I absolutely love animals: sometimes I feel that I’ve learned almost as much from animals as from human beings about how to live and conduct myself in the world. So a tip on the News page (thanks, WGIIA) about the recent passing of one of the three elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo has got me deeply saddened. Gita suffered from foot ailments, as apparently many captive elephants do. She’d undergone surgery earlier this year and was making what zookeepers believed was good progress toward recovery. But last Saturday they found her in her area lifeless, with her legs folded beneath her. She was 48 years old and had lived at the zoo since 1959.
The photo shows a priest from the Malibu Hindu Temple (lately of Britney Spears fame), Krishnama Samudrala Charyulu, giving prayers last Wednesday at a service for Gita (she was an Asian elephant) held at the entrance of the zoo. The service was the idea of activists who oppose keeping elephants in captivity and who have been waging a battle against the city of Los Angeles. Apparently Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa failed to veto a $50m improvement in the elephants’ lodgings. The activists believe elephants should be kept in wildlife sanctuaries, not zoos, which seems reasonable enough; so they actually exposed the expansion of the zoo exhibit on grounds that it would still be too small and that the city had more pressing needs for the money.
There seems to be some disagreement as to how the elephants are protected from foot ailments that stem from walking on hard surfaces. From the Los Angeles Times article:
But she also had become a symbol for impassioned animal rights activists who argued that her crippling problems were the result of treading on concrete surfaces in the zoo for years, and that she would never completely recover. (All the zoo’s elephants now pad around on soft dirt surfaces.)
And from the Last Chance for Animals press release:
It has become evident that the LA Zoo cannot provide the space, exercise or social enrichment needed to preserve the elephants’ health and well being. They are kept in woefully inadequate quarters and are forced to stand on hard surfaces such as concrete or hard-packed earth.
The organization says that only one elephant was on exhibit at the L.A. Zoo, while Gita and another were kept for two years in a “temporary” off-exhibit area with only one-tenth of an acre for the two of them. If so this is quite damning, as the Bronx Zoo in New York has three Asian elephants on two acres, and has decided to shut down the exhibit altogether once these elders pass away.
So why not support the $50 expansion which, according to LCA itself, will increase the elephant area to 3.5 acres? I understand the arguments against keeping elephants in zoos altogether, but zoos can be better or more poorly designed and run. Isn’t it somewhat inflexible to oppose the chance to improve the exhibit to state of the art standards, a process that a more accomodating activist group could even be invited to take part in?
Most of all, I go back to what I get from exposure to animals, which is perspective and a sense of peace. Many a time I’ve taken a personal “time out” at the zoo, just to be in the company of other species and get my head straight. So I see value in exposing people, especially children, to animals at close range. Taking animals away from city zoos and placing them in rural wildlife sanctuaries makes seeing them a much more complex and expensive project. It means that wealthier families will find it much easier to expose their children to animals, while poorer families — whose children often grow up in more precarious and violent settings, and can benefit from encounters will animals — will find it much more difficult. There’s something profoundly democratic in going to a city zoo and seeing the shared joy and wonder on the faces of children of all backgrounds. If we can really invest in giving zoos the space and resources to honor the animals’ needs, I think that is money well spent.
In the meantime, pour a little of your drink onto the ground in honor of Gita the pachyderm to help speed her in her transition to ancestry.
This is a very complicated issue.
While I see your viewpoint on the benefits for inner-city children, the idea of “confining” these magnificent creatures to significantly smaller spaces than their species are used to living in, is criminal…
I am divided on this but I mostly tend to agree with Hanuman1960. Animals shouldn’t have to suffer for our pleasure. Surely, there are other ways to get a sense of peace and perspective than confining these large creatures. I realize that there could be better ways to ‘confine’ them, but ultimately, they should be roaming free.
But I am also worried about that fundamental disconnect between humans and the natural world which arose with urbanization. I am not sure if zoos are the solution to that problem though.
It must have just been me, but I always found my trips to the zoo really tramatizing as a kid. It often felt like I was visiting inmates at a prison. Especially when I saw the tigers and lions and hippos. They all seemed so unhappy to me.
