Alert! Jenny in DMN - Write LTE. Cross Post Please

[Guest guest]

I urge everyone who cares about Elephant Jenny to immediately write a brief Letter to the Editor of the Dallas Morning News regarding the story published Monday, July 21st (below). Please mention the story by name in your letter.Recommendations: In your own words, write what you believe to be true and in Jenny's best interest, but do not repeat the Zoo's P.O.V. in your letter in order to dispute it (we do not want to give the Zoo more print space). If you need background on Jenny, please visit:www.concernedcitizensforjenny.net or http://www.helpelephants.com/dallas_zoo.htmlDMN LTE Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/cgi-bin/lettertoed.cgiCCFJ is

holding a SAVE JENNY RALLY at Freeway entrance to the Zoo by the Giraffe statue on Sunday, July 27 from 1 to 2 PM, not a "protest." Jenny depends on everyone who cares about her to attend and show City Hall and the media that D/FW citizens does not want her transferred to a "drive-thru" tourist attraction in Mexico. If Jenny's Rally does not have a good turnout, it will harm Jenny's chances to retire to The Elephant Sanctuary in TN. Please don't let that happen. Thank you. Margaret MorinConcerned Citizens for JennyFor Rally Details, go to: www.concernedcitizensforjenny.netJoin: http://pets.concernedcitizensforjenny/Dallas Morning News Story Follows:http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/072208dnmetelephant.79e17570.htmlDebate heats up over new home for Dallas Zoo's lone elephant

05:23 PM CDT on Monday, July 21, 2008By JOANNA CATTANACH / The Dallas Morning News jcattanach

 

Fifteen minutes after KeKe

the African elephant died in May, the Dallas Zoo received its first fax

imploring that Jenny, her lone companion, be moved to an elephant

sanctuary.

 

When zoo officials announced a month later she was headed to a Mexican

zoo instead, Dallas joined a growing national debate about where

elephants belong. Now Jenny, a Dallas resident for 22

years, is in the center ring of a circus involving national

animal-rights groups, zoo experts and, increasingly, City Hall.

City Council member Angela Hunt drove 10 hours a week ago to The

Elephant Sanctuary, a sprawling facility in Tennessee favored by

activists that would end Jenny's days on display. It followed what Ms.

Hunt considered a disappointing trip to the Africam Safari Park, which

Dallas Zoo officials have picked as Jenny's home come fall.

"It's just an exceptional place," Ms. Hunt said of the sanctuary. "I

hope that we can persuade the staff members at our zoo."

But most council members, including those who have visited Africam �

considered among the top zoos in Latin America � say they support the

decision from the Dallas Zoo, which is owned by the city. Also Online Tell Us: Should elephants be in zoos? Steve Blow: Angela Hunt meddles in debate over elephant Video: See Angela Hunt's footage from her visit to Africam Safari Park. Africam, about 80 miles southeast of Mexico City, is a family-run driving zoo home to about 1,500 animals.

"We don't need to get involved," council member Steve Salazar said. "We

need to let the zoo do what it's doing and get back to the business of

the city." The Elephant Sanctuary stretches over 2,700

rolling acres of the Tennessee hill country, about 85 miles south of

Nashville. Funded through private donations, it is the nation's largest

natural-habitat refuge. The sanctuary is home to 17

female elephants, including seven Asian elephants that share a combined

2,200 acres. Seven additional elephants are quarantined for health

reasons on 200 acres. Three African elephants share 300 acres. Many of the elephants have come from circuses and zoos.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, In Defense of Animals, and

Concerned Citizens for Jenny all want Dallas' sole elephant to retire

to the sanctuary. PETA and IDA have made similar requests of zoos and

city councils in other cities. Concerned Citizens for

Jenny will protest from 1-2 p.m. Sunday outside the Dallas Zoo. They

are advocating that Jenny be moved to The Elephant Sanctuary � a move

supported by PETA and Ms. Hunt. Ms. Hunt said she was impressed by how much larger the sanctuary is compared to Africam. "It's simply incomparable," Ms. Hunt said.

She said the Africam elephants were swaying, an indication of

"depression in elephants, loneliness and frustration." Africam�s director Amy Camacho said today she doesn�t agree with Ms. Hunt�s assessment.

