(AU) The elephants - Taronga Zoo/Melbourne Zoo

[Guest guest]

RSPCA fears for imported Thai elephants

ABC News Online

November 2, 2006

 

The RSPCA says it is disappointed that the first of a group of Thai elephants

have arrived in Australia destined for zoos in Sydney and Melbourne.

 

Four females have arrived in Sydney after spending time in quarantine on the

Cocos Islands with another four who are due to arrive in the next few days.

 

Animal welfare groups took legal action to stop them being imported and delayed

their arrival for 18 months.

 

The RSPCA's Jane Speechley says the groups are not taking any further action,

but are calling on the public to look for signs of stress when they are visiting

the elephants in the zoos.

 

" We're certainly very disappointed that the zoos have proceeded with the plan to

import the elephants, " she said.

 

" We don't believe it's in the elephants interests.

 

" However, now we're calling on the public to remain vigilant and for them to let

us and the zoos know of any behavioural problems they see developing in these

animals. "

 

Melbourne Zoo chief executive Laura Mumaw says the zoo is ready for the new

arrivals.

 

" So the experience itself, which we think has got the sort of variety that

they'll need, will also be augmented by walks around the zoo and for elephants,

the social behaviour and the social interactions that they can have with each

other are also a very, very inmportant part of what keeps them psychologically

and social stimulated and they'll have that as well, " he said.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200611/s1779997.htm

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From the New South Wales Greens party parliamentary website:

 

Media Release

Elephants meet cruel fate at Taronga Zoo

Thursday, 02 November 2006

 

Greens MP and animal welfare spokesperson Lee Rhiannon called for the Thai

elephants due in Sydney today to be kept at Western Plains Zoo, instead of the

cramped enclosures at Taronga Zoo.

 

“Keeping the elephants at Taronga Zoo will breach NSW animal cruelty lawsâ€,

said Ms Rhiannon.

 

“The new shoe-box sized enclosure at Taronga is inappropriate and cruel. The

elephants should be moved to the larger enclosures at Western Plains Zoo.

 

“The Government should admit that the elephants have been imported for

commercial not conservation purposes.

 

“The Greens forced the release of confidential Government documents, which

revealed that world elephant experts advised against keeping the elephants at

Taronga Zoo.

 

“Leading expert Dr Joyce Poole of the Amboseli Elephant Research Project

advised that the elephants’ most basic requirements would be ‘impossible’

to fulfil at Taronga’s small enclosure.

 

“In the wild, elephants can roam up to 22 kms a day. At Taronga, five

elephants will be squashed into the equivalent of 2 suburban housing blocks.

 

“The elephants will get inadequate exercise and suffer a range of

physiological and psychological problems at Taronga.

 

“The Government’s claim that the elephants are being imported to Australia

for breeding purposes is a farce. Captive breeding programs for elephants are

notoriously difficult. No elephants have ever been born in captivity in

Australia.

 

“The importation of these elephants has cost over $40 million. A minimum of

$70,000 a year is needed to keep an elephant at Taronga Zoo. This money is more

sensibly put into conservation programs.

 

“The Greens have campaigned for the new elephant enclosure at Taronga to be

used instead as a retirement home for six circus elephants in NSW nearing

retirement age.

 

“Taronga Zoo wants these elephants to boost visitor numbers and profits, not

for breeding and conservationâ€, said Ms Rhiannon.

 

http://lee.greens.org.au/index.php/content/view/1567/50/

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RSPCA opposes Thai elephant acquisition

news.com.au

November 03, 2006

 

THE arrival of four Thai elephants at Melbourne Zoo will mark the beginning a

sad life of captivity, an animal protection group said today.

 

RSPCA Victoria is opposed to the decision to bring the elephants to Australia

because of concerns for their welfare.

 

The elephants are among eight that began a controversial journey from Thailand

in June and have been held in quarantine on the Cocos Islands, 2750km northwest

of Perth in the Indian Ocean.

 

The other four have arrived in Sydney where they are now star attractions at

Taronga Zoo and where staff say they have so far shown no signs of anxiety as

they explore their new environment.

 

Supporters of the Australian resettlement program say that too many elephants in

Thailand endure miserable conditions.

 

But RSPCA Victoria President Dr Hugh Wirth said the weight of scientific

evidence went against the decision by Environment Minister Ian Campbell to allow

the importation by zoos to expand their elephant population.

