The Articles
4 elephants from Africa arrive at zoo
The newcomers from Swaziland won't be on display until Lowry Park Zoo's Africa exhibit opens in the spring.
By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 23, 2003
At first, the elephants were coming to the Lowry Park Zoo. Then they weren't. Then they were again.
The four teenage pachyderms have arrived.
They spent Thursday night and Friday recovering from their 18-hour flight aboard a Boeing 747 from Swaziland via Johannesburg, South Africa.
On the trip, they were given water, some food and tranquilizers to help them relax.
"Three of them slept most of the way," said zoo spokeswoman Trisha Rothman. "Everything went smoothly."
The elephants will remain in quarantine until they pass the government's required tests, including those for tuberculosis. They are housed in the new elephant night house and have access to paddocks. They won't be on public display until the zoo's 11-acre Africa exhibit opens in the spring.
The two males were housed together because they knew each other on the game farm in Swaziland. The two females were not as well acquainted but appeared to be getting along. Elephants take some time to introduce themselves, said staff veterinarian Dave Murphy.
"They don't just shake trunks and sit down together," Murphy said. "So far, they are settling in well."
In an effort to further education about elephants, the zoo is considering having local elementary and middle school students compete to name them. Elephants can live 50 or 60 years.
The elephants were born in South Africa and slated to be killed before a game farm in Swaziland took them in about 12 years ago. But the habitat in Swaziland's protected areas came under extreme pressure from too many elephants, officials said. The herd needed culling one way or another, they said.
Lowry Park and the San Diego Zoo received permits to import 11 of the elephants. But animal rights groups launched a legal battle, saying zoos were not the place for wild elephants.
They argued that zoos had limited space and that tourists could travel to Africa to see the animals in the wild. The coalition of groups said they would pay to relocate the animals to parks near Swaziland that had expressed interest in taking them in.
Earlier this year, the groups persuaded the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to recall the permits on what both sides agreed was a legal technicality. The zoos sorted out the problem and again got the go-ahead.
During the delay, officials who run the reserve said they would kill the 11 elephants if they weren't shipped by the end of this month.
The animal rights groups tried unsuccessfully earlier this month to persuade a judge to again delay the importation. Last week, three animal rights activists protesting the importation were arrested at the zoo.
On Thursday, the 11 elephants were flown to South Africa. When they arrived at Tampa International Airport, two flatbed trucks took four elephants to the Lowry Park Zoo. The other seven flew on to San Diego.
The U.S. zoos have agreed to donate $132,000 to expand Swaziland's protected reserves.
Debbie Leahy, spokeswoman for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said Friday that no zoo in the country has enough space for animals that can walk up to 30 miles a day in the wild. She said the animal rights groups will continue to protest the move and any future moves to import elephants to zoos.
"This had nothing to do with saving elephants," she said. "It had to do with buying threatened animals so that the zoos could profit from it."
Murphy disagreed, saying the elephants will help educate the public to the plight of elephants in the wild, hich can lead to stronger conservation efforts. The elephants will also help bolster genetic and reproductive research.
"The world would be worse off is there weren't zoos championing those ideas," he said.
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Elephants Are Slipped Into Zoo After Dark
By KATHY STEELE
August 23, 2002
Four elephants moved Friday into Lowry Park Zoo, where they will be housed in a $5 million facility and not "worry about poachers or food and water,'' says zoo President C. Lex Salisbury.
TAMPA - Under cover of night, with a police escort on the road and a helicopter whirring below rain clouds, four African elephants slipped into their new home at the Lowry Park Zoo early Friday.
The move proceeded without incident, but authorities said they had reason to take the extraordinary measures.
``We had intelligence there would be an effort to sabotage the convoy,'' said Capt. Bob Guidara of the Tampa Police Department. ``Thank God for rain.''
Police were ready to roll when the aircraft bearing 11 elephants from Swaziland touched down just before midnight at Tampa International Airport.
Four of the pachyderms were unloaded for Lowry Park, and seven flew on to San Diego's Wild Animal Park.
They have been at the center of an international controversy that sparked a federal lawsuit and court hearings to block the first shipment of African elephants to American shores in nearly 20 years.
Three members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were arrested last week after they allegedly entered the Lowry Park administrative office, screamed at employees, and knocked objects off desks and cabinets, police said.
By midday Friday, about a dozen protesters were rallying peacefully at the zoo's driveway off Sligh Avenue.
``As long as they are taking these animals from the wild and into captivity, we're going to be here,'' said Fred Ellis of Animal Rights Foundation of Florida. ``It's a perversion of conservation. It's just wrong.''
Inside the zoo, officials celebrated a major step toward opening a safari exhibit in spring 2004. It will be the first elephant display since a handler was killed by an Asian elephant in 1993.
``This is the start of a new chapter for us,'' said zoo President C. Lex Salisbury.
Veterinarian David Murphy said the elephants - two males and two females - appeared to be in good health after their 18-hour flight. One of the females is thought to be about seven months into a 22-month pregnancy.
All four will be quarantined for the next few months as a health precaution.
``It's been a culmination of three years of hard work,'' Salisbury said. ``It's good that they are safely here and we were able to save them from being shot.''
The elephants were being threatened with death because of overcrowding at game parks in Swaziland, according to supporters of the move.
But opponents said the importation sets a precedent that will encourage other countries to sell the animals to zoos and circuses.
A federal judge cleared the way last week for the elephants to leave Swaziland when he denied an injunction sought by the Save the Wild Elephant Coalition.
The coalition also filed a lawsuit, which spokeswoman Nicole Paquette said had not been dismissed.``We are evaluating our options,'' she said.
Salisbury said the animals are lucky.
``They'll live in a $5 million facility. They don't have to worry about poachers or food and water,'' he said. ``We'll give them the best care they can get.''
They are part of a nationwide species survival program, sponsored by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, to breed and restock an aging zoo population.
The goal is for the four newcomers to produce offspring naturally - although Ellie, a fifth relocated from the Knoxville Zoo, is a candidate for artificial insemination, Salisbury said.
Ellie got a brief glimpse of her new housemates as they were unloaded, Murphy said.
``She trumpeted and smelled one of the trunks,'' the he said. ``She was very excited to begin with, and then calmed down and seemed interested in other arrivals.''
Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7920.
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Heavy security awaited elephants
7 arrivals dodge protesters at zoo
By James Steinberg
STAFF WRITER
August 23, 2003
Seven wild African elephants deemed surplus and facing death in a Swaziland game park were "tired, not stressed, and very calm" yesterday as they adjusted to their new home at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
Their predawn arrival was a high-security affair because of concerns for their safety after threats from animal-rights activists, who staged a noon-time protest 30 miles away at the San Diego Zoo.
A coalition of animal-rights groups said the elephants are being exploited by the San Diego and Lowry Park zoos for commercial purposes and that the welfare of the animals is threatened by moving them to the United States.
The coalition made three unsuccessful attempts to block the importation of the animals.
The zoos say the aging population of captive elephants in North America is dying out and that wild elephants are needed for breeding and for the contribution they can make to the gene pool.
The last wild elephants were brought to the United States more than 20 years ago, said Larry Killmar, deputy director of collections for the Zoological Society of San Diego.
The seven arrivals were part of a shipment of 11 elephants sent late Wednesday by military-style convoy to a Swaziland airport for the 171/2-hour flight to Tampa, Fla.
The plane landed at 9:50 p.m. EDT Thursday and was met by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials.
"Everything was found in order," agency spokesman Mitch Snow said yesterday in Washington.
Four of the elephants, two males and two females, were taken off the plane for a ride to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa.
At the same time, Killmar and Mick Musella, the zoological society's deputy executive director, joined the veterinarian from Swaziland who had accompanied the elephants from Africa for the second leg of their journey to San Diego.
The air cargo plane, chartered for $2 million, took off at midnight and landed at Lindbergh Field at 1:06 a.m. yesterday, Killmar said.
The elephants had been given a light sedative "just to take the edge off" the journey, which lasted 58 hours from the time the first of the animals was placed into its own air cargo container in Swaziland, Killmar said.
In San Diego, the elephants, a male and six females, one of them pregnant, were under the protection of San Diego Police officers and FBI agents. The elephants arrived at the Wild Animal Park at 4:45 a.m.Participants in a "Beastly Bedtime" campout at the park for kids and their parents reported being awakened extra early by the sounds of heavy machinery and elephants trumpeting in the darkness.
A crane was used to move the cargo containers off a truck, but the trumpeting most likely was from the park's Asian elephants disturbed by all the noise, said spokeswoman Christina Simmons.
The last of the elephants had wandered out of its cargo containers by 11 a.m. yesterday, sooner than expected, Killmar said. For the next few days, they'll just rest and get used to their new surroundings, he said.
