Writing Alert: Elephant breeding under fire

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Writing Alert: Elephant breeding under

fire The Seattle Post-Intelligencer published an article about a report IDA issued on the deadly elephant herpes virus. Please write a letter to the editor supporting IDA's call for an end to breeding of Asian elephants at affected zoos, as well as for severe restrictions on the transfer of elephants between facilities. Send letters to The Seattle

Post-Intelligencer at editpage. Read "Elephant breeding under fire" online. Elephant breeding under fire Risk to baby too high, activists tell zoo leaders Last updated December 4, 2007 By KATHY MULADY P-I REPORTER Animal rights activists called Woodland Park Zoo's elephant breeding program "reckless" and "irresponsible," and demanded Tuesday that zoo leaders abandon plans to artificially inseminate an elephant next month. The group wants to stop the insemination of Chai until a treatment or cure is found for herpes, the virus that killed the elephant's 6-year-old offspring, Hansa, in June. "It is just common sense. You have a contaminated facility. There is a very, very good chance you will have another death," Catherine Doyle from In Defense of Animals told zoo board members. "It is unconscionable for the zoo to risk subjecting another young elephant

to this fatal disease and putting Chai through the anguish of watching another baby die a terrible death." The activists also are asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service not to extend a permit to the zoo that allows it to import the semen from Canada. "It is a lethal combination. They are playing Russian roulette with the offspring," Doyle said. Woodland Park zookeepers are hoping to inseminate Chai, 29, an Asian elephant, next month with sperm from an Asian bull elephant named Rex that lives at African Lion Safari in Ontario, Canada. Two elephants have died from elephant herpesvirus there. It would be the fifth insemination attempt since Hansa was born in November 2000. "Do whatever you can to stop this," Doyle urged board members attending their regular monthly meeting. Zoo leaders responded swiftly Tuesday, noting that they are committed to the elephant breeding program, and have seen no scientific evidence that has persuaded them to change their plans. "There is always a risk in everything," Deputy Director Bruce Bohmke said. "If you have one death, that doesn't make it more likely that you will have another." While the activists accused the zoo of wanting another baby elephant to attract more visitors and increase revenue, Bohmke said breeding programs are important to give zoo visitors an appreciation for the animals, teach

them about their endangered environments and motivate them to donate to conservation efforts. "The idea of not breeding elephants doesn't make sense. Let's work on the problem. The only way we can answer these questions is through breeding and research," Bohmke said. Nancy Hawkes, Woodland Park general curator, said the herpes virus is never found in semen, which is tested before use. She said there has never been a correlation made between one herpes death at a zoo and a second death. The highly fatal Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus has caused more than 20 percent of the elephant deaths in North America in the past two decades. "That is the problem. We want to be part of the solution," Hawkes said.

Hansa was the first elephant born in Washington. After years of unsuccessful artificial insemination, she was conceived after her mother, Chai, was sent to Dickerson Park Zoo in Missouri to mate with an elephant named Onyx. Hansa started looking sick less than two weeks before she died. Zoo officials sent blood and fecal samples to laboratories hoping to find the cause of her illness. Weeks after the elephant's death, it was confirmed the herpes virus was the cause, but it was a version of the virus that hadn't been seen before and wasn't recognized in earlier tests. Animal activists draw a link between elephants that have visited the Missouri zoo and the virus. "Elephants who spent time at Dickerson Park Zoo were potentially at risk of becoming (virus) carriers," according to the In Defense of Animals report given to zoo board members. But Laura Richman, a veterinary pathologist at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., a leading expert on elephant herpes virus, uncovered the strain that killed Hansa. Although it was unknown by scientists, it has been in elephant populations for millions of years, she said. The virus can't be detected in healthy elephants, only when they get sick. "Hansa would have gotten it from another elephant," Richman said. Hansa had not left Woodland Park Zoo since she was born, which suggests the virus was passed from

one of the zoo's other elephants, either her mother, Chai, or Watoto or Bamboo. Richman said there is no way to know if another baby elephant at Woodland Park would die from the virus. "We don't know why one animal gets sick and not another, that is why we are studying it," Richman said. "They are exposed to the same secretions, the same elephants." Richman said she encourages the zoo to continue its breeding program. "Their program is no different than breeding in the wild," she said. "Even In Defense of Animals would support keeping the elephant population on Earth. If they want breeding to halt in zoos because of the virus, it

means they support stopping breeding in the wild too, because this virus also occurs in the wild." P-I reporter Kathy Mulady can be reached at 206-448-8029 or kathymulady. 1998-2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer Visit www.helpelephantsinzoos.org for more information and to read the report. Letters should be less than 2000 words. Please do not send attachments and remember to include your full name, address, and phone number (for verification purposes--street names and phone numbers will not be published) and not to use any wording in this alert. If your letter is published, let us know.

This message was sent to dogs_good. If you'd like to receive alerts that only apply to your interests or geographical location please update your personal profile. If you would no longer like to receive messages of this type you can here. In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization with more than 85,000 members and supporters dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by protecting their rights and welfare. IDA's efforts include educational events, cruelty investigations, boycotts, grassroots activism, and hands-on rescue through our sanctuaries in Mississippi and Cameroon, Africa. In Defense of Animals 3010 Kerner Blvd., San Rafael, California 94901 - P: (415)

388-9641 F: (415) 388-0388 email: idainfo

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