Jenny in NY Times Article a 2nd Time. Cross Post Widely, Please.

[Guest guest]

Does Dallas ever tire of bad publicity? Guess not. Once upon a time, Dallas had pride. It wanted to put its best foot forward in the eyes of the world, but no more. It appears that the City of Dallas regards the Association of Zoos and Aquariums interests over its own and also over Jenny's. See today's NY Times article on Jenny (below). Please continue to telephone, fax and email Mayor Leppert and Dallas City Council urging them to retire Jenny to The Elephant Sanctary (TES) in Tennessee. At TES, she will receive much needed rehabilitation and have a vast amount of space in which to roam and the ability to select her own African elephant companion (s). Elephants in the wild walk 30 miles a day. Jenny is a ten thousand pound sentient being, who has been crammed into 1/3 of an acre

for 22 years, with no relief even possible in the zoo setting for at least 18 months to 2 years (probably much longer). Also, elephants in the wild live to around 70 years of age but in AZA zoos, their average life expectancy is 33-34 years (Jenny is 32). We must not let Jenny be short changed out of a long and happy life. Jenny could be running out of time. Please act today!For City of Dallas contact information, go to: www.concernedcitizensfordallas.netPlease don't stop contacting the Mayor and City Council until she sets foot in TES. Jenny needs you now, more than ever. Thank you. MargaretFounder, Concerned Citizens of Jenny

 

 

New York Times 21 August 2008 Distraught Elephant to Remain in Dallas By James C. McKinley, Jr.

Gavin Eastep feeds treats to Jenny, as Reanna Streater cools her with a spray of water. The African elephant who has lived at the Dallas Zoo for 22 years. The Dallas Zoo has decided to keep a troubled elephant named Jenny and build a larger exhibit for her after a public outcry over plans to send the animal to a wildlife park in Mexico . “We believe we have found a solution that benefits Jenny as well as the Dallas community,” the zoo’s executive director, Gregg Hudson, said Wednesday in a statement. “This plan serves Jenny’s best interests.” Mr. Hudson had planned to ship the 10,500-pound elephant, who has suffered from bouts of depression and panic attacks, to the Africam Safari Park in Puebla , Mexico , after her companion, Keke, died of heart disease in May. African elephants mourn their dead, and it was feared that Jenny might slip into a profound funk. But the plan led to a firestorm of criticism from local residents, lawmakers, animal-rights advocates and several elephant experts. These critics said the zoo in Puebla , with its cars, might trigger Jenny’s rages. They argued that she should be sent to a 2,700-acre sanctuary for traumatized circus and zoo elephants in Tennessee . That plan met stiff resistance from Dallas Zoo officials and a national umbrella organization that accredits zoos in North America -- the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Dallas Zoo officials argued that the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennnessee was not accredited by the zoo association and, consequently, would not provide Jenny with proper care, a claim the sanctuary denies. Facing irate citizens on one side and the zoo association on the other, Mr. Hudson found a compromise. He said he would speed up construction of a new 15-acre habitat for large African mammals -- elephants, giraffes, lions and warthogs -- and acquire a second elephant to give Jenny companionship. A four-acre parcel is to be completed within 18 months, officials said. In a recent interview, Jenny’s three keepers said she had adjusted better than had been expected to the loss of her companion and appeared to be in good health, physically and mentally. Still, some people who had advocated sending Jenny to Tennessee were disappointed. Councilwoman Angela Hunt of Dallas , who opposed the Mexico plan, said that she doubted the new exhibit would be completed on time and that she worried that Jenny, who at 32 is old for an elephant in captivity, might not live to see it. “Jenny’s old,” Ms. Hunt said. “She’ll spend her final years in a small cage, waiting for her new exhibit to be built as its construction is delayed for several years.”