BENGAL ELEPHANTS DESTINED FOR OKINAWA ZOO

[Guest guest]

Dear AAPN members,

Many of you have written to me

voicing your concern over a proposed deal to send elephants from

Kolkata to a zoo in Okinawa. I appreciate your concerns but must admit

that I do not know much about the issue apart from the report that

appeared in the Times Of India newspaper on 30th January in the

Kolkata edition which I have attached. I find the Bharal segment as

concerning as the elephants since Bharal(Blue Sheep) are very rare in

captivity(rare in the wild as well) and capturing or transporting them

over large distances for a captive breeding programme can be described

as questionable at best. There was a single animal in Darjeeling Zoo

and I was unaware that there could be surplus Bharal in Okinawa. The

Oxford University study by Georgia Mason and Ros Clubb cogently

establishes that elephants are not good candidates for captivity so

the conservation argument seems a trifle dubious. Even London Zoo, the

British bastion of the zoo industry, does not keep elephants any more.

Candidly, I don't know what enquiries from offficials would would

reveal. Mighty ones on Mount Olympus generally maintain an ostensibly

dignified silence when it comes to courting controversy.

Best wishes and kind regards,

 

Sincerely yours,

 

 

 

January 30, 2006, Times Of India, Kolkata Edition, TIMES CITY, page three

 

Japan zoo address for Bengal jumbos

By Swati Sengupta

 

Kolkata - Two elephants from West Bengal would be off to the Okinawa zoo

in South Japan, and some animals from that zoo would find an address

at Darjeeling Zoo very soon in an animal exchange programme.

The state government might get either red panda or Himalayan blue

sheep or Himalayan Tahr from Japan in return - the three options given

to the government of West Bengal by the Japanese zoo authorities.

Senior officials of the state forest department have already started

discussions on this exchange programme with the Okinawan Zoo of Japan

and senior offcials of the Central Zoo Authority(CZA).

Ujjal Mukherjee, chief conservator of forests(wildlife) of West

Bengal, said : " Two elephants, one male and the other female - have

already been identified for this exchange

programme. " Following the proposal from the Japan zoo seeking two

elephant calves, the state government had initially shortlisted eight

calves from several elephant camps in Jaldapara and Gorumara in north

Bengal. Out of these eight calves, two calves were finally selected on

the basis of age and appropriate size. They are aged between two to

two and a half years.

" The elephants need to be of a size fit to be transported easily, but

they must be old enough to to travel the distance and adjust to the

new set up, " an official of the state forest forest department said on

Sunday.

Senior state government officials have already met officials of the

CZA and officials from Japan, in New Delhi recently and started

discussions on the programme in detail.

In exchange, the state government might get some Red Pandas or other

Himalayan species for the Darjeelling zoo. " Zoos across the country

exchange animals for captive breeding programmes, " the officials

added.

" Now we have asked them what to tell us which animals out of Red

Pandas, Himalayan Blue Sheep or HImalayan Tahr, they can offer for

certain. Once they let us know, we can explain which animals we would

prefer . Meanwhile we have identified two elephants we can send across

to Okinawa Zoo, " said Mukherjee.

Earlier, it was possible to gift animals from one zoo to the other -

within or outside the country.

However, at present, this this procedure is not allowed under the

Wildlife Protection Act 1972(with amendments made in 2003), and

animals always have to be exchanged and cannot be gifted.

This is the reason why even if the state has two elephants that can

be spared and sent to Japan, it must also make sure to get some

animals in turn from them, an offical explained.