One Big Debate – Zoo Elephant Exhibit
The Detroit Zoo is shutting its elephant exhibit, citing ethical
concerns. That's focused new attention on the animals' quality of life
in captivity.
By Kathy Boccella
Inquirer Staff Writer
One day Wanda and Winky will be free, but today the Asian elephants
are on a strict schedule: breakfast at 7:30 a.m., outside at 10 a.m.,
and dinner at 5 p.m.
In between are hours of boredom and loneliness, broken up by
occasional treats and constant care to prevent abscesses and other
foot problems. In winter, when their one-acre yard ices over, they're
confined to their barn most of the day.
But the aging pachyderms have it good compared with some others, who
are chained, thrashed with hooks or electric prods, and in poor
health.
"There's really no question in our mind; the disparity between what
elephants get in captivity and what they need is very great," said Ron
Kagen, director of the Detroit Zoo, where Wanda and Winky have lived
for a combined 22 years.
After years of struggling with how to improve the elephants' home -
even considering a giant dome for protection from bitter Michigan
winters - Kagen came to a radical decision: Nothing would be good
enough.
So last month the zoo announced it was closing its exhibit and
shipping the animals to an elephant sanctuary.
"We fell short of providing the kind of quality of life we think
animals should have. If we can't do that," Kagen said, "they
shouldn't be here."
Circuses have long been criticized for mistreating elephants, among
the most intelligent and socially complex of creatures. Now zoos are
being scrutinized as Detroit and others reconsider the fate of their
pachyderms.
The Philadelphia Zoo's four elephants aren't going anywhere, except
perhaps to a new $15 million, three-acre home proposed for sometime in
2008. In fact, there may be baby elephants in the city's future.
"We look forward to the possibility of breeding," said Andrew Baker,
head of the zoo's animal programs.
But some animal experts say elephants often suffer in captivity.
Confined to small spaces alone or in pairs, separated from their
young, their condition "is generally not good," said David Hancocks,
an architect, zoo director, and author of A Different Nature: The
Paradoxical World of Zoos and Their Uncertain Future.
Kagen, the first director of a zoo to cite ethical reasons for
discharging its elephants, said zoos "have not been candid with the
public. All of us know that elephants do not thrive in captivity. They
don't live as long, they don't reproduce well. . . . Many of them have
psychological problems.
"In the wild, elephants roam many miles every day, live in mild
climates and large social groups. It's really difficult to envision
how you do any of that in captivity, especially in northern climates
like ours."
The American Zoo and Aquarium Association disagrees.
"Ron, he's a bit out there with regard to this decision," said Michael
Hutchins, the AZA's director of conservation and science. "It's quite
possible to manage elephants properly."
There are 280 elephants in 78 American zoos, according to the AZA,
which recently released new standards for elephant management and
care. Among the requirements were 1,800 square feet of space for an
elephant (900 square feet for each additional one) and at least three
females in a group.
Until recently, zoologists didn't know a lot about elephants' needs,
Hutchins said. And many zoos are saddled with outdated facilities that
do not meet the new standards. "It's going to take a while to get
there. ... Individual institutions are going to have to decide if
this is an appropriate investment for them," he said.
As many zoos reinvent themselves, rebuilding aging infrastructure and
focusing on conservation efforts, they are looking at ways to improve
the lives of some of their most crowd-pleasing creatures.
"With commitment and investment, the needs of [elephants] can be met
in a zoo environment," Baker said, citing the Philadelphia Zoo's
plans for a new yard and barn for its elephants, three African and
one Asian. (The zoo will not release their names for safety reasons:
They might come running if called.)
Captive elephants don't need large spaces or big herds, Baker said. In
the wild, the beasts go great distances looking for food and water,
but that's not necessary in captivity. And while they do have strong
social needs, they can form bonds with one or two other elephants.
Others think the AZA needs to do more.
