Responses To Common Zoo Arguments
Many people have received letters from zoo officials stating various reasons for their decision to send Bamboo to another small habitat zoo, rather than the large natural habitat of The Elephant Sanctuary (TES). We take this opportunity to respond to those arguments below.
- TES is not accredited by the AZA.
- More space is not necessarily better.
- Bamboo is very bonded with WPZ keepers and prefers people over elephants.
- Pacing, swaying, and head shaking is not abnormal behavior.
- Bamboo is not aggressive.
- TES does not provide adequate veterinary care like zoos do.
- Sanctuaries are not financially stable.
- Sanctuaries do not participate in conservation and education programs.
The Elephant Sanctuary (TES) is not accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA).
TES is not a zoo. It is instead a member of The Association of Sanctuaries (TAOS) which has it's own rigorous elephant standards that
far exceed those of AZA in many areas.
Compare them for yourself:
The Association of Sanctuaries
American Zoo and Aquarium Association
Furthermore, TES will not become AZA accredited because in order to do that, it would have to allow its elephants back into the zoo
system if the AZA demands it. Since TES takes in elephants for life, and since AZA-accredited zoos do not conform to the strict TAOS
standards of elephant care, it will not comply with that requirement. Furthermore, sanctuaries do not participate in the aggressive
breeding program of the AZA that is responsible for the common upheaval of elephants from their zoo herds.
TES is also licensed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA).
Phil Snyder, regional director emeritus of the Humane Society of the United
States, has stated "The Elephant Sanctuary represents the future of enlightened
captive elephant management."
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More space is not necessarily better.
In fact, it is. Elephants are migratory animals who normally walk many miles every day. Crippling arthritis
and foot infections are all too common among zoo elephants. This is caused by a lack of exercise and standing on hard surfaces for years.
Walking on natural and varied surfaces prevents these disorders.
Woodland Park Zoo offers only 1 acre of outdoor space for its elephants. It has
indoor concrete cells with rubber coating and outdoor packed sand yard, portions of which are often cut off
from the elephants at any given time. The vast majority of the elephants' time is spent in the small cells
of the elephant barn. During the summer months, they are now able to spend the night outdoors. For the rest of
the year, they get only a few hours of outdoor time per day during part of the zoo's open hours.
The Elephant Sanctuary is a 2700 acre facility. There is a 300 acre African elephant habitat, a 200 acre
Asian quarantine habitat, and 2200 acres for the remaining Asian elephants. They all have 24-hour access to hills, forest,
pastures, water holes, lakes, streams, and fresh vegetation that they can graze on throughout the day.
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Bamboo is very bonded with WPZ keepers and prefers people over elephants.
That may well be true, but according to a recent press release,
WPZ is not committed to her long-term care, stating, "Woodland Park will be
evaluating long-term options for Bamboo. 'We don’t have immediate plans, but we will evaluate other AZA-accredited zoos to identify a potential future home for
Bamboo,' said Woodland Park Deputy Director Bruce Bohmke. 'She may continue to live indefinitely at Woodland Park Zoo or, if we find a suitable zoo that serves
the best interest of Bamboo and another herd, we will consider that option.'"
Bamboo currently must be kept separated from one of the elephants at WPZ. Bamboo also does not fit into their elephant breeding program since she is
not trusted with elephant calves. WPZ does not have enough space to house Bamboo if new female elephants are added to the exhibit.
Just like when she was shipped to Tacoma, the Zoo is willing to break her bonds with staff and elephants again.
If she prefers people to elephants, The Elephant
Sanctuary is a much better choice than most zoos, with its on-site staff and round-the-clock care.
The staff at TES cater to the elephants' every need. In contrast, most zoos have no elephant handlers on staff at night.
Even during the day at WPZ and other zoos, it is very common to find no keepers anywhere near the elephant exhibit.
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Pacing, swaying, and head shaking is not abnormal behavior.
Bamboo, like many zoo elephants, sometimes displays what is known as stereotypic behavior. When she is under stress, she paces,
shakes her head, and sways. She exhibited this behavior almost constantly during her nine month stay at PDZA, as shown in our
video footage. The first documented episode of her repetitive pacing was at WPZ when Bamboo was
isolated in the shower room for weeks after Hansa's birth in 2001. Since her return to WPZ, this behavior has reemerged as
of December 2006.
Zoo officials will tell you that it is nothing more than a bad habit, similar to a child sucking her thumb.
This is not true. Wild elephants never exhibit such behavior. It is pervasive in abusive and confining
environments such as circuses and small habitat zoos.
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Bamboo is not aggressive.
Since 1986, which began a period of harsh training by a circus trainer and all-night chaining
of elephants at WPZ starting in 1989, 17 incidents of aggression have been recorded by Bamboo's keepers, beginning
with an attack against a keeper which broke his ribs. The
most recent was in March of 2005, just a few months before Bamboo's transfer to PDZA, when she pushed a keeper in the chest
with her trunk during a trunk washing exercise.
Bamboo has also shown aggression toward another elephant, according to the Zoo press release
announcing Bamboo's transfer to PDZA. In this release, a Zoo official stated, “Additionally, Bamboo occasionally has displayed aggressive behavior toward
Hansa and does not appear to have the skills necessary to safely play a constructive role within a herd with young calves.”
Aggressive behavior is often a result of abuse and close confinement. As with humans and other animals, it is a
sign of great distress. WPZ is unwilling to accept its role in causing Bamboo's aggression and is unwilling
to correct these mistakes by sending her to the best elephant facility in the country, The Elephant Sanctuary.
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The Elephant Sanctuary (TES) does not provide adequate veterinary care.
TES has a vet with ten years of elephant experience. Few zoos can make such a claim. TES has hired an on-site vet tech and a specialist, Dr. Susan Mikota,
overseeing the care of the Hawthorn who will be in quarantine for TB. They also have a team of
consultants which include vets from the San Francisco Zoo and Busch Gardens.
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Sanctuaries are not financially stable.
The Elephant Sanctuary is very stable. In fact, it is more stable than most zoos. A quick look at its
annual reports shows that The Elephant Sanctuary (TES) has
increased its net assets every year since at least 2002, meaning that income has greatly and consistently
exceeded expenses. WPZ does not even approach TES's level of financial stability.
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Sanctuaries do not participate in conservation and education programs.
Simply not true. Another glance at the annual reports shows that The Elephant Sanctuary (TES) participates
in many conservation and education programs such as Volunteer Day and Internships at TES, The Asian Elephant
Habitat Program, The Human-Elephant Conflict Project, The Captive Elephant Health Care Program, and The
Elephant Nature Park.
More importantly, TES educates and inspires the public while not compromising the health and happiness of
the individual elephants, which further teaches respect and compassion. The zoo cannot make such a claim.
As Joyce Poole recently said of zoo elephants, "Those creatures may look
like elephants, but they certainly aren't acting like elephants."
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