Leading Expert on Psychological Trauma in Elephants Releases Opinion on Jenny

[Guest guest]

For Immediate Release

LATE BREAKING NEWS

April 24, 2009

Contact: Margaret Morin, Founder Concerned Citizens for Jenny

972 578 0370 (home), 972 571 9603 (cell)

Interview Opportunity Available with Gay Bradshaw, PhD, Executive Director of The Kerulos Center, and the Environmental Science Graduate Programme, Oregon State University

 

Leading Expert on Psychological Trauma in Elephants Releases Opinion on Jenny

 

Along with the Dallas city-owned hotel, Jenny the elephant has also become a Dallas 2009 election issue. Several City Council candidates recently stated that they believe Jenny should be retired to The Elephant Sanctuary.

 

A

world-renowned authority on severe psychological trauma in elephants

has also weighed in. Gay Bradshaw, PhD, foremost expert on post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in elephants, has released her opinion on Jenny. Dr. Bradshaw is the author of numerous peer-reviewed scientific articles focusing on psychological trauma in elephants. Dr. Bradshaw holds doctorates in Ecology and Psychology and has published, taught, and lectured widely in these fields in the U.S. and internationally.

 

The complete text of Dr. Bradshaw’s written opinion will be available at and following:

 

Concerned Citizens for Jenny News Conference

Sunday, April 26, 2009, 2:15 PM

The Dallas Zoo on the lawn next to the Giraffe statue (if it is raining, meet under cover at Zoo’s front door)

 

A

licensed professional counselor experienced in treating PTSD in humans

will be available at the press conference to discuss this severe

psychiatric condition and answer questions about treatment.

 

The following are excerpts from Dr. Bradshaw’s expert opinion on Jenny released April 23, 2009:

 

“Based

on the study of medical records and reports and visual documentation,

aforementioned science, and decades of ethological research by experts

in the filed on elephants, it is my opinion that Jenny has sustained a

series of traumatic events. Given

the date of her capture, it is likely she was orphaned from a cull,

which means that she witnessed the violent death of family members, was

prematurely weaned, and endured transport, all of which are considered

to induce serious negative compromise of normative development of brain

and behavior. Since her orphaning she has been subjected to captive conditions that cause chronic stress due to the extreme differential from free-ranging conditions. The processes of capture, confinement, and compliance are brutal, life threatening experiences that cause severe pain and fear.

 

Jenny’s current and past symptoms, (i.e.,

inter- and intra-specific hyper-aggression, compromised physical and

mental health, self-injury, challenges in forming social bonds,

depression, stereotypy) are entirely consistent with a diagnosis of Complex PTSD. The sustained use of pharmaceuticals may be exacerbating her mental conditions and is contraindicated because of known deleterious effects when administered for prolonged periods.

 

In

light of her age and the severity of her symptoms, it is my

recommendation that Jenny be transferred to The Elephant Sanctuary in

Tennessee.â€

 

Among the reasons Dr. Bradshaw stated for her recommendation that Jenny be transferred are:

“The Sanctuary staff is very experienced in treating traumatized elephants with similar backgrounds and symptoms.The Sanctuary’s

success rate for attenuating, and, in many instances, functionally

eliminating symptoms is very high. The Sanctuary grounds and care

provide the emotional, physical, and psychological safety essential for

the first step in trauma recovery.â€

 

Dr. Bradshaw’s current scientific work includes The Elephant Post-Traumatic Stress Project studying the effects of trauma on elephants in captivity and researching efficacious treatments. “We are studying the effects of psychological trauma in individual elephant residents, in particular Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-induced conditions, along with methods of recovery,†says Dr. Bradshaw.

 

"There

are things about elephants that seem so similar to us. Their family

life, their emotional life, the fact that they grieve. They stand out

from other animals," said Gay Bradshaw. "To diagnose an elephant with

PTSD is novel, but that's because we have denied elephants the capacity

of having a mind, having emotions. All the neuroscience says, yes, it's

there, and the behavior confirms it," Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw and her colleagues published these findings in the highly respected, peer-reviewed journal Nature.

 

Elephants

in the close confinement captivity of zoos and circuses live in chronic

stress, deprivation, and pain even when direct physical punishment is

not employed. While culturally-engrained images of performing animals

and wildlife exhibits may evoke nostalgia and fascination in humans,

the experience of animals in captivity is far different. The

measure of elephant suffering can perhaps be best appreciated when we

take into account the radical differences between captivity and the

wild habitats to which they are ecologically and evolutionarily

adapted.

 

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Individuals

who have experienced severe enduring hardships, prolonged or multiple,

highly painful events, and/or who are unable to escape their

circumstances typically develop more complicated and enduring symptoms

referred to as Complex PTSD. Complex PTSD is characteristic of

individuals confined through physical force, intimidation, coercion,

enticement, or emotional control.

In

humans, this diagnosis is made often in the case of political

prisoners, children who are victims of abuse, and torture survivors.

The inability to exercise free will to eat, drink, move, socialize, or

engage in other activities (or not) according to one’s desired needs,

and being subjected to forcible domination and brutality, undermine

core psychobiological well-being. This is the very reason that physical

force and captivity are employed.

 

 

Zoos Cannot Meet Elephants’ Needs

In December, 2008, a peer-reviewed, statistically valid study in the renowned journal Science found that zoos may be the least safe place in the world for elephants. The

study of 4,500 elephants concluded that elephants in the wild live up

to three times longer than in zoos, even though elephants in zoos live

predator-free and receive regular veterinary care and a steady source

of food.

 

Even

in advance of this study, many of the world’s best funded and most

sophisticated zoos have been concluding they cannot properly care for

elephants. In 2004, the state-of-the-art Detroit Zoo made the voluntary decision to close its elephant exhibit and retire their elephants to a sanctuary. Detroit Zoo Director

Ron Kagan said that they came to the ethical conclusion that the zoo

could not meet the elephants’ social, physical, and environmental

needs. Eight other US Zoo have closed their elephant exhibits, as

well.

 

 

It is imperative that the Dallas Zoo and the City of Dallas do the right and responsible thing. They

must look beyond financial considerations, pride of ownership, long

held beliefs and personal attachments, and make the life-saving

decision for Jenny by sending her to The Elephant Sanctuary in

Tennessee.

 

In the May 9th voting, Dallas citizens may well be considering Jenny and they could be asking the question: In

today’s hard economic times when Dallas is in an unprecedented budget

crisis and the tax base is shrinking, isn’t it fiscally irresponsible

for the City of Dallas to spend $30-40 million tax dollars on an elephant exhibit that does not meet the needs of elephants?

 

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