"There are a lot of us who are unhappy with the [AZA] standards and
feel they stopped short of several things we think is important,"
said Gail Laule, an animal behaviorist. She developed the "protected-
contact" form of management, which relies on barriers and positive
reinforcement to train elephants, rather than prods and hooks. About
half of U.S. zoos use protected contact.
Larger herds and intact families should be mandatory, she said.
"Clearly, in the wild, females in familial groups stay together
forever."
That rarely happens at U.S. zoos. Maggie, a 22-year-old African
elephant and the star attraction of the Alaska Zoo in South
Anchorage, has lived alone and mostly indoors since her companion
died seven years ago. Her supporters say she is lonely, cold and
cramped.
The zoo is weighing its options, from giving her away to building her
a state-of-the-art barn with the first-ever elephant treadmill for
exercise.
Director Tex Edwards acknowledged that Maggie doesn't fit the zoo's
mission to showcase arctic and subarctic animals, but he said she's a
hit with her audience.
There's no doubt elephants keep the turnstiles spinning. Beloved for
their size and intelligence, they are a collection of odd-fitting
parts that, put together, place them among the most impressive
animals in the wild kingdom.
"You've got to have elephants," Kim Parks of Fishtown said yesterday
as she and her family watched Philadelphia's 40-year-old Asian
elephant splash trunkfuls of water on her back. "They're not being
harmed. They're healthy."
But Bonnie Epstein of Holland, Bucks County, believes the great beasts
should be in sanctuaries. "As much entertainment value as they
provide, it's at their expense," she said on a school trip to the zoo
with her son, Jonathan. He said he would miss the elephants but
agreed with his mother.
At zoos around the world, Hancocks has argued for removing the
elephants, and the answer has been the same: "How can we call this
place a zoo if we don't have an elephant?"
Meanwhile, said Hancocks, the former director of Seattle's Woodland
Park Zoo, "the elephants were languishing in miserable conditions -
cramped, cold, wet, unheated house, leaking roof, perpetually damp
floors. . . . Keeping wild animals in captivity is hard."
So difficult that three U.S. zoos have closed elephant exhibits in
recent years amid public pressure following animal deaths or alleged
mistreatment.
Last month, the San Francisco Zoo decided to close its exhibit after
two of its four elephants died within two months. One had heart
failure, and the other was put down.
Rather than being spread out sparingly among zoos, elephants should be
clustered in herds at a few zoos with lots of space and warm climates,
some experts say.
That sounds very much like the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn.,
one of the two large reserves where Wanda, in her mid-40s, and Winky,
51, may spend their final days. Currently, 11 refugees from circuses
and zoos live on 300 acres, which will expand to 2,700 acres next
year. Some travel in herds, while others, traumatized by mistreatment
in captivity, keep to themselves.
Among them are a killer and others considered unredeemable. But to
sanctuary cofounder Carol Buckley, a former circus performer, there
are no bad elephants, only bad handlers.
"If you like elephants, then you accept them for who they are - large
megavertebrates that, if prompted, can kill you. If you take that
creature and put them in an unnatural environment, I find it absurd to
say that they're bad," she said.
Sissy, a 35-year-old with an unhappy past, killed a worker at a Texas
zoo, while Winkie, 39 (not Detroit's Winky), injured a number of
keepers. After a few years at the sanctuary, "not only do they not
display aggressive behavior, they solicit our affection," Buckley
said.
"This is a highly intelligent, complex creature," she said. "You don't
treat it like a cardboard box."
Will other zoos follow Detroit's example? Kagen is hopeful. The day
after his startling announcement, he got 400 calls and e-mails,
virtually all of them positive.
"Once the public knows the reality, I think they will be supportive,"
he said. "We used to think chimp shows were good, and, thankfully,
they're gone."
_____
Contact staff writer Kathy Boccella at 215-854-2677 or
kboccella@phillynews.com.
Posted on SHARE Yahoo group Jun 17, 2004