Asian Elephant conservation : Will Travers takes on Jack Hanna

[Guest guest]

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/blog/

Room to Roam

*January 12th, 2009 *

 

*Here is my response to the comments made by " celebrity Zookeeper " , Jack Hannah,

in LA Unleashed

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/01/jack-hanna-anno.html

regarding his support for the controversial " Pachyderm Forest " project at the

Los Angeles zoo.*

 

* " Lame. That's the only word to describe Mr Hanna's support for keeping the

solitary elephant, Billy, at the LA Zoo.*

 

*It was very sad to learn recently that Mr Hanna's interest in wildife was

inspired by Born Free (1966), the film that my parents Bill Travers and

Virginia McKenna starred in. My late father would be turning in his grave to

think that a film which was all about liberty, justice and 'letting go' had

so encouraged Mr Hanna that he then seems to have spent most of his life

supporting captivity.*

 

*I have observed wild elephants in their natural habitat for 25 years. I

have helped rescue orphaned elephants, move elephants from places of danger

to safety, fought the ivory trade and even had the privilege of successfully

returning an elephant to the wild after 20 years in a zoo.*

 

*Mr Hanna says Billy will have 'room to roam' but, bizarrly, he doesn't

compare the LA Zoo's proposed Pachyderm exhibit with elephants in the wild

(thousands of acres) or even with enclosures in the two Gold Standard

Elephant Sanctuaries in the USA (60 acres at PAWS in California and 300

acres at the Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary), he compares the LA Zoo

proposition with the San Diego Wild Animal Park's postage stamp elephant

exhibit - circa 3 acres. Lame, Mr Hanna, and shameful.*

 

*It's simply not good enough. Second best will not do. Compassionate US

citizens should expect better than that.*

 

*And, by the way, if the LA City Council does do the right thing and decides

to build an Elephant Sanctuary instead of a 'bigger zoo box', then, if they

want to really help elephants, they can spend the $30 million they'll save

on protecting thousands of elephants in the wild.*

 

*C'mon Jack. Let's do what's best for Billy, best for the city of Los

Angeles, and best for elephants. That's REAL conservation. " *

 

*IMPORTANT: Please vote in the LA Unleashed poll against keeping elephants

in zoos (see the above link)*

 

*Find out more at

http://www.bornfreeusa.org

or http://www.bornfree.org.uk

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/news/news-article/?no_cache=1 & tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=\

274

* about two recent reports which indicate that elephants die younger in zoos.*

 

*Blogging off*

 

*Will*

*Will Travers