Protest over elephants greets zoo's 150th birthday
Friday, March 20th, 2009
By: Shai Ben-Yaacov
sben-yaacov@whyy.org
As the Philadelphia Zoo kicks off its 150th year, activists seeking improved conditions for the zoo's two remaining elephants are speaking out. Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants will rally outside the zoo on Saturday as staff and guests celebrate the sesquicentennial of the nation's oldest zoo.
Transcript:
The zoo plans to move its two African elephants, Kallie and Bette, to a sanctuary in central Pennsylvania.
But Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants organizer Marianne Bessey says the facility doesn't provide sufficient space and uses antiquated, painful controlling devices.
Bessey: "The conditions there for the elephants are actually not going to be much different than what they have right here in Philadelphia in that they'll still be controlled by bullhooks, and they'll still spend most of their time in a cement barn."
Zoo officials say the 742-acre facility is appropriate for the two African elephants. Persistent objection to the elephants' cramped quarters led the zoo to find sanctuaries for their elephants in 2005. The zoo's Asian elephant, Dulary, is now in a sanctuary in Tennessee.
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The inhumane tratment of these animals by the Philadelphia Zoo is unacceptable. A zoo has a special responsibility to an animal when it obtains this animal for the purpose of entertaining it's visitors. If the Philly Zoo cannot provide for this care at its facility, then it needs to find a true sanctuary for these animals where they can live out there lives in peace and security.
I was there protesting!
The zoo wants to send them to a breeding facility where, msot likely, they will not make it because they are too old. They will be beaten with bullhooks and will not have area to roam. Is that fair?
We are in full support of moving Kallie and Bette to either of two sanctuaries, PAWS in California, or The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. The public must fully understand that the Philadelphia Zoo is misrepresenting the Pittsburgh, PA facility…it is NOT a sanctuary, but a breeding facility.
Dulary (former Philly elephant) was fortunate enough to be sent to the Elephant Sanctuary in TN. Sadly, the place where the Philly zoo plans to send the two Philly elephants is a PA breeding center … not a sanctuary. NOTE:
A Sanctuary (1) provides a FOREVER home (2) does NOT use pain-inflicting devices such as bullhooks/ankus (which are used at the PA breeding center) and (3) provides the elephants with FREE ACCESS to hundreds of acres (meaning the elephants can go in and out whenever they like; at the breeding facility the elephants will only have access to large spaces accompanied by a keeper with a bullhook – a device that resembles a fireplace poker).
Let's send the elephants to the SANCTUARY – not the Pittsburgh Zoo's breeding facility. Shame on the Philly Zoo for lying to the public by calling te breeding facility a sanctuary.
I am opposed to this celebration that confines the elephant in such unacceptable place.
Thanks
Why can't Kallie and Bette go to a more temperate climate (like Tennessee), where they could spend more time outdoors and have more room to roam?
Why move the elephants to a place that's no better than the zoo? What is the reason for not placing them in the Tennessee facility?
Once again, a stop-gap or band-aid solution is no better than the status quo.