DATE: December 12, 2008
Zoos Kill Elephants, New Scientific Study Confirms
Scientific evidence validates animal advocates push to permanently close Philadelphia Zoo elephant exhibit, send elephants to sanctuary
Philadelphia, Penn. . . . In Defense of Animals (IDA) and Philadelphia-based Friends of Philly Zoo elephants are calling on the Philadelphia Zoo to heed a landmark scientific study published today that provides empirical evidence that elephants suffer and die prematurely in zoos. The two organizations are calling on Zoo Director Vik Dewan to cancel plans to transfer the two Philly elephants to a breeding facility and to instead send them to the spacious sanctuary in California which has offered to take them at no charge to the City or Zoo.
“Zoos can no longer ignore the mounting scientific evidence of the devastating effects of captivity on elephants,” said Suzanne Roy, IDA Program Director. “It’s absurd for zoos to claim that they’re saving these endangered animals when they’re actually killing them decades before their natural time.”
“This new study confirms the dangers associated with keeping elephants in zoos and supports our call for the Philadelphia Zoo to transfer Kallie and Bette immediately,” said Marianne Bessey of Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants. “PAWS Sanctuary in California offered two years ago to take the Philly elephants, yet Mr. Dewan has refused and instead has chosen to confine them to what the Zoo has acknowledged as inadequate conditions here in Philadelphia.”
The Science article, entitled “Compromised Survivorship in Zoo Elephants,” reports on a survey of 4,500 elephants and concludes that zoos drastically shorten adult lifespans in both African and Asian elephants. Asian elephants in European zoos had a median lifespan of just 18.9 years compared to 41.7 years for wild elephants in an Asian logging camp. African elephants’ median lifespan was 16.9 years, compared to 56.0 years for free-ranging elephants in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park.
Although the Science study focuses on elephants in European zoos, previous studies have shown that those elephants live longer than their North American counterparts.
IDA has long maintained that zoos are failing to meet the physical and psychological needs of elephants, causing a range of zoo-induced health problems and early death. Using public records laws, IDA has obtained veterinary records for elephants at more than 40 U.S. zoos. In an analysis of these records submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in December 2006, IDA reported that 62 percent of elephants suffered from painful foot ailments and 42 percent suffered from joint disorders. The analysis also revealed high rates of behavioral problems, birth complications and reproductive disorders. Separate data indicate additional problems such as high infant mortality and maternal death rates
IDA has filed a Citizens Petition with the USDA charging that zoos are violating the federal Animal Welfare Act by failing to provide adequate conditions for elephants. The petition was published in the Federal Register and the USDA received over 2,500 comments in response.
For more information, see www.helpelephants.com
# # #