�They do sway from side to side depending on many things,� Ms. Camacho

said. �These animals are not stressed at all. They�re happy.� The Elephant Sanctuary's co-founder, Carol Buckley, said she has heard that Africam is a nice facility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"That doesn't mean it's a

nice place for elephants," she told Ms. Hunt as they walked through the

sanctuary. Three African elephants played in the distance, their muddy

figures barely visible through the Loblolly pines. "We're the best

place for her." But Dallas Zoo director Greg Hudson said

the sanctuary lacks an important distinction: accreditation by the

Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The agency sets standards on

elephant welfare and management. But Ms. Buckley said

it's the AZA that does not meet the sanctuary's standards and that the

sanctuary has not sought to be accredited. The AZA does not support placing Jenny at the sanctuary.

"Putting elephants where they can't be seen by the public, where they

can't contribute to the cause of conservation, is something we don't

prefer," AZA spokesman Steve Feldman said. "If you love Jenny, if you love elephants, this is the right move for her," he said of Africam Safari Park.

Africam doesn't have an African elephant yet, but it is expected to

acquire one before Jenny arrives. Jenny won't be transferred there

without having a companion, which is an AZA requirement because

elephants are herding animals that need companionship with their own

species. Ms. Camacho said the zoo is in the process of

working on the 4.9 acre elephant enclosure Jenny will share with

another female African elephant. There are currently three Asian

elephants�one male, two females� at the site. �We know that this will be a good place for her,� said Ms. Camacho.

Mr. Hudson said the Dallas Zoo picked Africam for Jenny because of its

AZA accreditation, financial stability, onsite veterinary care,

nutrition practices, and behavioral enrichment. Their zookeepers handle

animals similarly. Africam is also among a limited number of zoos

available to take Jenny, he said, because it doesn't have ongoing

construction projects. Cost was not a factor in the

decision, he said. Neither money nor animals would be exchanged between

any of the facilities. City Council members have been

bombarded with e-mails urging them not to send Jenny to Mexico. But

many members appear set to follow the zoo's recommendation Mr. Salazar, who visited Africam in June, supported the move in a memo to colleagues.

"It's 10 times better, because they have a lot more space, and the

climate is always going to be pretty temperate," he said last week.

Jenny now has less than a quarter acre of space. He also likes that she will be considered to be on loan. "At Africam, there's hope that she'll be coming back to Dallas," he said. Mr. Salazar says he's spoken to officials in Tennessee and researched the sanctuary.

"It's a good location, but they have different purposes," he said.

Elephants go there for rehabilitation and live out their lives, he

said. Jenny, who is 32, should remain in public view, he

said. "I don't think Jenny at her age is ready to live out her days

just yet." (The average life expectancy for a captive African elephant

is 33 years, according to the AZA.) Council member Ron

Natinsky said it will take more information than Ms. Hunt is likely to

provide to change his decision that Jenny should go to Mexico.

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway said the Dallas Zoo is in charge of

where Jenny goes. "We are micromanaging them when we circumvent the

process they have recommended," he said. Mayor Tom Leppert has confidence in the zoo director's decision, said Chief of Staff Chris Heinbaugh.

This week, Mr. Hudson and a Dallas Zoo staff member will visit the

Africam Safari Park to begin the moving process. If the zoo doesn't

live up to expectations, they will consider another location, he said.

Despite his concerns about accreditation, Mr. Hudson visited the

sanctuary last week. He declined to comment about the visit. A Dallas

Zoo spokeswoman said plans to send Jenny to Mexico have not changed.

Ms. Hunt said she plans to send a memo in support of the sanctuary to

City Hall colleagues this week. Concerned Citizens for Jenny plan to

protest the Mexico move Sunday. After Jenny leaves

Dallas, the elephant exhibit will be converted into an expanded giraffe

habitat. An African savannah exhibit, a multi-million-dollar, 15-acre

expansion big enough for elephants, is expected to be complete in about

three years. Elephants will be in the zoo's future, Mr. Hudson said. So will Jenny, even if she never returns to Dallas.

"We've got a responsibility to this animal beyond this move, and we'll

have a continuing relationship with this animal until the day it dies."

Staff writer Rudolph Bush contributed to this report.