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Zoo protest over Thai elephants

Published on Mar 22, 2004

SYDNEY - Animal rights activists - wearing striped prison outfits and elephant masks, with signs reading "Taronga Zoo, Australian Shame" - protested in front of a Sydney zoo yesterday against the planned import of elephants from Thailand.

A statement distributed by Animal Liberation (NSW), the Greens political party and World League for the Protection of Animals claimed that state and federal governments have spent over A$40 million (Bt1.2 billion) to purchase, transport and house six baby elephants from the Thai government in exchange for native Australian wildlife.

The elephants will be housed at Taronga Zoo in Sydney and Melbourne Zoo.

The activists claim the elephants were tortured and beaten in Thailand, and will face a lonely life in Australia away from their natural habitat and families.

"Even if Taronga Zoo gave up all its land to those elephants, it still wouldn't be able to meet their behavioural needs," said Siobhan O'Sullivan, Animal Liberation's campaign coordinator.

The activists voiced their concerns that once the elephants arrive in Australia, they will be confined to barren, enclosures nothing like their home in the wild. They are afraid that the elephants will never have the opportunity to express their natural instinctive behaviours, such as travelling large distances and raising their young in a large matriarchal family group.

"The state government is committing taxpayers to large ongoing maintenance costs for animals who belong in the jungle, not the zoo's small prison cells," O'Sullivan said.

"If the government wants to help elephants in Thailand it should be contributing this same sum of millions of dollars to expand elephant sanctuaries over there and assist educational programmes to prevent abuse - not break up elephant families," she said.

William Meikle, general manager at the Taronga Zoo, said he hadn't seen any evidence that the animals were tortured.

"We're an animal welfare agency ourselves," he said. "We would not support or condone that sort of treatment of elephants."

Meanwhile in Thailand, Sorida Salvala, founder and secretary general of the Friends of Asian Elephant Foundation, said she has heard about the programme to export elephants to Australia and totally opposed it.

"I don't understand why the three agencies allowed our elephants to be housed in foreign countries. I have seen many times that our elephants were transported to other countries, [and] some died on the way," she said.

Sorida said eight of 10 elephants being transported to China last year had died on the way there. Cross-border transportation of elephants must be approved by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, the Tourism Authority and Department of Foreign Trade.

The Nation, AP

Protesters take aim at zoo's 'tortured' elephant imports

By Clarissa Bye
March 21, 2004
The Sun-Herald

Taronga Zoo has run into a storm of controversy over its plan to import nine elephants from Thailand , with a protest being planned for today.

Animal rights groups have joined forces to stage a demonstration in front of the zoo, arguing the animals have already been subjected to unnecessary cruelty and "broken in" with beatings and torture before arriving in Australia .

Raymond Shelley, the man who trained one of the zoo's current female Asian elephants, Burma , said the zoo shouldn't import more elephants.

Mr Shelley, who worked for Bullen Brothers from 1961 to 1964, helped keep and train Burma during the initial stages of her circus life.

He said he was shocked by the "unnecessary cruelty" of a sharp hook used on Burma 's vulnerable spots to make her move in a particular direction.

"I have nothing against elephants being in a zoo, so long as we come to terms in a completely honest way that their needs are met - elephants need lots of space," Mr Shelley said.

"The entire space of Taronga Zoo itself is not large enough for two elephants."

Upper house MLC Lee Rhiannon - herself a former zookeeper at Taronga - said she would join protesters in calling on the zoo to drop the plan.

"To domesticate baby elephants in Thailand , they are tortured for days to crush their spirits and ensure they will obey human commands," Ms Rhiannon said.

The zoo has just announced plans to introduce a captive breeding program, importing one male and eight female elephants from Thailand into its new $40 million, 2000 square-metre rainforest enclosure.

The zoo has two elephants, Burma and a male called Heman. The Asiatic elephant is classed as endangered, with a surviving population of only 34,000 to 54,000, the zoo estimates, which is only a tenth of the size of the African elephant population.

Animal rights activists argue no Asian elephants have been bred successfully in captivity in Australia .

Animal Liberation, the World League for the Protection of Animals and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will join forces to hold the protest at 11.30am .