A Weighty Problem, Activists Call For Retirement of Zoo Elephant
2006-08-24
by: Mark Wells, SEE Magazine
Edmonton's elephants must leave. That's the message of a new campaign from Voice for Animals.
The animal rights group is calling on the Edmonton Valley Zoo to send Lucy, a 30-year-old pachyderm, off to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. Voice spokesperson Tove Reece says it's the humane thing to do.
"What concerns us first is that Lucy is not well. She has arthritis and food problems," she explains. "Most zoos are now saying you can't keep elephants humanely in zoos. We think it's time for the [Valley] zoo to allow Lucy, and Samantha, to go to a sanctuary."
The campaign is timed to influence council as it makes tough funding decisions for the aging zoo.
A new master plan for the zoo calls for a massive investment of $30 million to renew the facility over 10 years and make it a "must-see attraction." The overriding goal is to increase the number of visitors 10 to 20 per cent every year, until the zoo attracts half a million people each year.
Elephants factor heavily in that consideration. The master plan anticipates doubled attendance if the zoo manages to impregnate the younger of the two elephants, Samantha, and keeps Lucy in an improved facility.
Conversely, the plan notes that if the zoo sends the elephants away, as Voice for Animals would like, the "zoo will lose its cause celebre for fundraising" and "lose attendance."
Lucy's Achin' Bones
Reece says that Lucy's current health problems - abscesses on her feet - are the exact conditions that usually "kill elephants" kept in captivity. She says an "elephant sanctuary" in Tennessee has already expressed interest in taking Lucy, and had a vast parcel of land and a warm climate that would allow the mild-mannered Asian elephant to roam and live out her "retirement" years gracefully. She says the more natural conditions could possibly even reverse some of her health conditions.
"They just put down an elephant at the Toronto zoo, about Lucy's age," says Reece, adding that 47 elephants have died in U.S. zoos since 2000.
And Vancouver's zoo, which has been the subject of SPCA charges for its treatment of hippos (one appeared in a Telus advertisement), relented to public pressure and released its arthritic 30-year-old elephant to Tennessee, where it died last year. Reece says that elephant, named Tina, could have been given a longer life if the zoo had given her up earlier. She fears Lucy could meet the same fate.
Dean Treichel, supervisor of the Valley Zoo said there are no plans to get rid of the elephants. And he is not concerned about money being a factor in any zoo decisions, since the provincial government recently gave the Calgary Zoo $34 million for improvements.
He downplayed Lucy's arthritis, saying she gets long, regular walks and "physiotherapy movements" designed by veterinarians. And indoors they have added sand on top of a heated concrete pad to keep her comfortable. Even in the winter "if it's warm enough we get them outside. Both of them love snow."
Treichel notes that Edmonton's zoo has played a part in the revival of the swift fox population in southern Alberta, and is now participating in a program to boost marmot populations, he notes.
"Zookeepers are the original animal rights activists. Just try and do something wrong to their animals and you'll find out," he says.
Find It or Shut It
Reece says she has no desire to portray the staff at the zoo in a negative light.
"Most at the zoo are good people that really care about the animals. They have been under-funded by the city for years…I think they've done an admirable job," Reece says. But that goodwill will only extend so far.
"Elephants in the wild can live to 70 and 80 years old. They average about 50 in captivity. I just don't think that's fair."
City council will decide exactly how much, if any, of the master plan can implemented in budget deliberations this fall. Coun. Mike Nickel, as vice-chair of the community services committee, is in position to sway that decision.
"I invite [Voice for Animals] to make their case," he said on Friday. However, he acknowledged that funding of the zoo has been a long-term problem.
"We're at the point where we either ante up, or we shut it down…If you're not taking care of the animals, shut it down…I'm not saying the Valley zoo is hurting animals, but at this point we're a big city and have to ask at this point, is the city ready to put up the necessary money?"
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