24 May 2011

Auckland Zoo Proposal a Cruel ‘White Elephant’

Auckland City Council will decide the fate of three Asian elephants tomorrow. After two years of debate and controversy the Auckland City Council is expected to make a crucial decision whether to allow Auckland Zoo to house more elephants.

New Zealand’s leading animal advocates from SAFE, WSPA and the RNZSPCA are unanimous in their concern for the welfare of the elephants. SAFE says Auckland Zoo’s proposal to have an elephant herd is not feasible and more likely to be a cruel ‘white elephant’.

The Auckland mayor has received a second letter from a highly respected consortium of the world’s leading elephant experts. They remain highly critical of Auckland Zoo’s proposal to import two Asian elephants from Sri Lanka to join Burma, the zoo’s remaining elephant.

An extract of the letter dated 20 May to the mayor and councillors, reads:

“After lengthy and careful consideration, we are convinced that removing elephants from Sri Lanka at this time, whatever the motives, is not helpful in any way to securing better outcomes for elephants in that island nation. The sense, in much of Asia, that elephants can be treated as livestock, as commodities, works actively against efforts to promote elephant welfare and conservation. On these grounds alone we urge the council not to support Auckland Zoo’s plans. Furthermore, the importation of young elephants, whether from the wild or captive born, must inevitably involve the breaking of social bonds with family and peers. Such social disruption is highly damaging for elephants, causing them lasting trauma.” SAFE campaign director, Eliot Pryor, says Auckland Zoo’s persistence in trying to develop an elephant herd is likely to result only in expense and serious animal welfare problems.

“While initial costs for transport and quarantine are expected to be $3.2 million, Auckland Zoo admits ongoing costs to be over $9 million over eight years. Spending millions of dollars to keep three elephants captive is ludicrous, particularly when you consider that the entire nation just raised $2.5 million in a telethon to aid those in Christchurch without even homes,” says Mr Pryor.

Bridget Vercoe, New Zealand country manager for the World Society for the Protection of Animals, says “Auckland Zoo’s plans are at odds with the thinking in leading zoos around the world which are increasingly moving away from keeping elephants on welfare grounds. Despite assertions to the contrary, the breeding programme proposed for Auckland Zoo is not linked to any valid conservation programme and probably for very good reason. Elephants born and bred in zoos cannot be and never are released back into the wild. Any elephant born at Auckland Zoo will remain in captivity its entire life,” she says.

New Zealand’s animal welfare organisations are delighted to have international support, but were surprised that Auckland Zoo has attempted to label the consortium of highly-respected elephant experts as ‘activists’ in correspondence with the Auckland Council.

Australian-based zoological consultant, Peter Stroud, says it is important to note that critics of Auckland Zoo’s elephant import proposal include Dr Cynthia Moss, Dr Joyce Poole and Dr Keith Lindsay.

“These people are not ‘activists’; they are amongst the world’s leading elephant scientists. These people know more about elephants than anyone else in the world. Their views do not reflect ideological or merely philosophical standpoints; they are based on scientific assessment of the capabilities and the needs of elephants,” he says.

ENDS

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