Posted on 01/26/2006 8:44:17 PM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An animal rights group on Thursday appealed to the U.S. National Zoo in Washington to send its three remaining Asian elephants to an animal sanctuary and close its elephant exhibit.
The appeal came a day after the zoo put down an arthritic Asian elephant who was said to have been in worsening pain. The elephant named Toni was 40. Elephants can live to be 60 or older.
"Toni was clearly in bad shape and had been suffering for a long time. If she had been sent to a sanctuary years ago, her quality of life and health would have vastly improved," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, said in a letter to the director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo.
PETA said elephants in zoos were dying decades short of their expected lifespan from illnesses that were directly related to the large animals' lack of spaces and their inability to walk great distances each day.
The organization urged National Zoo Director John Berry to send the park's three remaining elephants, four-year-old Kandula; his mother, 30-year-old Shanthi, and Ambika, 57, to an accredited sanctuary to spare them from a life of misery.
"At either The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee or the Performing Animal Welfare Society in California, the zoo's elephants would have the opportunity to roam through hundreds of acres (hectares) of natural habitat... and enjoy full, healthy and enriching lives," the letter said.
A spokesman for the National Zoo was not immediately available for comment.
There has been a growing debate in the United States over whether it is appropriate for zoos to keep elephants, which in the wild walk miles a day and have home ranges of up to 200 square miles.
Critics have said that zoo conditions, including small, concrete-floored enclosures, make elephants miserable.
At a news conference on Wednesday, the National Zoo's elephant curator, Tony Barthel, said Ambika, who is healthy and free of arthritis, provided evidence that the zoo enclosure was not the cause of Toni's health woes.
"She has been living in the current conditions at the National Zoo for longer than Toni was alive," he said.
Berry told reporters the zoo was building a larger exhibit and was considering moving at least some elephants to a 100-acre (40.5-hectare) to 200-acre (81-hectare) enclosure at its more rural conservation facility in Virginia.
Some U.S. zoos have closed their elephant exhibits in the past few years in the light of concern over odd behavior and arthritis among the animals.
In September zookeepers in Anchorage, Alaska said they were installing a treadmill for their one elephant.
I certainly don't share all of PETA's views, but they seem to make sense on this one if their really are other places to send the Elephants.
But then people wouldn't have elephants to look at...people come first.
I hate PETA, but they do have a point here. The National Zoo is a shambles, and the accommodations for the elephants are miserable. These days most American zoos are better by far.
There are some things PeTA says that 99.9% of society would agree with.
They're nuts through and through, and their goal is "total animal liberation". They also financially support arsonists. I give them no credit at all.
PeTA Ping!
Let me know if you want on/off my PeTA/AR-wacko PING list.
How does PETA know that the elephants would be happier roaming around? After all, some humans LIKE living in the country, but others like the city life.
I would think that being out in the middle of nowhere would be a major shock to an animal that has been living in close proximity to thousands of humans for the last 40 years.
National Zoo is trying to clean up its act. I think it is getting there. It is sad to see the elephant go, and I didn't forward the info to my daughter (who would be very sad) but I don't think this one was their fault.
Disclaimer: I am a long-time supporter of zoos in general, and the national zoo in particular.
Thats great! I started eating KFC about once a month now just because of PeTA.
"I certainly don't share all of PETA's views, but they seem to make sense on this one if their really are other places to send the Elephants."
Lets start with Congress and the White House, each and every election year.
"Lets start with Congress and the White House, each and every election year."
Ha
Whatever the government does with our elephants, we better not give them to PETA. Their euthanization rate is insane!
Don't elephants starve to death when they get old, from their teeth wearing out?
Send them to the Kennedy Compound, where they can serve to confuse assassins whose target is the senior dirigible from Mass.. But NO female elephants.
Hey, PETA Dumbasses...They're in a sanctuary. It's called ZOO!!!
I've got some extra space in my livingroom & wouldn't mind walking them twice a day when I take the dog for her walk.
They just better not get between Grandpa and the TV!!
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