Lucy should be sent to sanctuary
2008-12-29
(Letter to the Editor, Edmonton Journal)
Rob Laidlaw, Zoocheck Canada
A new study showing that elephants live up to three times longer in the wild
than they do in captivity has again raised concerns about the confinement of
elephants in urban zoos, including the Edmonton Valley Zoo's lone Asian
elephant, Lucy.
For more than a decade, elephant captivity has been subject to ever-increasing
scrutiny and concern. Most recently, the confinement of Jenny, a single female
Asian elephant at the Dallas Zoo, generated international concern prompting
private citizens and many Hollywood celebrities to speak out on her behalf. Zoo
officials claim Jenny is better off remaining where she is.
Not too long ago, after spending nearly a decade alone in the grim confines of
the Alaska Zoo, a lone female Asian elephant named Maggie was finally shipped to
a California sanctuary. The zoo fought to keep her where she was, but eventually
gave up against a tidal wave of opposition from local citizens. Like the Dallas
Zoo, they also claimed it was in Maggie's best interest not to be moved. How
wrong they were. Maggie recently celebrated her 26th birthday in a large natural
enclosure in the company of other elephants in the California sun.
Elephant populations in North American zoos are declining every year. Infant
mortality is high. Premature mortality in adult elephants is high. Foot
problems, arthritis and abnormal behaviours are ubiquitous. Tuberculosis and
elephant herpes virus are entrenched and becoming widespread. Zoos claim they're
the experts and are doing everything right, but all of the evidence indicates
otherwise.
The idea of removing elephants from a local zoo, no matter how miserable their
lives may be, has historically been viewed as preposterous by local people.
Zoos, who are reluctant to give up elephant keeping, exploit that view as much
as they can. They claim that without elephants, there will be no zoo.
Thankfully for the elephants, that point of view is gradually going the way of
the dinosaurs.
For Lucy, the loneliest, most northerly elephant on the continent, that time
can't come soon enough.
Rob Laidlaw
Executive Director, Zoocheck Canada
Author, Wild Animals in
Captivity
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