The 11 elephants originally were scheduled for shipment in June. But in April, the Save Wild Elephants Coalition, made up of a half-dozen animal-right groups, including the Elephant Alliance in La Jolla and the militant People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, blocked the move with the first of three legal challenges in federal court in Washington, D.C.
The elephants remained in Swaziland, and officials there said the animals would be shot if they were not moved out of the country by August.
Because of severe drought, the country's wildlife reserves were unable to sustain the elephants, which were considered surplus, officials said.
The coalition's last legal option ran out Aug. 14 when a circuit court refused to grant a permanent injunction to block the move.
Protests continued, however. A man wearing an elephant suit was arrested outside the San Diego Zoo yesterday for dumping manure on the street and blocking traffic.
Bob Chorush, 56, of Seattle was participating in a demonstration organized by PETA at Zoo Place and Park boulevard.
At noon, Chorush parked a rented dump truck across Zoo Place, which is one entrance to the zoo's parking lot. He unloaded a large pile of horse manure on the street and locked himself in the truck. A half-hour later a tow truck operator unlocked the door.
"I'm going to be in jail for a while," said Chorush as he was led to a patrol car in handcuffs. "But those elephants are going to spend the rest of their live behind bars."
The protest took place at the zoo to garner maximum exposure, a PETA representative said.
The elephants have the option of staying in their barn or wandering into the exercise yard that is part of the 3-acre enclosure at the Wild Animal Park, Killmar said.
The two zoos paid Swaziland $385,000 for the elephants, or $35,000 each, Killmar said. The money went or wildlife conservation and for keeping the animals since last year, when the zoos announced their intention to import them.
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Group's Appeal Rejected; Elephants To Be Imported
August 16, 2003
Kathy Steele, TBO.com News
TAMPA - An animal welfare coalition lost its final bid Friday to block the
shipment of 11 African elephants from Swaziland to Lowry Park Zoo and San
Diego Wild Animal Park. The U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington
denied a motion for a temporary stay, according to the Save the Wild
Elephants Coalition.
Based on an earlier ruling by U.S. Judge John Bates, the zoos were free to
have the elephants shipped from Swaziland after 6 p.m. Thursday. Officials
at the San Diego zoo said the elephants - four for Lowry and seven for San
Diego - will likely head to the United States by the end of the month.
The coalition says the elephant importation - the first to U.S. zoos in
about 20 years - will set a precedent for more elephants to be sold to zoos
and circuses. Despite losing the appeal, coalition officials will meet next
week to discuss efforts to prevent other importations of elephants.
Zoo officials say they are saving the elephants from being killed because of
overcrowding at Swaziland game parks.
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Importation Of Elephants Protested At Zoos, Embassy
By KATHY STEELE
ksteele@tampatrib.com
Aug 15, 2003
TAMPA - A judge's ruling to allow the first importation of African elephants to the United States in about 20 years triggered protests and arrests Thursday in Tampa and two other cities.
Animal rights activists launched the demonstrations at the Lowry Park and San Diego zoos, as well as the Swaziland Embassy in Washington.
About noon, a woman and two men walked past an ``employees only'' sign and into the Lowry Park Zoo administrative building, officials said. One man remained outside an office while the others entered and ``began screaming, stomping around, and knocking things off desks and file cabinets,'' Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin said.
``Employees tried to talk to them and were ignored and drowned out by screaming. Several employees said they were terrified.''
When the three refused to leave, Jayson Adam Bayless, 29, of Norfolk, Va., and Valerie Lee Silidker, 28, of Davie, were charged with burglary and disorderly conduct, officials said. Alan Hugh Berger, 57, of Charleston, S.C., who waited outside the office, was charged with trespass, they said. All but the burglary charge are misdemeanors.
Meanwhile, about a half- dozen people protested at the zoo entrance in drizzling rain holding banners such as ``Zoo Animals Suffer'' and ``Swaziland Elephants: Born Free, Sold Out.''
The demonstration unfolded at Lowry as members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in Washington entered the Swaziland Embassy grounds and chained themselves together. Red liquid was splattered on the entrance to the embassy and one man climbed to a balcony and dropped a banner protesting the importation.
Three hours later, a dozen protesters gathered outside the San Diego Wild Animal Park. One went inside and was arrested when she tried to chain herself to a zoo director's desk.
Outside Lowry Park, St. Petersburg resident Jim Moyer manned a bullhorn as motorists whizzed by.
``We're here for the animals,'' said Moyer, a member of PETA and the locally based Florida Voices for Animals.
There were no injuries reported, police said.
The activists were protesting a decision by a federal judge last week to allow Lowry Park Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park to import 11 African elephants from Swaziland.
He delayed the transport of the elephants until after 6 p.m. Thursday to give the Save the Wild Elephants Coalition time to appeal.
Late Thursday, the coalition had not gotten a response from the appeals court.
With legal options running out, the elephants likely will be shipped by the end of the month. Yadira Galindo, spokeswoman for the zoo in San Diego, said the elephants will fly first to Florida, where four will deplane for Lowry. Seven elephants will continue to California, she said.
Zoo officials say they are saving the animals from being killed due to overcrowding at Swaziland parks. The elephants also will be used to repopulate an aging population at U.S. zoos.
But the animal coalition argues the elephants can be relocated to other game parks and will suffer premature deaths and stress at the zoos.
``We want to leave the animals in Africa where they are free,'' said Gael Murphy, head of Florida Voices for Animals.
The judge's timeline sparked Thursday's protests, Murphy said.
The three who the building at Lowry Park ``were immediately informed they were trespassing,'' zoo spokeswoman Heather Sitton said. ``They refused to leave and the Tampa Police Department was called.''
``They were yelling something,'' said Sitton, who was helping WFLA, News Channel 8, with a story on pygmy rattlesnakes when the protest began. ``It pertained to the elephants, but it wasn't anything I could understand.''
Protesters included PETA members from out of state as well as the Tampa Bay area and members of Florida Voices for Animals.
Although no one anticipated this particular event, Sitton said zoo security has been on heightened alert since the zoos won their arguments in federal court.
The zoo remained open during the protest, though there were fewer visitors that normal due to the bad weather, Sitton said.
Durkin said the protesters did not resist arrest but kept yelling until they were in the patrol car.
``Then they quieted down,'' he said.
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Animal rights activists protest at Lowry Park Zoo
August 14, 2003
A chaotic day at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa ended with three arrests on Thursday.
Animal rights activists broke into offices and employee areas to protest federal approval to move four Swaziland elephants into the zoo. According to Tampa Police, three people went inside the zoo’s administrative offices and started screaming at the staff and knocking things over.
Jayson Bayless, 29, and Valerie Silidker, 28, were charged with burglary/disorderly conduct, and Alan Berger, 57, was charged with trespassing.
A handful of protestors lined the streets outside the zoo in the afternoon. They say the elephants are being taken out of their natural habitat, and that Lowry Park Zoo is too small to handle the four elephants.
"These elephants are used to roaming hundreds of acres of land, plus they are being taken out of their social circles, and their socialization is being hurt by this," said Jim Moier of Florida Voices for Animals.
Lowry Park is set to open a state-of-the-art 11-acre elephant exhibit in the spring of 2004. Zoo administrators say they already have one Swazi elephant, and zoo staff is trained and capable of taking care of four more.
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PETA Protests Lowry's Plan To Import Elephants
Aug 14, 2003
From TBO.com
TAMPA - Three people were arrested inside Lowry Park Zoo today after going into the zoo's administration offices and vocally protesting the zoo's plan to import African elephants.
The three, a woman and two men, were removed in handcuffs by police while other members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals held banners and protested outside the zoo's grounds. The three face trespassing charges.
The protest was apparently a planned event by PETA to voice its objection to a federal judge's ruling last week allowing Lowry Park and San Diego Wild Animal Park to import 11 African elephants from Swaziland.
Shortly after the protesters entered the park, PETA issued a news release announcing the protests and denouncing the plan to import the elephants.
The judge ruled the elephants could not be loaded before 6 p.m. today, providing animal welfare groups time to appeal the decision. It was not immediately known if PETA filed a formal appeal.
A handful of protesters remained outside the zoo Thursday afternoon, holding banners that said, ``Keep Swazi Elephants Free.''
Under the current plan, Lowry will get four elephants for a safari exhibit slated to open in 2004. San Diego will get seven.
This story can be found at: http://news.tbo.com/news/MGADA3V1DJD.html
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Three PETA members arrested at Tampa zoo
August 14, 2003
The Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. Three members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were arrested Thursday after they stormed into the Lowry Park Zoo office to protest the importation of elephants from Swaziland.