 

“In allowing this importation to proceed, Minister Ian Campbell and the zoos

involved have condemned these elephants to a life of suffering in captivity,â€

Dr Wirth said.

 

Despite more than 100 years of keeping elephants captive, Australian zoos have

never bred an Asian elephant.

 

“The elephant is a precious and endangered animal, not a tourist

attraction,†Dr Wirth said.

 

“Taking elephants away from their home and family groups in Thailand, and

sticking them in a zoo in Melbourne, is no way to contribute to elephant

conservation.â€

 

Elephants have a high level of stillbirth and a high rate of infant mortality.

 

They die at a younger age in captivity, with restricted space for exercise and

unsuitable climatic conditions.

 

Two years of court battles, animal rights protests and long periods in

quarantine delayed their arrival, but the elephants showed no signs of worry as

they explored their new surroundings.

 

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20697384-1702,00.html

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VIP media circus: very important pachyderms

John Huxley

November 3, 2006

 

SMUGGLING high-profile celebrities through Sydney Airport has never been an easy

task. But when the stars are five two-tonne Asian elephants it becomes, well,

what one bemused security guard called a " bloody circus " .

 

So it proved yesterday, when media, police and confused passers-by gathered for

the arrival of Taronga Zoo's latest attractions - Pornthip, Pak Boon, Tang Mo

and Tong Dee - by chartered Russian Ilyushin freighter.

 

The final member of the so-called Taronga Five, a large male called Gung, was

due to arrive later with three other elephants heading for Melbourne Zoo.

 

Not since, say, the private, pre-sold wedding of Lleyton Hewitt and Bec

Cartwright has there been such media excitement as choppers took to the sky,

snappers unpacked their telephoto lenses and reporters were reduced to pestering

police for information.

 

" Air traffic control says a jumbo just landed, " said one officer. " They're in

the VIP lounge. Very important pachyderms, " said another.

 

Much of the media misdirection by Taronga officials appeared deliberate, aimed

not so much at ensuring the animals' safe passage or averting protests as

protecting its exclusive deal with a documentary maker. A zoo spokesman, Mark

Williams, told the Herald earlier: " The elephants make a remarkable story - but

one which the zoo has neither the funds nor the facilities to tell properly. So

we went to the experts. "

 

Thus it was that hoi polloi press were kept at arms-length, perched on car

parks, hanging off freeway bridges, lining link roads, when the precious cargo

arrived from the Cocos Islands, where the elephants had been held in quarantine,

shortly after 11am. They were accompanied by seven Russian crew, six Taronga Zoo

staff, including director Guy Cooper, and " half a tonne of kitty litter " .

 

Less than three hours later they had been transferred in purpose-built cages,

slatted with wood along the sides, but open at each end, to four flat-bed

trucks, each inscribed with the message: " You're passing another elephant. "

 

Tang Mo appeared restless, bouncing the truck from side to side. But the rest

seemed relaxed, as the convoy made its progress out, down the Harbour Tunnel,

through Neutral Bay to the elephants' new $40 million rainforest in Mosman.

 

Yesterday's elephants have been a long time coming from Thailand, where they

were acquired more than two years ago for a captive breeding program in

Australia.

 

Mr Cooper said that despite the objections of a small minority of people he

believed the animals would be truly happy in their new home. They are expected

to be available for public viewing later today.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/vip-media-circus-very-important-pachyderms/2\

006/11/02/1162339989126.html

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Video & Photos of the elephants

 

-Video:

vx.roo.com

 

Elephants in Sydney video. Taronga Zoo shows off its new Asian elephants and

defends its decision to import them.

 

http://g6publish.videodome.com/newsinteractive/videopage/videoplayer/?channel=Na\

tional+News & clipid=1094_60969 & bitrate=300 & format=

-----------------------

-Photos:

news.com.au

 

Meet our new arrivals: Pornthip, Pak Boong, Tang Mo and Tong Dee.

 

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/gallery/0,22056,5014540-5006009,00.html

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-NewsPhotos:

 

Shots of the day at the moment has photos of the elephants

 

http://www.newsphotos.com.au/

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Zoos in New South Wales and Victoria

 

-New South Wales:

 

Taronga and Western Plains Zoos

 

http://www.zoo.nsw.gov.au/

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-Victoria:

 

Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Open Range Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary

 

http://www.zoo.org.au/