This is like Krishnama Samudrala Charyulu’s year of US Weekly and random celebrities — animal and otherwise.
sepia mutiny ko mera Lal Salaam !
I adore animals and I love zoos. Not the old-fashioned animals in cages kind, but many zoos are creating beautiful habitats for animals. Being around animals always brings me back to nature, and I will never forget seeing my first tiger, my first polar bear or peacock. If all zoos thought about their animals first, then I wouldn’t have mixed feelings.
the truth is, many zoos aren’t up to date and the bureacracy and tight budgets don’t allow the animals the space and the habitat they need. it’s sad. but I think most people who work at zoos–the zookeeper, curators, vets, etc–really do love animals. you can’t deal with that level of excrement and not!
Barmaid,
He is the priest at the Malibu Temple so it makes sense that he is media and celebrity savvy! But the majestic elephant deserves better treatment at zoos. One day in the future we will cringe at our ignorance just as we are now appalled at how tigers/lions/bears were penned in tiny cages in the past.
And even when attempts are made, it is hard to get the elephants motivated enough :
I doubt if an animal as large as an elephant can be kept successfully in a zoo for long durations.
Zoos should be banned! If a advanced/developed, relatively prosperous country can’t take care of its animals, just imagine what the state of other countries’ zoos are in. I still remember a white tiger pacing in a concrete cell in Hyderabad, India, where our school took us for a picnic. The cell was barely 10 ft x 10 ft and the animal kept pacing the entire item, with a look of absolute desperation. It’s tragic…
Zoos have a place in fostering love and a sense of connection with wild animals. I’m glad that there is a zoo in Honolulu; it’s a relatively humane zoo, and it was one of my daughter’s favorite excursions when she was young.
Would it be possible to combine a zoo and a wildlife refuge so that large animals needing a large range spent MOST of their time in the refuges and were occasionally transferred to the zoos for display? The refuge would have to have a large-ish troupe of animals so that a rotating sub-set could be on zoo display at all times. That’s what they do with office plants, I believe — put plants on display for a while and rotate them back to the nursery to recover.
IMO, there is absolutely no chance for a Zoo in an urban area to effectively create an appropriate habitat for wild animals that need lots of space. I have been to Zoos in at least three continents, and it is the same, pitiful, environment every where.
A tiger/lion/cheeta usually travels around 20-30 miles a night in search of food; it needs that kind of space to live comfortably.No zoo in the world can provide such a habitat. Wild Life sanctuaries are the only answer.
In case of elephants, they usually live in herds. And in most Zoos, the maximum number you can find is 6 elephants.
Like cows living in mechanized farms, elephants also go mad when they are confined to too little space.
However, some of the elephants /tigers may have grown used to the Zoo environment, and may not take to living in the wild immediately. They need to be acclimatized back into their natural habitat, through constant monitoring. Again, there may not be enough funds available with the Wild Life authorities to do this properly.
In some cases, these animals are born and bred in captivity. They have never known the jungle. May be only those animals should be kept in the Zoos, and the exhibits closed after they die eventually.
But yes, since childhood, I never missed an opportunity to go to a Zoo, and it has always been a mixed experience. On the one hand you feel so humble and learn so much from the animals.On the other hand, you get depressed about their lives in captivity.
Zoos, as they are now, make me sick. Poor, poor animals….
Speaking of hard concrete surfaces being bad for elephants’ feet makes me think of all those elephants and especially in recent years camels etc walking on those burning hard roads in North India.
By the way, thanks for a fantastic post.
I’m torn in my response to zoos. One part of me remembers how much I loved going to them as a child (still do) and feels they have such an important role to play in making children/people realize that this planet is not just for us &%$# human beings. On the other hand, yes, there are terrible cases of deprivation and cruelty leading to all sorts of abnormal physical and psychological trauma for the animals.
On the whole I guess I’d vote for keeping zoos BUT ONLY when they provide humane and ‘natural’ environments that cater to the needs of specific creatures.
I like San Diego Zoo — I don’t know too much about this particular zoo (as in its reputation in the animal rights world), but it seemed to me that they really do try to provide optimum spaces for the animals to the point where you don’t always get to see them 🙂 which is fine by me.