Tampa Police arrested Alan Hugh Berger, 57, of Charleston, S.C., on a trespassing charge and Jayson A. Bayless, 29, of Norfolk, Va., and Valerie Lee Silidker, 28, of Davie, on burglary and disorderly conduct charges.
The three were booked at the Hillsborough County Jail. Bail amounts were not immediately available.
Tampa Police said the trio entered the zoo's office and began screaming at staff members and demanding to have elephants at the zoo freed. They refused to leave when they were told they were trespassing.
"Several of the staff members were just terrified," said Tampa Police spokesman Joe Durkin.
Animal rights groups have been trying to block the importation of 11 elephants from Swaziland to Lowry Park and the San Diego Zoo. The zoos want the elephants for a breeding program and say the animals are endangered unless brought to the United States.
Lowry Park spokeswoman Heather Sitton said the zoos are keeping the date of the elephant's importation to the United States secret for fear that activists will try to intervene.
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Animal rights activists protest at Lowry Park Zoo
Thursday, August 14th
Activists protested the importation of four Swazi elephants.
A chaotic day at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa ended with three arrests on Thursday.
Animal rights activists broke into offices and employee areas to protest federal approval to move four Swaziland elephants into the zoo. According to Tampa Police, three people went inside the zoo’s administrative offices and started screaming at the staff and knocking things over.
Jayson Bayless, 29, and Valerie Silidker, 28, were charged with burglary/disorderly conduct, and Alan Berger, 57, was charged with trespassing.
A handful of protestors lined the streets outside the zoo in the afternoon. They say the elephants are being taken out of their natural habitat, and that Lowry Park Zoo is too small to handle the four elephants.
Protestors said the elephants are being taken out of their natural habitats.
"These elephants are used to roaming hundreds of acres of land, plus they are being taken out of their social circles, and their socialization is being hurt by this," said Jim Moier of Florida Voices for Animals.
Lowry Park is set to open a state-of-the-art 11-acre elephant exhibit in the spring of 2004. Zoo administrators say they already have one Swazi elephant, and zoo staff is trained and capable of taking care of four more.
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Judge: Zoos Can Import African Elephants
H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A federal judge refused on Friday to block two American zoos from importing 11 African elephants but ordered that the shipments be delayed, pending a likely appeal.
Animal rights groups had sued, arguing that the elephants should be left in the wild in Africa and not shipped to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Fla., and the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
U.S. District Judge John Bates said he rejected the request for an injunction because he considered it unlikely that the animal rights groups would prevail in their argument that the Fish and Wildlife Service acted improperly in issuing the permits.
But anticipating further legal action, Bates delayed the effect of his order and directed that the elephants remain at a wildlife sanctuary in Swaziland until Aug. 14. That would give animal rights groups time to appeal his order, Bates said.
The elephant airlift had been scheduled to begin Saturday.
If the importation eventually occurs, it would be the first time in 15 years that U.S. zoos have taken elephants from the wild and brought them to this country.
Orphaned in South Africa, the elephants were moved to Swaziland where they have been in a government park since 1994. Zoo officials argued that the 11 animals, two of which are pregnant, were selected because they feared that otherwise the animals would be killed.
A coalition of animal rights groups filed the lawsuit, hoping to stop the transfer because they said the Fish and Wildlife Service's permission to import the animals for commercial purposes had violated an international treaty.
Zoo officials have argued that they want the elephants to promote breeding in captivity, a claim the animal rights groups characterized as a sham.
One male and six female elephants were scheduled for delivery to the San Diego zoo to supplement its aging elephant herd, zoo officials said. The others, two males and two females, were destined for the zoo in Tampa.
The lawsuit, filed by the Save Wild Elephants Coalition, argued that the animals were sought because young elephants "are a huge commercial draw," and attempts to breed captive elephants has been shown to be difficult.
The group, which includes People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the Elephant Sanctuary and others, argued that importing the African elephants violates guidelines set by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species. That document prohibits transfer of such animals for commercial purposes.
The plaintiffs argued that the elephants would be served better by being moved to one of three game reserves in South Africa and Mozambique. They filed letters with the court from officials at the game reserves indicating they would accept the elephants.
U.S. zoo officials maintained the elephants would be killed if they remain in Swaziland, where the government says the national park in which they are being kept is becoming overcrowded by elephants.
In May, the chief executive in charge of big game parks in Swaziland wrote the U.S. agency that the Swazi government "cannot release elephants back into the wild." Refrigerated space already had been reserved in case the animals must be killed, the letter said.
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Judge refuses to block elephant imports but orders delay for appeal
August 10, 2003
H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- A federal judge refused on Friday to block two American zoos from importing 11 African elephants but ordered that the shipments be delayed, pending a likely appeal.
Animal rights groups had sued, arguing that the elephants should be left in the wild in Africa and not shipped to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Fla., and the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
U.S. District Judge John Bates said he rejected the request for an injunction because he considered it unlikely that the animal rights groups would prevail in their argument that the Fish and Wildlife Service acted improperly in issuing the permits.
But anticipating further legal action, Bates delayed the effect of his order and directed that the elephants remain at a wildlife sanctuary in Swaziland until Aug. 14. That would give animal rights groups time to appeal his order, Bates said.
The elephant airlift had been scheduled to begin Saturday.
If the importation eventually occurs, it would be the first time in 15 years that U.S. zoos have taken elephants from the wild and brought them to this country.
Orphaned in South Africa, the elephants were moved to Swaziland where they have been in a government park since 1994. Zoo officials argued that the 11 animals, two of which are pregnant, were selected because they feared that otherwise the animals would be killed.
A coalition of animal rights groups filed the lawsuit, hoping to stop the transfer because they said the Fish and Wildlife Service's permission to import the animals for commercial purposes had violated an nternational
treaty.
Zoo officials have argued that they want the elephants to promote breeding in captivity, a claim the animal rights groups characterized as a sham.
One male and six female elephants were scheduled for delivery to the San Diego zoo to supplement its aging elephant herd, zoo officials said. The others, two males and two females, were destined for the zoo in Tampa.
The lawsuit, filed by the Save Wild Elephants Coalition, argued that the animals were sought because young elephants "are a huge commercial draw," and attempts to breed captive elephants has been shown to be difficult.
The group, which includes People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the Elephant Sanctuary and others, argued that importing the African elephants violates guidelines set by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species. That document prohibits transfer of such animals for commercial purposes.
The plaintiffs argued that the elephants would be served better by being moved to one of three game reserves in South Africa and Mozambique. They filed letters with the court from officials at the game reserves indicating they would accept the elephants.
U.S. zoo officials maintained the elephants would be killed if they remain in Swaziland, where the government says the national park in which they are eing kept is becoming overcrowded by elephants.
In May, the chief executive in charge of big game parks in Swaziland wrote the U.S. agency that the Swazi government "cannot release elephants back into the wild." Refrigerated space already had been reserved in case the animals must be killed, the letter said.
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Coalition seeks alternative relocation for African elephants
ANDREA MOSS
Staff Writer, North County Times
July 16, 2003
ESCONDIDO ---- Representatives for a coalition trying to stop the importation of African elephants from Swaziland to the United States expressed frustration Tuesday, saying potential alternatives are being ignored.
Representatives of the Save Wild Elephants Coalition produced a copy of a letter from a representative for a company that manages the Ngome Game Reserve in South Africa, to back up its claim. Dated March 19, the letter from Destination Management Services says the park "would gladly take in" the 11 elephants from Swaziland.
Shamwari Reserve in South Africa and Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique have made similar offers, said coalition spokeswoman Suzanne Roy.
She also said coalition members ---- including the London-based Born Free Foundation and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ---- have pledged the roughly $30,000 needed to cover the cost of transporting the elephants to one of the African preserves.
"I think it would be much more in the interest of the elephants to transport them to these reserves, each of which has offered to take (the animals in) and where they would remain in a free-ranging situation in their natural habitat," Roy said. "These reserves are all several thousands of acres large. And I think that's the optimal solution to this situation."
An official with the San Diego Wild Animal Park, which stands to receive seven of the elephants, said the preserves' offers do not mean the governments in those countries will allow the elephants to be brought in.
"It's one thing to say, yes, we'll take them," said Larry Killmar, deputy director of collections for the park. "It's another to get the actual permit."
He also noted the elephants in question were sent to Swaziland from South Africa nearly 10 years ago, after wildlife officials in their native country decided its elephant population needed to be thinned out.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued import permits for the elephants last week to the San Diego Zoological Society, which runs the Wild Animal Park and the San Diego Zoo, and Florida's Lowry Park Zoo, which will receive four of the animals.
The move freed the two institutions to proceed with the importation ---- which will mark the first time wild African elephants have been brought to the United States in over a decade ---- as soon as they are ready.
