Tag: Elephants

Hippo Population in Congo Crashes

The World Wildlife Fund recently publicized a Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature survey of the hippopotamus population in the Democratic Republic of Congo. That survey estimates that the hippo population has declined from a high of 29,000 in the early 1970s to only about 1,300 specimens today.

Of course the Democratic Republic of Congo has been racked by war and corrupt governance during much of that period, so it is hardly surprising that poachers and others have been killing hippos with impunity. What is genuinely surprising is the perverse effect that the ban on the trade in ivory has had on hippo populations. According to New Scientist,

In recent years, hippo meat has become a delicacy in parts of central Africa. Furthermore, the present worldwide ban on the trade in elephant ivory has meant hippo teeth, which can grow to 60 centimeters or more long, have become a valuable substitute.

This switch is darkly ironic, because hippos are now much rarer than African elephants. The global hippo population is now estimated at about 150,000, but there are more than half a million African elephants.

African nations where elephants are plentiful have repeatedly petitioned for a resumption of the world ivory trade (limited lifting of the ban, usually to sell pre-ban ivory stocks, has taken place occasionally since 1989).

Sources:

Poaching causes hippo population crash. NewScientist.Com, August 29, 2003.

Poachers will wipe out hippos in Congo, WWF warns. Reuters, August 28, 2003.

PETA Activists Arrested at Zoo Protests

Four activists with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were arrested in California and Florida on August 14 while protesting the planned importation of African elephants from Swaziland.

PETA and other groups had unsuccessfully tried to block the importation of 11 elephants from Swaziland that were destined for the Lowry Park zoo in Florida and the San Diego Zoo in California. The elephants will be part of breeding programs at both institutions.

In Tampa, Florida, police arrested three activists. Jayson A. Bayless, 29, of Norfolk, Va., and Valerie Lee Silidker, 28, of Davie, Florida, were arrested on burglary and disorderly conduct charges. Alan Hugh Berger, 57, of Charleston, South Carolina, was arrested on a trespassing charge.

The three PETA activists entered the offices of the zoo and apparently began screaming at the staff members and refused to leave when asked.

In San Diego, meanwhile, Lisa Ann Wathne, 42, of Washington state was arrested on a charge of trespassing after she unsuccessfully (!) tried to chain herself to an office building at the San Diego Zoo.

Sources:

Elephant protest leads to arrest. Tallahassee Democrat, August 15, 2003.

Four PETA members arrested at Tampa, San Diego zoos. Associated Press, August 14, 2003.

Hunting African Big Game . . . With Darts

National Geographic New recently reported on a new practice in South Africa where hunters are paying a lot of money to track and shoot elephants and rhinoceros with tranquilizer darts.

National Geographic profiled South Africa’s Timbavati Nature Reserve which has an ongoing five-year project to monitor the population dynamics of elephants in the reserve. Under Timbavati’s program, big game hunters pay in order to track and shoot the animals. As soon as their tranquilized, staff move in and tag the animal with a radio collar so its movements can be tracked.

The Reserve has a similar program with rhinoceros where a microchip is implanted in the animals horn both for identification purposes and to deter poaching.

Although it seems like a win-win situation for both hunters and conservationists, not everybody is thrilled by the idea. Newly elected president of the International Rangers Federation David Zeller worries that animals will be tranquilized repeatedly in such hunts simply for commercial purposes,

What if someone decided to have the same animal hunted over and over? It goes down, staggers back to its feet, only to be brought down a month or two later by another dart. People are capable of canned-lion hunting. What would stop them doing this? . . .This is a new thing, and we need to have a national policy set that will help our provincial authorities to apply the right criteria for issuing permits.

Still even with those caveats, this seems like an excellent program. At least until People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals points out that you wouldn’t let people shoot children up with tranquilizers for research so why should people be allowed to do it to animals?

Source:

In Africa, Hunters Pay to Tranquilize Game for Research. Leon Marshall, National Geographic News, June 16, 2003.

African Elephant Moved to Tennessee Zoo Over Animal Rights Objections

In May, animal rights groups lost their bid to prevent the Los Angeles Zoo from moving a 42-year-old female African elephant to the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee.

Los Angeles resident Catherine Doyle had sued to get a temporary restraining order blocking the move, but the zoo moved the elephant two days before the scheduled hearing on the restraining order.

