Australia's First Asian Elephant Calf

Libby says

July 8, 2009 at 4:08 pm

The Taronga “Conservation” Foundation is two zoos – the city one at Mosman and the open range at Dubbo. If they had the animals’ welfare at heart they would have the animals at Dubbo, where there is much more room for them. It is nothing more than a money-making venture. Little if any conservation will come out of this exercise. It is all spin.

Elephants do not do well in captivity. It is a fact. There are another 3 or 4 elepants in Australia that are pregnant. What is the destiny of their offspring, especially if they are male and need to be housed separately? What message does the public process about wildlife from keeping large, social animals in such confined and limited conditions, especially when better facilities are readily available? Do they really understand how these animals are fairing out in their wild habitat and the conservation issues they face when they view this elephant group?

I applaud some of the keepers there as they have a lot of experience and great animal handling and conditioning skills. Unfortunately they are not the ones that make the big decisions, such as getting a herd of elephants in the first place.

Comments

janama says
July 8, 2009 at 7:11 am

If these guys were really genuine they would have established an outdoor zoo at Cairns or Darwin to at least place the animal in it’s natural environment of heat and humidity – as it is the poor little bugger will freeze it’s arse off in a concrete bunker in Sydney.

I bet the other 35,000 are glad they weren’t picked to save the species.
Libby says
July 8, 2009 at 4:08 pm

The Taronga “Conservation” Foundation is two zoos – the city one at Mosman and the open range at Dubbo. If they had the animals’ welfare at heart they would have the animals at Dubbo, where there is much more room for them. It is nothing more than a money-making venture. Little if any conservation will come out of this exercise. It is all spin.

Elephants do not do well in captivity. It is a fact. There are another 3 or 4 elepants in Australia that are pregnant. What is the destiny of their offspring, especially if they are male and need to be housed separately? What message does the public process about wildlife from keeping large, social animals in such confined and limited conditions, especially when better facilities are readily available? Do they really understand how these animals are fairing out in their wild habitat and the conservation issues they face when they view this elephant group?

I applaud some of the keepers there as they have a lot of experience and great animal handling and conditioning skills. Unfortunately they are not the ones that make the big decisions, such as getting a herd of elephants in the first place.