A total of 13 African elephants are being held in a holding pen in Swaziland's Hlane Royal National Park in anticipation of the move. A Swaziland wildlife official has said 11 of the animals will be "culled," or killed, due to overpopulation at the preserve, unless they are sent to the United States by August.
The other two elephants are expected to be released back into the park unless they are needed to replace one of the other animals.
Officials with the zoological society, which also runs the San Diego Zoo, and the Florida zoo have said therelocation will save the animals' lives, further African elephant conservation efforts and help educate the public about them.
The two institutions have agreed to give Swaziland $132,000 for anti-poaching programs and expansion of the country's wildlife preserves, in exchange for the elephants.
Opponents want to see the animals remain free in a protected area and argue that captivity will harm them. Several animal rights groups formed the coalition, which filed suit in federal court last week in an attempt to get the permits invalidated on the grounds the importation will violate an international ban on commercial trading of protected wildlife.
Before Fish and Wildlife Service officials decided to issue the documents, they looked at where the animals would go and whether there were alternatives to the importation, said Ken Stansel, assistant director of international affairs for the agency.
The letter from the management company for Ngome Game Reserve says wildlife authorities in South Africa indicated they are willing to consider issuing an importation permit.
However, Stansel said Fish and Wildlife Service officials saw nothing to confirm either of the other countries would accept the elephants.
"That's not something that we have any authority to decide or get into," Stansel said. "The information we had from the Swaziland management authority was pretty cut and dried ---- that there were no alternatives and the animals were going to be culled."
Roy said she believes officials at the Fish and Wildlife Service, the zoological society and the Florida zoo are deliberately ignoring the South African preserves' offers.
"I mean, their whole reason for this is that they're rescuing these animals, and this undermines that," she said. "The zoos' solution, which involves airlifting them to the U.S. and putting them in a 2-acre enclosure for the rest of their lives, clearly is not optimal and clearly not in the interest of the elephants."
Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com
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Elephant pregnancies spark new concerns
ANDREA MOSS
Staff Writer, North County Times
7-15-03
ESCONDIDO ---- A coalition fighting the proposed importation of 11 African elephants from Swaziland to the United States intensified its opposition Monday after learning two of the animals are pregnant.
Save Wild Elephants Coalition spokeswoman Suzanne Roy said she was appalled to see a mention of the pregnancies buried in documents the group received late last week from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in connection with a legal challenge the coalition has filed against the proposed importation.
The group filed suit last week in hopes of overturning import permits that the federal agency issued Friday to Florida's Lowry Park Zoo and to the San Diego Zoological Society, which operates the Wild Animal Park in Escondido and the San Diego Zoo.
The Wild Animal Park is expected to receive seven of the African elephants; the other four are destined for the Florida zoo.
A footnote in one of the importation documents refers to two possible pregnancies and says the elephants cannot be transported to the U.S. once they reach their third trimesters.
Larry Killmar, deputy director of collections for the San Diego Zoo, confirmed the two pregnancies Monday afternoon and said zoo officials have known about them since elephant veterinarians hired by the zoos examined the Swaziland animals to determine their general and reproductive health.
One elephant is about 12 months into ---- or slightly more halfway through ---- the 22-month gestation period for that species, he said.
The second animal is about four months along, Killmar said.
"It's incredible," Roy said of the news. "It's terribly inhumane on a number of levels that the zoos would deliberately have chosen pregnant elephants to transport to the U.S."
Killmar said the veterinarians that saw the Swaziland animals cleared them for shipment to the United States with no caveats.
"So there's no concern about the transfer," Killmar said. "We will watch them closely and will determine, medically, if there's any issues with all of the elephants before they leave Swaziland. It's part of our analysis, part of our planning process, and we take all of that into consideration."
The 11 African elephants ---- and two alternates that could take the pregnant animals' place on the trip if need be ---- are being held in a pen at Hlane Royal National Park in Swaziland. Wildlife officials in that country have said the park has more African elephants than its vegetation can support, which they say will require killing the 11 animals if they don't go to the United States by August.
The coalition wants to see the elephants stay in their current home or be moved to another wildlife preserve in Africa, rather than end up in captivity in the United States.
The idea of moving the pregnant elephants is upsetting, Roy said, because it means they will be removed from social networks that young mothers rely on during their pregnancies.
The stress of a major relocation and its effect on the animals and their calves is also a major concern, Roy said.
U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations prohibit the transport of any animal in its third trimester of pregnancy.
Unlike humans, however, elephants do not appear to experience discomfort, physical distress or other problems during pregnancy, said Deborah Olson, director of conservation and science programs for the Indianapolis Zoo and keeper of African elephant breeding records for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association.
She also said female elephants often are shipped across the country for breeding and then returned to their home zoos during the early stages of pregnancy, with no ill effects.
"You're already taking so many precautions when you're shipping an elephant, period," Olson said. "I don't know of anything you would do different with a pregnant one."
Carol Buckley, founder and executive director of The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, disagreed with Olson's assessment of elephant pregnancies. Citing the case of an elephant that gave birth to a still-born calf after Buckley took the animal to Canada for breeding, she said she is convinced moving an elephant to a new environment is detrimental to a pregnancy.
Killmar, the San Diego Zoo deputy director, said the zoological society and the Florida zoo would not have accepted the pregnant elephants for importation if they believed there was any cause for concern about the trip's effect on them.
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African elephant case being watched closely
ANDREA MOSS, North County Times
July 12, 2003
The world is watching to see what happens to 11 African elephants waiting in a holding pen at a Swaziland preserve.
If officials at the San Diego Zoological Society and a Florida zoo get their way, the animals ---- which are classified by international treaty as a threatened species ---- will be in new homes at the two institutions by mid-August. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued permits for the importation Friday.
Supporters of the transfer say it will save the lives of animals that are earmarked for death due to overpopulation at their current home, the Hlane Royal National Park.
Although international agreements generally protect the African elephant, governments are allowed to kill the animals when space is limited, said Zoological Society spokeswoman Yadira Galindo.
"And Swaziland officials are saying they don't have space for these guys at their park," she said.
The relocation is also expected to boost efforts to breed African elephants in the United States, thereby furthering efforts to preserve the species.
But a number of animal rights groups see things differently. On Thursday, a coalition of them filed a lawsuit challenging the federal agency's decision to grant the importation permits, in hopes of getting them invalidated.
Members of the Save Wild Elephants coalition argue the transfer ---- which would be the first involving African elephants brought to the United States from the wild in more than a decade ---- would set a bad precedent, violate
an international ban on the trading of protected wildlife for commercial purposes and condemn the elephants to substandard lives in captivity when there are other options.
"The idea that somehow this is sort of saving these animals is kind of a situation set up by the people who've got them," said Keith Lindsay, a resident of Britain who is one of several world-renowned experts involved with large elephant research or conservation projects who have sided with the coalition. "Essentially, it's a ransom situation ---- 'if you don't take these elephants, we'll shoot them.'"
American zoos watching
The case is of interest to elephant experts throughout the world.
"I think those of us who have elephants in North America are eager for this importation and certainly those of us who are very involved in the management of the species in North America," said Indianapolis Zoo elephant keeper Deborah Olson.
Olson maintains the breeding records for every male African elephant on the continent, on behalf of a species survival plan overseen by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association.
African elephants were classified as threatened after a rash of poachers seeking the animals' tusks killed hundreds of them in the 1980s. An exact figure for the number of African elephants left in the world today is hard to come by.
Most estimates put the number in the 300,000 to 500,000 range, Olson said.
North America has about 230 of the animals, she said, adding that of those, 130 are in the care of zoo association members. The other 100 are in the hands of nonmember zoos and private owners such as circuses, she said.
Only 16 of the 130 are males. The population of female African elephants inthe United States is also aging, Olson said.
"We don't have a lot of opportunities left for reproduction with the females we have left in the country," she said.
The San Diego Wild Animal Park's breeding program has been one of the most active and most successful. Five African elephant calves have been born at the park in the last 30 years.
This spring, the park shipped four African elephants that were considered too old for breeding to out-of-state zoos, leaving the local institution with none of the animals. The park does have six Asian elephants.
Bringing the Swaziland elephants in will breathe new life into breeding efforts at the park and other institutions, said Wild Animal Park mammal curator Randy Rieches.
"If you want to keep them going long-term (as a species), we need more young calves on the ground," he said.
Opposed to captivity
All experts involved with the breeding of African elephants seem to agree that the animals produce fewer offspring in captivity. Animal rights activists say that's an example of how detrimental captivity is to the species.
They also question the way Swaziland manages its wildlife.
The elephants that would be imported were brought to the Hlane park from Kruger National Park in neighboring South Africa several years ago after their parents were "culled" by the South African government. Culling refers to a controlled kill aimed at thinning out an animal population.
