Who Belongs in the Zoo?

The current, June 19, edition of Time Magazine has a thoughtful piece headed, "Who Belongs in the Zoo?; It may be that some animals just can't be kept humanely in captivity. Zoos may have to reinvent themselves once again." (Pg 50) (Note the use of the word "who" in the title -- a play on words of the popular song but also a welcome shift from traditional language, which tends to refer to members of other species as if they are objects rather than beings.)

The piece opens:

"Standing alone in a small enclosure, a 21-year-old Asian bull elephant named Billy seems oblivious to the two dozen schoolchildren who press against a chain-link fence to get a closer look. He bobs his massive head up and down and transfers his considerable weight from one side to the other. His trunk unfurls toward the blue plastic cylinder that has been provided for him to play with. Occasionally Billy lumbers over to another part of the yard--his massive gray body, wrinkled skin and billowy, fanlike ears intimidating yet at the same time irresistible. Some of the kids have never been this close to a real, live elephant, and their gasps and laughter convey the consensus: he's cool!

"But to animal-rights activists, animal-behavior experts and even some zoo officials, Billy's situation is very uncool. In the wild, elephants roam as much as 30 miles a day, snacking on lush foliage, bathing in water holes and interacting socially with other elephants in groups of up to 20. At the Los Angeles Zoo, Billy has had just under an acre on which to roam. After a $39 million upgrade scheduled for completion in 2009, he will share 3.7 acres (about three football fields) with two companions.

"That's generous by today's standards, but critics say it's still too little to give an elephant adequate exercise. Living in such confinement, elephants are prone to arthritis, foot problems and even premature death. Billy's head bobbing, they contend, is typical of elephants in distress and probably results from an inadequate physical environment. 'I've come to the conclusion after many years that it is simply not possible for zoos to meet the needs of elephants, asserts David Hancocks, an outspoken zoo consultant and former director of the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle.

"He's not alone. Over the past five years, major zoos across the country--San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, the Bronx Zoo in New York City--have quietly made the decision to stop exhibiting elephants altogether, some as soon as they can find homes for the animals and others after the deaths of the ones they have."

The article discusses the replacement, in modern zoos, of traditional concrete and steel cages with enclosures surrounded by moats or ramparts. But it then quotes Hancock who suggests the changes only enhance the visitors' experience:
"From the animals' point of view they are not better than they were when they were in cages. It's all done for theatrics."

It discusses the effect, on elephants, of winters in climates that are inhospitable to them; they spend months standing on concrete in heated barns.

The article suggests that some animals do better than others in captivity -- those who would naturally spend their days exploring many acres or running for miles across an African savannah fare the worst.

You will find the whole article on line at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1202920,00.html
It is well worth reading. And please send an appreciative letter to the editor, against holding other animals captive for human entertainment, to letters [at] time.com

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.


(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. If you forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)