Animal rights groups that had opposed the move, including The Humane Society of The United States (HSUS), In Defense of Animals, Last Chance For Animals and Venice Animal Allies Foundation, blasted the move. In a joint press release, the groups complained,

In its attempt to keep [elephants] Ruby and Gita together, Doyle’s lawsuit accuses the Los Angeles Zoo of violating public policy and trust, as well as the California Administrative Procedure Act. It does not cite any violation of the Endangered Species Act. This outrageous ploy on the part of the zoo and the L.A. City attorney was a blatant delaying tactic designed to leave Ruby’s fate in legal limbo and enabled the zoo to carry out their plan of transferring Ruby to the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee, regardless of the elephants’ mutual welfare.

“I believe the L.A. Zoo, with Mayor Hahn’s endorsement, has shown its true colors with this covert operation of moving Ruby under the cover of darkness over a holiday weekend,” declares Gretchen Wyler, VP HSUS Hollywood Office. “The zoo has resorted to reprehensible legal maneuvering to achieve its intractable goal of separating these elephants, and like thieves in the night, has spirited away city property from the residents of Los Angeles.”

“Shame on the zoo for sneaking Ruby away in chains in the middle of the night, taking her away from her home and her best friend, while our request for a temporary restraining order was to be ruled on today,” states Yael Trock, the attorney for the plaintiff Catherine Doyle. “We are not giving up on this and intend to take further legal action.”

The Los Angeles Zoo moved the elephant because the Knoxville Zoo has an interest in developing an African elephant breeding program whereas the L.A. Zoo is in the process of focusing on Asian elephants in a process that could eventually lead to a breeding program as well.

Sources:

Animal Protection Groups Blast L.A. Zoo for Spiriting Away Elephant Under Cover of Darkness. In Defense of Animals, Press Release, May 27, 2003.

Despite protests, L.A. Zoo Sends Elephants to Tennessee. Carla Hall, Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2003.

Australian Cities Approve Circuses with Exotic Animals

The Rockingham and Cockburn city councils in Australia recently voted to allow circuses with exotic animals to per form in those municipalities. In Rockingham the vote was 8-2 to allow the Lennon Bros. Circus — which includes elephants, tigers and other exotic animals — to perform in the city.

This comes after the Stardust Circus was banned in January from performing with exotic animals in the city of Perth. The Sunday Times (Australia) reported that 17 cities in western Australia have instituted similar bans on circuses that include exotic animals.

According to The Sunday Times, Australia’s Royal Society for the Protection of Animals opposes the use of exotic animals in circuses and had urged the two cities to ban the circuses.

Animal Liberation (WA) president Michael Zampogna complained to The Sunday Times,

No matter how much these circus operators purport to care for their animals, there’s no way they can give them the conditions they require. . . . I’ve actually seen the performance in question and having Arna [an Asian elephant] trot out and sit on a barrel . . . it’s a parody of what you would expect an elephant to be.

Rockingham mayor Chris Elliott told The Sunday Times that he didn’t care that other Australian cities had banned circus animals,

What the City of Perth chooses to do is its business; we’re in the business of providing good government for Rockingham

Source:

Council nod to circus animals. Tim Ayling, The Sunday Times (Australia), April 27, 2003.

PETA and Others Sues to Block Importation of Elephants

Several animal rights groups including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, The Born Free Foundation, and the Elephant Sanctuary filed suit against the U.S. Department of the Interior to block the importation of 11 African elephants.

Reuters reports that the elephants would be captured in Swaziland and shipped to the San Diego, California, and Tampa, Florida, zoos which both have elephant breeding programs.

In a March press release on the subject, PETA asserted that zoos played no valuable role in conservation, with PETA’s Debbie Leahy saying,

The San Diego Zoo is putting the ‘con’ into conservation. Taking elephants who are thriving with their herds in nature and placing them on display halfway around the world hurts wild populations.

PETA said it has offered to relocate the elephants to another part of Africa if the elephants are overcrowding their range in Swaziland.

Sources:

PETA “Elephant” Leads Protest at Zoo?s Main Entrance. Press Release, PETA, March 27, 2003.

Animal rights groups sue US over elephant imports. Reuters, April 11, 2003.

Correction: this article orginally repeated Reuters’ error in identifying the animals in question as Indian elephants. They are, in fact, African elephants.