More recently, the orphaned elephants were targeted for removal from the Hlane park officials who cited a shortage of habitat in the preserve.
In a letter submitted to the Fish and Wildlife Service in support of the import permit requests, the Swaziland official in charge of the park wrote that resources can be stretched no further. Noting that an ongoing drought in the country is intensifying, the official, T.E. Reilly, was blunt about the elephants' future.
"If these particular 11 animals do not find homes at San Diego Wild Animal Park and Lowry Park Zoo before August 2003 ... we will sadly be forced to cull them as stated numerous times previously," Reilly wrote.
Lindsay, the British elephant expert, said the approach is typical of the way Swaziland handles its wildlife and one of the reasons he is against the importation.
"They don't appear to have, to date, a management plan for their protection," he said. "It's all done by guess or by gosh, by the seat of their pants.
"They brought these animals in and then nine years later, they say, 'oh, there's too many.' Now that they've decided they don't want them, they've essentially put a gun to their heads and said, 'well, we could shoot them or we could send to them to the zoos."
Lindsay said he does not know Swaziland's track record well enough to gauge whether its wildlife officials will follow through with the threat. By issuing the importation permits, however, the Fish and Wildlife Service is endorsing the haphazard approach, he said.
Park proceeds with plans
Coalition members have said they believe there are plenty of African reserves that the elephants could be moved to.
Wild Animal Park officials, meanwhile, said they remain committed toimporting the elephants. A sense of urgency began building even before the deadline was imposed, Galindo said.
"(The clock) has been ticking because it's getting into the rainy season (in Swaziland)," she said. "The elephants are also getting larger, which makes them harder to ship."
Crates that will house the elephants during their shipment have already been built, said Rieches, mammal curator for the park. Plans call for veterinarians and trainers from the park to fly to Swaziland, load the animals aboard a chartered plane and return with them to the United States, he said.
Rangers who have cared for them in Swaziland will accompany them, Rieches said.
"They're very familiar with the animals, and the animals are very familiar with them," he said. "We'll try to keep the environment during the transfer as tranquil as possible and as peaceful as possible. So they'll feed and water the animals during the flights."
The length of the trip will not be known until the flight arrangements are complete, he said.
Once at the Wild Animal Park, the seven elephants earmarked for it will be quarantined in a fenced-off section of a 3-acre African elephant enclosure for 30 days, Rieches said. Recently updated in anticipation of the animals' arrival, the enclosure is designed to simulate an African savanna, he said.
The public will be able to view the elephants from a distance during the quarantine period, Rieches said.
When transportation fees and the cost of the enclosure updates are factored in, the park will spend about $2 million to acquire the elephants, Galindo said.
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U.S. OKs import of African elephants for San Diego, Florida zoos
MICHELLE MORGANTE, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, July 10, 2003
©2003 Associated Press
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/07/10/state1950EDT0149.DTL
(07-10) 16:50 PDT SAN DIEGO (AP) --
Federal regulators say they will issue permits allowing the Zoological Society of San Diego and a Florida zoo to import 11 African elephants in what would be the first such delivery in 20 years. But animal rights groups filed a lawsuit Thursday in a renewed effort to stop the shipment.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that permits allowing the animals to be exported from Swaziland are to become valid on Friday, clearing the way for the San Diego society and the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Fla., to proceed with the importation.
A lawsuit filed Thursday in Washington by a coalition of animal rights organizations argues that the permits violate international conventions and U.S. law protecting endangered species. The groups also intend to seek a preliminary injunction to stop the delivery, said Suzanne Roy, program director for In Defense of Animals, a Mill Valley-based group that a plaintiff in the case.
The selected African elephants, which are a threatened species, are young animals -- each about 12 years old. They were born in South Africa and were left orphaned when their parents were culled to reduce overpopulation at the Kruger National Park, said Yadira Galindo, a spokeswoman for the San Diego society, which oversees the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
The elephants were exported to Swaziland and, the society maintains, would face being culled themselves due to limited space at their home.
"We feel we are doing this for the right reasons. We feel we can make a difference and really help the genetic population of African elephants in North America," said Randy Rieches, curator of mammals at the Wild Animal Park, which expects to receive seven of the elephants.
In Defense of Animals, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other groups contend there is sufficient room in Swaziland, which has a total elephant population of less than 40, and that three other parks in Africa have offered to accept the animals.
In addition, the groups say that because the zoos are paying for the animals, even though the money is slated for anti-poaching efforts, a dangerous precedent is being set that will motivate poorer countries to sell off rare animals.
"We believe they could stay in Swaziland, or there are alternative homes in Africa for them. But both the zoos and Swaziland have ignored those alternative homes," Roy said Thursday.
About 200 African elephants are in North America, most in zoos and others in circuses or private hands, Rieches said. Most are more than 30 years old. A 10-year moratorium by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, prompted by a surge in births of male elephants which require special housing, stalled breeding efforts and subsequently, many females developed conditions rendering them incapable of reproducing, he said.
The zoological society, which hopes to receive its seven elephants in August, plans to place them in a three-acre enclosure at the Wild Animal Park, which is located about 35 miles northeast of downtown San Diego. After a quarantine period, the six females and one male would enter into a breeding program, Rieches said.
For many years, restrictions to protect the elephants from ivory-trade poachers kept elephants from being exported. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species prevents them from being moved for primarily commercial purposes -- and the animal rights groups say profits are the zoo's primary reason for having African elephants.
"They're lures. They're moneymakers for the zoos and that's why they want them," said Debbie Leahy, PETA's director of captive exotic animals, in Chicago.
Rieches, however, said the Fish and Wildlife Service did "exhaustive research" before finding there was no reason to block the importation.
"They do not give that decision lightly," he said. "They certainly know we do conservation, propagation and conservation. ... With all that in mind, they realize this is not a commercial venture."
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Activists Say Zoo's Elephant-Importing Argument Is Bull, File Suit
Wild Animal Park Wants To Import 7 Elephants From Africa
POSTED: 11:51 a.m. PDT July 10, 2003
UPDATED: 1:19 p.m. PDT July 10, 2003
NBCSandiego.com
SAN DIEGO -- Animal rights activists filed suit on Thursday in federal court to stop the San Diego Wild Animal Park from bringing elephants from Africa.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced that it would issue the park the necessary permits to bring the animals over from Swaziland.
Officials with the Zoological Society of San Diego, which operates the park, maintain that they want to import seven elephants because of overcrowding in their native habitat, which will force keepers to kill them to cull the herd. Activists have countered that argument with their claim that there are only 36 elephants in Swaziland living in a pair of game reserves that share 90,000 acres between them.
The Save Wild Elephants Coalition filed suit in a Washington, D.C., federal court to nullify the permits.
"The decision to allow this clearly commercial import will set a dangerous precedent that will encourage an international market for wild elephants to be used in exhibitions and entertainment, thus undermining protection for this threatened species," said Will Travers, CEO of the England-based Born Free Foundation.
The Tampa, Fla., Lowry Park Zoo has also been issued permits by Fish & Wildlife Service; in Lowry's case, the permits were for four elephants.
Fish & Wildlife Service officials said that they concluded the elephants would be killed if they were left in Swaziland.
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US Plan to Import African Elephants Stirs Controversy
Erik Anderson
San Diego
June 25, 2003
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering whether to allow zoos in San Diego and Tampa to import eleven African elephants. If the permit is approved, it will be the first time in more than a decade that an African elephant has been captured from the wild and brought into the United States. That's a departure from current conservation efforts that focus on keeping animals in their natural habitat. Animal advocates are promising to do everything they can to fight the plan.
North American zoos are facing a future without one of their most popular animal attractions. The American Zoo and Aquarium Association says the captive population of African elephants - some 225 animals scattered across the United States - can not sustain itself. "Right now, if you look at the demographics of this population, in the next 25 to 30 years we virtually won't have any elephants in North American zoos," said Larry Killmar, the deputy director of collections at the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park. "It's an aging population and reproduction is not anywhere close to sustainability levels."
That analysis, prepared over two years by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, prompted the San Diego Zoological Society to begin looking for African elephants capable of breeding. They found them in Swaziland, where the nation's two elephant reserves are overcrowded. Larry Killmar said Swaziland officials agreed to sell seven wild elephants to San Diego and four to the Lowrey Zoo in Tampa - instead of shooting them.
"This is only, you know, 11 animals coming in," said Mr. Killmar. "We should be able to get calves out of all of these animals on a regular basis and that would be a huge, huge step in stopping the deterioration of that population."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is recommending an approval for the transfer, and could issue a final ruling soon. However, In Defense of Animals spokeswoman Susanne Roy says there's no good reason to bring the animals to the United States.
