Owner says Mexican zoo 'good option' for Jenny

July 28, 2008

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Story: Owner says Mexican zoo 'good option' for Jenny

06:34 AM CDT on Monday, July 28, 2008

BY LAURENCE ILIFF / The Dallas Morning News

PUEBLA, Mexico -- Who wouldn't want to live in semiretirement in the Mexican countryside, surrounded by a lake and trees, cared for 24/7, with a custom-built home and new friends?

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That's what the owner of Africam Safari is asking those who oppose the Dallas Zoo's plan to move Jenny the elephant to a 500-acre animal park in the central Mexican state of Puebla.

"We are not intimidated by this," said Amy Camacho, whose late father opened the drive-through zoo 36 years ago. "We are sure we are a very good option."

Although Ms. Camacho did expect an animated debate on whether Jenny should be moved to the Puebla park or an elephant refuge in Tennessee, she did not expect attacks to be aimed at Africam.

"We are used to being recognized and deeply loved in Mexico, so we are a little surprised," she said during an interview at the sprawling site 80 miles southeast of Mexico City.

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Critics, led by Dallas City Council member Angela Hunt, have said Mexico does not have the same animal welfare standards as the United States. Some also have raised concern about construction and the cars traveling through Africam.

Africam, Ms. Camacho said, exceeds U.S. and international regulations on the treatment of animals. She said Jenny would have 25 times the minimum space required for an elephant by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, of which the park is a member.

JIM MAHONEY/DMN Jenny, a 9,000-pound female elephant was out of her quarters and available for viewing for the first time since KeKe, the zoo's oldest elephant died. View larger Photography Photo store

At Africam, the elephant would be housed on about five acres with some privacy, Ms. Camacho said. On a recent visit, only two of the park's three Asian elephants were visible; the other had moved out of sight.

Park patrons are not allowed to get out of their cars or feed the animals.

Supporters of the other site, the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, have said Jenny should be liberated from being on public display and allowed to meander along 2,700 acres dedicated to the 17 female elephants there so far.

Ms. Camacho, Africam's director, is scheduled to meet Tuesday with Dallas Zoo director Gregg Hudson. A Friday meeting was canceled because of bad weather.

Opposition to Jenny's move to the Puebla zoo by animal rights groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has not stopped those preparations, said Dallas Zoo spokeswoman Susan Eckert.

Africam, she said, "is our first choice."

The Mexican park, which has about 2,000-acres overall, has long had plans for an African elephant exhibit. Ms. Camacho said she recently returned from a safari in South Africa as part of her own ongoing interest in the species' current plight in the wild.

But opponents have said there are signs the three Asian elephants at Africam are in distress.

Ms. Hunt visited Africam earlier this month and took a video that shows them swaying back and forth -- an indication of "depression in elephants, loneliness and frustration," she said.

Ms. Camacho said many things cause elephants to sway, including the construction work to expand the current site for Jenny. That makes them "a little bit curious and a little bit nervous."

"We have many other proofs that these elephants are not under stress," she said. "We take blood from them periodically to analyze the hormone levels, to see if there is a sign of stress, which there is not."

The construction would be completed before Jenny arrives. An African elephant companion for her is being brought in from an animal park in Cuernavaca, just south of Mexico City.

Gustavo Larios, head of the Mexican Association for Animal Rights, said his group is opposed to zoos in general but not Africam in particular. Animals should be free, he said, but if they are held it should be in the best conditions possible.

He did not say whether he thinks Africam or the sanctuary would be better.

The Puebla animal park is set along rolling green hills near a small community once popular among American retirees. Park veterinarians and other staff live there in order to be near the animals.

Ms. Camacho and her family have a home on the park grounds, which also has giraffes, tigers and monkeys.

She said Jenny would have more space and more care in Puebla than at the Dallas Zoo -- which she said did a great job taking care of the African elephant for the past 22 years.

"We receive around 1 million visitors per year. We have 300 workers and in the high season, we have 500 employees," she said. "This is a private organization that does very well, so we are sure we can give the best care."

Ms. Camacho described Africam Safari as "a leader as a conservation park, not only in Latin America but one of the best places in the world to be able to be in contact with nature."