Sept. 28, 2005
DailyNews.com
Los Angeles, CA
by Les Schober
The growing national debate over zoos' ability to adequately provide for elephants
demonstrates wide public concern about current conditions for Earth's largest
land mammal. Now the controversy has landed in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Zoo is planning to build a $16 million, two-acre
elephant exhibit that, relative to zoo industry advances, is already
outdated. The North Carolina Zoological Park built its three-acre
enclosure 25 years ago, and is currently increasing to six acres.
The Oakland Zoo provides six acres and is looking to expand again.
Other zoos, realizing they were incapable of providing adequate
space, simply closed their elephant exhibits.
Considering that elephants are migratory animals, which, in the
wild, can walk 30 miles or more a day with their families, a two-acre
exhibit, subdivided into three yards, is obviously unfit. It makes
no sense for the city to squander millions in taxpayer money on
an enclosure that simply does not provide the space required to
keep elephants physically and psychologically healthy.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has expressed concern about
whether the zoo can provide appropriate space for the elephants,
and wisely placed a hold on funding for the planned exhibit, pending
an evaluation.
"I have been reviewing the elephants' situation at the Los
Angeles Zoo and have concerns that warrant an independent review," Villaraigosa
said in a press release. "I want an insightful study on the
whole issue so we can do what is best for the zoo and, especially,
for the elephants."
Interestingly, zoos have failed to produce any scientific evidence
showing that small enclosures of one, two or even three acres are
sufficient for meeting elephants' complex needs. In fact, existing
evidence points to the opposite: Elephants in zoos are suffering
and dying prematurely from problems unique to captivity.
Inadequate zoo conditions such as hard, compacted dirt and concrete
and a lack of space lead to a variety
of serious and often lethal ailments for elephants, including digestive
troubles, reproductive problems, arthritis at an early age, neurotic
behaviors such as swaying and rocking, and chronic foot infections.
Zoo records indicate all these problems currently are found at Los
Angeles Zoo.
Evidence that such maladies do not befall elephants in the wild
has led growing numbers of experts to conclude that zoo life itself
is killing them. How else can one explain that elephants in zoos
live just half their natural 70-year life span?
Today, the cutting edge for elephant care is being set by two
private facilities (PAWS in California and The Elephant Sanctuary
in Tennessee) that offer hundreds of acres of naturalistic habit
for elephants in a setting that meets their physical, psychological
and social needs and even helps heal chronically infected feet.
This is the model we must look to when planning a new space for
elephants, rather than the small, antiquated enclosures of the past.
Such a facility would be in the best interest of the elephants
and the public, who for the first time would have the truly educational
experience of seeing healthy elephants displaying natural behaviors.
The city of Los Angeles has entered an exciting period of innovation
and progressive ideas. Yet the Los Angeles Zoo is proposing a costly
and inhumane elephant exhibit that is a relic from the past. A two-acre
enclosure is a waste of public funds, and the elephants at the Los
Angeles Zoo deserve a large, high-quality environment and nothing
less.
---
Les Schobert has worked as a curator
at major zoos including Los Angeles and North Carolina for 35
years.