"The zoos are claiming that this is a conservation-oriented move," she said. "And in fact it promotes the trade in African elephants, which are a threatened species."
Ms. Roy says she's concerned about the health of the 11 elephants, which have spent nearly three months in holding pens in Swaziland awaiting the transfer. She says it's wrong to take African elephants out of the wild, just so they can be put into zoos.
"They've had elephants in captivity for a number of years," added Ms. Roy. "They've had an active effort underway to breed them and the elephants simply don't breed well in captivity. And it's because they don't thrive in captive conditions."
While keepers sweep out an elephant barn at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, a half dozen Asian elephants wander in their nearby one-hectare compound. They are the only pachyderms currently living at the Park. Under the direction of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, the facility shipped its four aging African elephants to zoos in Chicago and Texas. A male, with tusks that are nearly as long as its trunk, welcomes a female that just entered the yard.
Hearing the trumpet, a group of young boys anxiously run up to keeper Jeff Andrews.
"What kind of elephants are these," the children asked.
"These are Asian elephants," Mr. Andrews replied.
"See I told you guys, I told you...Just making sure," said one of the children.
Asian elephants have smaller ears than those from Africa, a one-fingered trunk, and rounded backs. But the captive population faces the same fate as their African cousins. However, with a declining population in the wild, it's unlikely that any Asian elephants will be captured for a breeding program. In contrast, the need for breeding age African elephants in North America comes when the wild populations are overrunning their natural habitats.
"There is a need to control elephant populations and the question is how is that going to be done," said Michael Hutchins, director of conservation science for The American Zoo and Aquarium Association.
"Is it going to be done through shooting... or could accredited, well-managed zoological parks utilize some of these animals in the service of conservation?" he asked.
Mr. Hutchins says North American Zoo's need a vibrant captive herd to publicize the threats elephants face in Africa: loss of habitat, poaching, wars. In Defense of Animals spokeswoman Susanne Roy says zoos don't need more elephants — they need to improve their use of technology to get the conservation message out.
"Virtual reality exhibits where they can experience an elephant habitat in Swaziland," she said. "And IMAX films. All sorts of high-tech ways that the zoo could actually teach people about what these elephants are really like and what the real problems facing them in Africa are."
Zoo officials say dealing with the real problems faced by elephants in America will help resolve some of the problems the animals face in Africa. But animal rights advocates say if the San Diego and Lowery Park Zoos are given approval to import the 11 elephants from Swaziland, the move will encourage other zoos to do likewise, fueling the global trade in wild African elephants.
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Review: Elephants not harmed by importation
ANDREA MOSS, North County Times (California)
June 6, 2003
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service review of the San Diego Wild Animal Park's and a Florida zoo's request to import African elephants found the proposed move would not adversely affect the animals or their habitat. In fact, the wildlife agency reached the opposite conclusion, saying relocating the 11 elephants to the U.S. would actually help efforts to preserve the species in Swaziland, where the animals are now. The report recommends the animal park and the zoo be allowed to bring the elephants to this country.
The conclusions are spelled out in a report posted this week on a Web site the agency maintains at
http://international.fws.gov/animals/draft%20ea%20Swaziland%20elephants.html.
Members of the public have until June 25 to comment on the review, after which Fish and Wildlife officials will decide whether to reissue an
importation permit for the African elephants.
The review was done after three animal rights groups filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of the initial importation permit the federal agency issued to the animal park and the zoo earlier this year.
A San Diego Zoological Society representative said Thursday he welcomed the results of the review. The society operates the animal park and the San Diego Zoo. "It's great news," said Larry Killmar, deputy director of animal collections for the park and the zoo. Officials at the two facilities were not surprised at the Fish and Wildlife Service's findings, he added. "The points that are in (them) are the very points that we had in the our original application and in subsequent information that they've asked for," said Killmar.
In Defense of Animals is one of the groups that filed the lawsuit. Group spokeswoman Deniz Bolbel said a Swaziland official, who backed up information in the permit request, favors sending the elephants to the U.S. because the zoos have agreed to give the African country $132,000 for its anti-poaching programs as well as for land purchases to expand the country's wildlife preserves. "That's a business transaction," Bolbel said. "And that's what this is all about. That's what zoos are all about."
The wild animal park is seeking to bring seven young African elephants to the U.S. from the 74,000-acre Hlane Royal National Park in Swaziland. Four other elephants would go to the Florida zoo. Officials with the park and the zoo have cited a lack of space and vegetation as the reason for the proposed relocation. If the elephants are not moved, the officials have said, they may be killed. The importation is also expected to help elephant preservation programs in this country by providing opportunities for breeding the animals.
The report says its review determined the reasons given for moving the elephants are valid and will ensure the successful preservation of those that remain behind in Africa. "The net result of this import will be to reduce the number of elephants in the protected areas, thus reducing the current burden on the habitat, and to provide needed funds (for expansion of the preserve)," the report says.
Two alternatives ---- no importation and the importation of fewer elephants ---- are also offered in the report but not recommended.
If the permits are granted, Bolbel said, the animal rights groups will pursue their lawsuit in court.
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Request to Release
Letter from a broad coatition of conservation and animal advocacy organizations to the Executive Director of the Zoological Society of San Diego, and the President and CEO of the Lowry Park Zoological Society
May 27, 2003
Douglas G. Meyers, Executive Director
Zoological Society of San Diego
2920 Zoo Drive
San Diego, CA 92103
Charles Lex Salisbury, President and CEO
Lowry Park Zoological Society
1101 West Sligh Avenue
Tampa, FL 33604
Via Facsimile and Certified Mail
Dear Mr. Meyers and Mr. Salisbury:
On behalf of a broad coalition of conservation and animal advocacy organizations – including Born Free Foundation, Born Free USA, The Elephant Alliance, the Elephant Sanctuary, In Defense of Animals, Animal Protection Institute, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, San Diego Animal Advocates, and the Animal Welfare Institute - I write to you about the 13 juvenile African elephants currently being held in Swaziland by your organizations.
As you know, by letter of April 23, 2003, J. Craig Potter, attorney for both Zoos, relinquished the federal permits authorizing the import of these elephants to the U.S. Therefore, since that date, neither Zoo has had a valid permit to import any of these animals. Accordingly, the continued confinement of these 13 African elephants in the small boma where they have now been held for over two months cannot possibly be justified.
In fact, each day that passes endangers the elephants and increases the risk that one or more will perish from the stress of confinement and separation from family. Your organizations are obviously aware of these risks, as evidenced by the two elephants you are holding as "replacements" in the event that one or more of the 11 animals identified for import is killed, injured or suffers in some other way.
There is, therefore, an urgent need to release these elephants as soon as possible, and we call upon you to show compassion and concern for these animals by immediately returning them to a natural, wild setting. There are several possible options for these elephants:
1. Allow them to remain in Swaziland and contribute the $300,000 needed for fencing to expand the elephants’ range.
The government of Swaziland has estimated that it needs approximately $300,000 for fencing to expand Hlane National Park. ["Swaziland: Time Running Out to Sell Elephants to U.S. Zoos," Inter Press News Service, February 21, 2003] (Enclosed.) The $300,000 pales in comparison with the millions of dollars that your Zoos will spend on transporting the elephants, building new facilities to house them, and maintaining them for life.
If your Zoos are truly interested in conservation of this threatened Appendix I species, this is the option you should pursue instead of fueling the trade that threatens their survival. It offers the unique conservation opportunity to partner with a developing nation and help it create a sustainable population of threatened African elephants. It also offers a unique educational opportunity for your Zoos to teach the public about the nation of Swaziland, its people and culture, as well as the plight of African wildlife and the tragedy of habitat loss. Technologies like live internet hookups where the public could view elephants in real time in their native habitat or IMAX films and virtual reality exhibits through which people can experience the habitat for themselves are among the many high-tech ways your Zoos could educate the public about the importance of conserving this species in the wild, without placing these intelligent, complex animals on exhibit and subjecting them to the traumas of transport, confinement, deprivation and isolation that a lifetime of captivity entails.
2. Translocate the elephants to one of several Protected Areas in Southern Africa that offer suitable habitat and are willing to take them.
We have already informed the FWS and the government of Swaziland (Mr. Reilly) of several alternative locations for these elephants that would allow them to stay together in their natural habitat. This option would allow the elephants to remain in a wild setting in Africa, thereby contributing to a stable population of this threatened species in a range country.
By this letter, we officially inform you of the available reserves to which these elephants can be translocated:
Ngoni Reserve, Kwazulu Natal - 6,500 hectares (16,800 acres) with the possibility of adding a further 10,000 hectares (25,900 acres);
Shamwari Reserve, Alicetown, Eastern Cape - 3,100 hectares (8,000 acres);
Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique - 530,000 hectares (1,372,700 acres).