Also: there is a small zoo up near Sacramento that apparently has a good reputation EVEN with rights groups. Can’t remember the name but if anyone is interested I’ll look it up — I mean to go next time I’m up in Northern Cal.
Oh thats so sad to hear about the news of an old larger then life animal dying. I have so many mixed feelings about zoos. I’ve seen some really beautiful zoos and poorly kept ones as well. People in NYC often complain about how cruel NYKers are to dogs by keeping them in tiny confined apartments. My answer to that is always, they would be otherwise euthanized so the alternative is good. I have a cat who I love and who absolutely adores me. He lives a better life then most people so yeah he’s confined but he could have been otherwise dead.
So many animals are better taken care of and protected in zoos because human beings have encroached on their natural habitat and they belong to countries where poaching is a problem. I recently saw a wonderful movie called Duma about a Puma who was adopted by this little boy and who eventually returned the cat to the wild. It’s amazing to see animals in real life, whether in a zoo or interacting with humans. I am not really convinced that the love and adoration we experience in their presence is something I’d want to see go away. How many children really would get to see some of these animals in their natural habitat in their lifetime?
I once held a cub in my arms at a sancuary in northern Gujarat. The mother had been killed and the cub could have gotten killed by other males in the pride so it was being tended to in someones house. It looked up purred and licked my face. OMG it was the most exhilirating experience of my life. I want my kids to experience that. OK maybe not holding or touching a cub 🙂
JOAT,
I agree elephants, pumas, cats, cubs of all sorts are precious and special and deserving of our compassion…but does that not apply to minxs, ermine, foxes, nutria and other beautiful creatures we trap in utterly cruel ways and then use for their fur and fur trimming.
Why the sentimentality about some and utter callousness about others? Would you advocate elephant-hide shoes and cat-fur clothes?
I’m sorry Ms FN I don’t know what about my post above would lead you to ask….
JOAT, This is an interesting question at a philosophical and ethical level: how do we decide which animals it is okay for us to exploit/use and which protect/love. How do we decide it is okay to eat (and then perhaps use the skins) of some creatures…but can’t imagine doing the same to certain other creatures?
I brought this up because I remembered reading (with some surprise, I admit) on another thread that you like fur. That’s the connection and hence the question about cat fur (you clearly love cats) etc. Of course, perhaps I misunderstand and you DON’T support the use of fur — or only support the use of artificial fur, in which case I take the question back…although its an interesting question in any case.
Ms FN,
It’s very disappointing to say the least to come to SM, a site and it’s junta I hold to the highest regard, and get a reaction like this based on some catty emotional outburst from a third party. I doubt if those people that got on the “OMG you love fur” bandwagon really bothered to read my blog where there was a blurb about fur trimmed (and faux as well) jackets being trendy, so it’s a double whammy.
Some guy made some comment about how I was his usual favorite and now I’m not anymore. How terribly fickle. I hope that you, if you care that is, take the time to read it. In the grand scheme of things I think it’s a serious cheap shot to corner someone in an unrelated post about something they “may have said” on an entirely different site and ask them to justify it. Like the “other” post…it was a discussion about healthcare and some sad chick decided to go skim thru my site and comment on the first thing she thought would offend me. I had more intellectual fights when I was 13.
As for the ethical issues about animals. I’m not vegetarian. I may be 90% of the time but I love seafood so I couldn’t quite possibly have a discussion about the ethics of killing animals. Yes I love animals of almost all kinds but I sincerely don’t think about the feelings of any potential food when I’m eating it. I wouldn’t know how to sugarcoat it for you. A vast majority of people who jump on the “OMG you like fur” issue wear/use leather products and aren’t really vegetarian but its a good bandwagon to jump on I suppose.
We are all complex people with myriad viewpoints who sometimes contradict ourselves because life would be so terribly predictable if we were completely black and white. I generally prefer to accept people for the entire spectrum of their beliefs rather then dismiss them for one or two things I might disagree on. Life would be terribly lonely if I held a light up to every single belief I opposed in someone. It would be terrible disservice to otherwise normal and highly intelligent people I know.
Peace…