welfare of 
elephants  in captivity. Other zoo officials contacted offered praise for Kagan's 
decision  to put the welfare of his animals first, but none intended to 
relocate their  elephants.  
Elephant welfare has been a particular topic of discussion during the past  
few years. According to a 2000 study, the captive Asian elephant population in  
North America isn't self-sustaining. Given the current birth and death rates, 
 the population of female elephants at accredited zoos will drop from 157 in 
1999  to only five by 2049.  
"We better do the best we can to make our populations self-sustaining," says  
the author of the study, Robert Wiese, director of animal collections at the  
Fort Worth (Texas) Zoo. "Elephants in the wild aren't doing very well -- our  
captive populations may be the last hope if we can't protect them in the 
wild."  "We don't actually know what elephants need in captivity," said Georgia 
Mason, a  behavioral biologist at Oxford University and author of a report on 
the welfare  of captive elephants in Europe. "I'm sure in principle, it's 
possible to keep  anything well in captivity as long as you do the research to find 
out its  needs."  



full  story:
_http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~2252468,00.html_ 
(http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~2252468,00.html)  



~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~
>From beasts we scorn as  soulless,
In forest, field and den,
The cry goes up to witness
The  soullessness of men.
~M. Frida Hartley
/\  /\ 
>' .' <






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