Each of these Protected Areas had expressed a willingness to take all of these animals. Given their existence, and the fact that more than half the elephants were captured from the 74,000-acre Hlane Royal National Park, not the Mkhaya Game Reserve as you had originally claimed, there is absolutely no basis for your continued assertion that you are "rescuing" these elephants from certain slaughter through culling.
The 13 elephants held in Swaziland have already, in our view, suffered psychological trauma from their capture and separation from their families. The more time that passes, the more this trauma is compounded by their confinement in the boma.
The aforementioned organizations, on behalf of their millions of supporters and the wider general public, will hold the San Diego and Lowry Park Zoos fully accountable for the well being of these elephants. These animals should not have to suffer any longer because of your Zoos’ mistakes and failure to provide accurate and complete information to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in your import permit applications. Unless and until your Zoos have been granted valid permits to import these animals, these elephants should be set free.
We call upon you to do the right thing by these magnificent, young elephants by returning them to their native lands and restoring them to the freedom that was so abruptly taken from them over two months ago.
Sincerely,Suzanne Roy, Program Director
In Defense of Animals
On behalf of:
Will Travers, CEO, Born Free Foundation
Adam Roberts, President, Born Free USA
Debbie Leahy, Director of Captive Exotic Animals, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Nicole Paquettte, Director of Legal and Government Affairs, Animal Protection Institute
Cathy Liss, Executive Director, Animal Welfare Institute
Florence Lambert, Director, The Elephant Alliance
Carol Buckley, Director, Elephant Sanctuary
Jane Cartmill, Director, San Diego Animal Advocates
Cc: J. Craig Potter, O’Connor & Hannan
Sidney Butler, Executive Director, American Zoo and Aquarium Association
Michael Keele, Elephant TAG, SSP
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Park officials defend care, treatment of African elephants
ERIN MASSEY and ANDREA MOSS
Staff Writers May 1, 2003
LA JOLLA ---- The last of four African elephants who lived at the San Diego Wild Animal Park for at least two decades was shipped out Wednesday, according to animal rights activists opposing the move.
"What we have today is a betrayal of our elephants," said Florence Lambert, director of The Elephant Alliance, during a press conference Wednesday morning. "Chico, the bull that has been there for 25 years, has been drugged and put in a crate and hauled off to Texas."
Park employees leaked the information that the elephant has been shipped, Lambert said.
Officials with The Zoological Society of San Diego, the foundation that runs both the Wild Animal Park and the San Diego Zoo, refused to confirm whether the park still has Chico, a 36-year-old male that first came to the park in 1977. The zoo is in the process of transferring all of its aging African elephants to other facilities to make room for seven young elephants, scheduled to be imported from the 74,000-acre Hlane Royal National Park in Swaziland this summer.
"We don't discuss animal moves until the moves have been completed," said Zoological Society public relations manager Christina Simmons, who referred to the bull elephant in the past tense throughout the conversation Wednesday afternoon. "For the safety of our animals ... that has always been our policy."
She would confirm that the Wild Animal Park recently shipped its three aging female African elephants ---- 53-year-old Peaches and 34-year-olds Wankie and Deteema ---- to Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo.
Wild Animal Park officials have said that Swaziland plans to "cull" or kill some of the elephants at its reserve because it doesn't have space for them and that bringing the elephants here could save them.
Animal rights activists have argued that the grim situation in Swaziland is being overstated, that there are reserves willing to keep the elephants in their native land, and that zoos in this country can't provide the space, habitat or lifestyle that the elephants would have in Africa.
The La Jolla-based Elephant Alliance, the international In Defense of Animals and the England-based Born Free nonprofit filed a lawsuit in April against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for issuing permits to allow the importation of 11 young African elephants ---- seven for the Wild Animal Park and four for a zoo in Florida.
"We filed a formal complaint because the Wild Animal Park submitted fraudulent documents," said Elliot Katz, a veterinarian and founder of the In Defense of Animals, saying that the permit's details about the Swaziland park made the place sound worse than it is. "They gave the government information that was false."
Simmons denied any wrongdoing and said it is common for the government to ask for more information on animal permits.
Pat Fisher, spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service's international program, said questions about the permits came up after they were issued. She declined to comment about whether the lawsuit prompted the agency to review the permits.
Both zoos voluntarily returned their import permits and submitted new applications after the federal agency sent them a letter asking for clarification, she said.
"It's fair to say that, right now, there are no permits existing," she said.
Fisher said neither the animal park nor the Florida zoo will be able to bring any African elephants to the U.S. unless new permits are issued. There is no set time frame for a decision on the new applications, she said.
"We're going to take as long as we need to ensure that (the importation is) a good thing for wild elephant conservation," Fisher said.
Simmons said the park expects to receive the new permits by early summer. She said park officials will use the time to prepare for the elephants' arrival.
In exchange for the elephants, the Wild Animal Park and the Florida zoo agreed to pay the Swaziland government more than $100,000 for anti-poaching programs and land purchases that would expand Swaziland's wildlife preserves.
"We have been notified by the government of Swaziland that they are looking at culling (killing) this herd of elephants," Simmons said. "The government has not been able to find any other places. Instead of them being culled, the elephants will come here."
But Roger Mugsford, an animal behavior psychologist from England, said at the press conference that there are reserves in Africa and in the United States that would take the elephants and give them thousands of acres to live on instead of the 1-acre exhibit at the park.
"I am shocked by the close contact of the public to the elephants at the Wild Animal Park," Mugsford said. "The park is not a suitable place to keep wild elephants."
Alan Roocroft, an elephant care consultant, and former elephant care specialist at the Wild Animal Park, agreed that in general, elephants are harmed by living in zoos.
"I've come across a lot of dysfunctional elephants in zoos," he said. "They're the end product of the care that we've been giving them. So we need to take a closer look at all elephant care in captivity. We need to put that under a microscope and really get down to looking at are elephants doing well in captivity?"
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Activists claim a victory regarding elephants' importation
ANDREA MOSS, North County Times
April 30, 2003
Animal rights activists claimed a victory this week in their ongoing fight to stop the San Diego Wild Animal Park and a Florida zoo from importing several African elephants.
Leaders of The Elephant Alliance and In Defense of Animals said the Zoological Society of San Diego and the Florida zoo were forced to give up U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service import permits because of their lobbying
efforts.
Zoo officials confirmed that the permits, which would have allowed the importation of 11 young African elephants, were rescinded and that the society resubmitted its application last week.
But the zoo officials said that doesn't necessarily mean the elephants won't be coming.
"This is typical for the permit process, where the Fish and Wildlife Service may have questions and ask and we give more information," said Zoological Society public relations manager Christina Simmons. "Every time new
information is presented, we would turn in the permit that we have and refile the paperwork."
The new application notwithstanding, the organization's import permit remains valid and the society is proceeding with its plans to bring the elephants to the United States in the next month or two, she said.
Animal rights groups have argued that the animals should stay in their native land, saying zoos in this country can't provide the space, habitat or lifestyle that the elephants have in the Swaziland game reserve where they
live. Officials for the Wild Animal Park have argued that the reserve doesn't have space for all its elephants and reserve officials planned to "cull" or kill some of them.
The original permit application, which contained information about the reserve's plans, has been challenged in a lawsuit filed by In Defense of Animals and several other animal rights groups.
Suzanne Roy, spokeswoman for In Defense of Animals, said Tuesday that park officials are trying to downplay the rescinding of its permit by characterizing it as routine.
"It is true that the Fish and Wildlife Service might ask questions and want more information," she said. "But it is not common after a permit has been issued."
Attempts Monday and Tuesday to reach a Fish and Wildlife Service representative who could verify the permit's status were unsuccessful. Scott Pearson, resident agent in charge of the agency's Sacramento office, said a
computer check showed "dozens and dozens and dozens" of import permit requests from the park dating back several years.
"I'm not able to confirm that the (African elephant) permit was issued and then we denied it," Pearson said.
He referred a reporter to the agency's Division of Management Authority in Washington, D.C., saying it issues the import permits. Calls to several different numbers for the agency automatically went into voice mail, and
repeated messages left there were not returned.
Meanwhile, the Wild Animal Park recently shipped its three aging female African elephants to Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. The elephants are being moved to make room for the new ones the park hopes to import from the
74,000-acre Hlane Royal National Park in Swaziland.
Kelly McGrath, spokeswoman for the Chicago zoo, confirmed Wednesday that the three animals ---- 53-year-old Peaches and 34-year-olds Wanki and Deteema---- had arrived.
The Wild Animal Park has one African elephant left. The animal, a male of unknown age named Chico, is destined for a Texas zoo, though Simmons declined to say when he would be shipped.
In exchange for the Swaziland elephants, the Wild Animal Park and a Florida zoo have agreed to pay the Swaziland government more than $100,000 for anti-poaching programs and land purchases that would expand Swaziland's wildlife preserves.
Florence Lambert, director of The Elephant Alliance, said Tuesday that she believes the Wild Animal Park will ultimately succeed in bringing the African elephants to San Diego unless members of the public get involved in
the issue.
"If there were enough letters sent to the zoo ... and enough people contacted their council members, maybe something would be done about it," she said. "Because the animals ... don't really belong to the zoo or the
Zoological Society. They belong to the city of San Diego, to the people."
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U.S. Zoos Give Up Permits to Take African Elephants
April 29, 2003
By Gina Keating, Yahoo News
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A coalition of animal rights and wildlife preservation groups claimed on Tuesday that had blocked -- at least temporarily -- two U.S. zoos from importing African elephants from a Swaziland preserve.
The San Diego and Tampa, Florida zoos surrendered permits granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to import the 11 African elephants after the agency discovered discrepancies on their permit applications, agency
spokeswoman Pat Fisher said.
The elephants had been expected to arrive in mid-May or June but their arrival probably will now be delayed while the zoos apply for new permits, said Timothy Van Norman, chief of Fish and Wildlife's branch of international permits.
Van Norman said his agency had information that the zoos misrepresented where and how the elephants were captured.
"We are hoping to deal with this application as quickly as possible but we aren't going to rush and make errors," he said.
The flap was spurred by a coalition led by the British-based Born Free Foundation and the U.S. group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which sued the Department of the Interior to block it from issuing importation permits to the zoos.
The groups allege that captive elephants breeding programs are a sham and that the zoos want the huge creatures mainly because they draw paying visitors.
"We think this is a victory of sorts because they have relinquished their import permits and admitted that they made misrepresentations in their permit applications," the groups' attorney Tanya Sanerib said.
San Diego Zoo spokeswoman Christina Simmons disagreed, saying, "...this is a normal process. We have been told by Fish and Wildlife that everything is in order."
The zoos had told U.S. authorities that the elephants came from a group of orphans at the Mkhaya Game Reserve, which needed to cull its elephant herd and were in danger of being killed. The groups said that the elephants were actually captured at the reserve and the adjacent national park and were not in any danger.
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OPEN LETTER Regarding the Recent Upsurge in Efforts to Capture Wild Elephants to be Placed in Zoos
April 28, 2003
XWE African Wildlife Investigation & Research Centre
Ethical Conservation Network
P.O. Box 3018
Honeydew 2040
Tel: 012-656-9294
Fax: 012-656-7664
28 April 2003
This open letter is written on behalf of a concerned coalition of South African and International animal protection organizations (listed below), who have been monitoring South Africa’s escalating trade in wild animals. Recently, we have specifically investigated the validity of the CITES export and import permits issued for the export of elephants, by the South African and Mexican Government authorities.
During the course of our investigation the following has come to light:
Riccardo Ghiazza of African Game Services and Manus Pretorius of Mafunyane International are in the process of exporting wild caught juvenile elephants, which they captured at Sandhurst Safaris (www.sandhurstsafaris.com), to overseas destinations.
In Ghiazza’s case, 3 juveniles were exported on 10th April 2003 to Lesna Zoo in the Czech Republic with a "valid" CITES export permit issued by the Northwest Provincial Nature Conservation authorities in South Africa. This export took place only 3 days after Ghiazza was convicted of cruelty to animals in the Tuli Elephant Case. Presently, Ghiazza still has a 2 year old male elephant calf which is being kept on its own on his premises. Our information indicates that this calf is due to be exported shortly, destination unknown. According to wildlife inspectors from the National Council of SPCAs, "The elephant appeared very small and wild. It ran a pattern in and out of the brick housing and would storm at us, flapping the ears and trumpeting".
In the case of Manus Pretorius of Mafunyane International, 4 juveniles are destined for export to a privately owned facility in Mexico, which breeds bulls for bullfighting and horses for rodeo-like events.
Our investigations into the CITES permits issued by the South African and Mexican Government agencies have revealed the following irregularities:
- According to the permits the elephants are being exported under CITES Appendix II.
Appendix II (Annotation 604) allows for the export of live elephants from South Africa, only to "in- situ conservation programmes", i.e. to destinations within their natural home range. Clearly neither Lesna Zoo in the Czech Republic, nor Mexico are within the elephants’ natural home range. CITES Annotation 604 further states that "all other specimens shall be deemed to be specimens of species included in Appendix I and the trade in them shall be regulated accordingly".
- The permits state that the elephants were classified as being born in captivity.
The elephants in question were captured at Sandhurst Safaris during March this year. Originally, in October 2001 a group of 12 elephants was trans-located from Madikwe Game Reserve (www.game-reserve.com/south-africa_madikwe.html) to Sandhurst Safaris. Until that time the only elephants present at Sandhurst Safaris were a number of bull elephants used for trophy hunting. In addition, during mid 1999 Sandhurst Safaris received 9 of the Tuli elephants from Ghiazza.
At this point it is unclear whether the 4 elephants destined for Mexico are from the original Tuli elephants, or originate from the trans-located Madikwe population.
It is clear from the above that these elephants were not born in captivity as stated on the permits. At the same time it is important to note that presently South Africa does not have any elephants being born in captivity. Based on this information the Mexican authorities on 25th April 2003, declared the import permit invalid, and requested the South African authorities to stop the export.
- The South African export permit states that the destination in Mexico is a zoo. A Mexican conservation organization has informed us that the importer, Ganaderia Pasteje, (www.esmas.com/deportes/otrosdeportes/toros/270534.html) is a very famous ranch devoted to raising cattle, but most of all, bulls for bullfights (corridas de toros). This clearly indicates that the destination is a privately owned commercial enterprise, which is in conflict with CITES regulations, (Resolution Conf.5.10).
- The Mexican CITES import permit was issued on 28th March 2003, 9 days after the issuance of the South African CITES export permit, which was issued on 19th March 2003.
This is clearly in conflict with CITES regulations governing the issuance of such permits. According to the stipulations of CITES Article III paragraph 3 "The import of any specimen of a species included in Appendix I shall require the prior grant and presentation of an import permit….".
- The issuing procedure for the CITES import permit according to Article III paragraph 2a was not complied with. This provision states that an export permit shall only be granted when the following conditions have been met: "A scientific authority of the State of export has advised that such export will not be detrimental to the survival of that species". A statement of such nature would hardly be justifiable with regard to the small, only recently established elephant population at Sandhurst Safaris.
CONCLUSION:
Wild elephants are being captured and exported by individuals with a purely commercial interest, to supply Zoos and other captive facilities around the world. The proceeds of these sales are not re-invested back into conservation. The present situation could potentially spiral out of control, opening a flood of questionable exports of elephants and other wild animals.
Government authorities, wittingly or unwittingly are assisting this process, thereby undermining CITES regulations by issuing permits which contain erroneous and inaccurate information. The present system is clearly open to abuse.
The South African Government is the custodian of the country’s natural heritage and has a duty to the people to ensure its protection for future generations. Given the availability of vast tracts of suitable land, Government’s focus should be on expanding existing habitat for conservation and eco-tourism purposes, e.g. the Trans Frontier Parks initiative. This will not only benefit the preservation of our natural heritage, but also enhance the tourism industry, thereby creating employment and empowering impoverished rural communities living in and around conservation areas. Issued on behalf of and the following organisations:
Chair of the Species Survival Network's Elephant Working Group
African Ele-Fund, Ian Redmond, Coordinator
Animal Defenders International
Born Free Foundation, UK
Born Free USA
Care for the Wild International
COMARINO, Conservacion de Mamiferos Marinos de Mexico, Mexico
CSI, Cetacean Society International
The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation
EIA, Environmental Investigation Organisation
Greenpeace International GSM, Denmark
HSUS, Humane Society of the United States
IFAW, International Fund for Animal Welfare
IPPL, International Primate Protection League
IWC, International Wildlife Coalition
PeTA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Pro Wildlife, Germany
RSPCA, Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, UK
Sanwild Wildlife Trust , South Africa
The Ethical Conservation Network
The Fund for Animals
The Humane Society of Canada
WildAid
Wildlife Action Group, South Africa
XWE African Wildlife Investigation & Research Centre, South Africa
The 12-year-old elephants are roaming freely with their families on the 74,130-acre Hlane Royal National Park. In exchange for a "donation" to the Swazi park, the elephants will be ripped from beautiful savannas and fields of umbrella-shaped trees, shoved into transport containers, and carted halfway around the world where they will spend the rest of their lives in small, barren zoo enclosures that could never simulate their natural habitat.