| | Because ZOOS are NOT IDEAL FOR ELEPHANTS and Because they didnt listen, they refused to reason; such a waste!
It was the selfishness and greed of the National Zoo that is responsible for these deaths and it was NOT NECESSARY! Years of confinement walking around in circles in that little room on hard concrete floor, making her do stupid tricks - the cause for arthritis and osteomylitis (debilitating foot disease) .. SUCH A CRYING SHAME. Also I will remind them of Nancy, another senseless premature elephant death at their zoo.
Sad news in the Thursday, January 26, Washington Post. The headline is, "Toni the Elephant Euthanized; Animal Rights Groups Had Urged National Zoo to Move Her." (Pg B02)
The article opens:
"An ailing National Zoo elephant, whose worsening arthritis made her the flashpoint of a debate over whether her species belongs in zoos, was euthanized yesterday after her condition deteriorated dramatically.
"Toni, an Asian elephant, was 40 years old, about two decades short of the typical expected lifespan. She had been at the Smithsonian Institution animal park since 1989. Zoo officials said her arthritis, caused by a leg injury at a previous zoo, flared up in the summer and was only temporarily brought under control by large doses of ibuprofen. She lost hundreds of pounds and her muscles shrank.
"Only a week ago, zoo officials downplayed the possibility of euthanasia, but their assessment changed in recent days."
On the attempts to have Toni transferred:
"Animal rights groups, saying the close confinement and hard floors in zoos are not appropriate places to keep elephants, had urged the National Zoo to move Toni to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee where she would have more space and a more natural habitat. Zoo officials rejected calls to move their animal, saying she might not survive the journey and would be comfortable and well cared for in a familiar environment."
There is such terrible irony in the refusal to remove her because she might not survive the journey, given that zoo officials eventually chose to kill her themselves.
Suzanne Roy, program director for In Defense of Animals is quoted:
"It's shameful that the National Zoo allowed her to decline to this point. Toni's death should prompt serious reevaluation of the National Zoo's ability to care for elephants. The zoo simply does not have the space to meet the vast needs of earth's largest land mammal."
You can read the full Washington Post article on line at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/25/AR2006012500930.html
And you can send a letter to the editor urging the retirement of the zoo's other elephants to sanctuary and against holding wild animals captive for human entertainment to letters@washpost.com . The paper advises, "Letters must be exclusive to The Washington Post, and must include the writer's home address and home and business telephone numbers."
You can learn more about IDA's campaign to remove Toni from the National Zoo at http://www.savezooelephants.com/national_zoo.html
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.dawnwatch.com/cgi-bin/dada/dawnwatch_unsubscribe.cgi If you forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)
* Elephants are highly complex, social animals who live in extended family groups and travel over thirty miles a day. Today’s zoos are unable to meet the physical and social needs of elephants. These needs include space, adequate exercise, and extended social groups.
* Elephants in zoos suffer from captivity-induced physical and psychological health problems due to lack of space. Health problems include debilitating foot and joint problems, arthritis, digestive disorders, stereotypic behaviors (neurotic behaviors resulting from severe confinement). Other problems include reproductive system shutdown, and high infant mortality rate.
* As the largest land mammal, elephants are genetically designed to move and forage most of the day; this constant movement is necessary for their psychological and physical well-being.
* Historically elephants have been managed through coercive force, such as chaining for prolonged periods and use of bullhooks and electrical hotshots; this abuse is unacceptable.
* Zoos routinely move elephants, and other animals, from one zoo to another with little to no consideration for their social bonds. In the wild female elephants never leave their mothers and male elephants have complex social structures with other bulls and females. No elephant in the wild lives in constant solitary confinement.
www.savezooelephants.org
Toni, an Asian elephant at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., was euthanized after a prolonged battle with captivity-induced arthritis. IDA had long urged the National Zoo to send Toni to the Elephant Sanctuary because she was in danger of dying prematurely, but officials dismissed our warnings and those of elephant experts. The three elephants still at the Zoo will likely meet the same fate as Toni if they spend the rest of their lives on exhibit. Please "Take Action" to urge the National Zoo's Director and elected officials to re-examine the Zoo's elephant exhibit expansion plan and close the exhibit if it can't locate the space (thousands of acres) necessary to meet the needs of this intelligent and complex species.
 Toni was wracked with painful arthritis, could barely stand and desperately tried to find relief by leaning against the wall or even the other elephant. Our experts were shocked by her condition and predicted her untimely death.
It's shameful that the National Zoo allowed her to decline to this point.
Even if she had a previous injury, the Zoo kept Toni under conditions that only caused further deterioration instead of improvement.
This should never happen again to another elephant at the National Zoo.
This is the second elephant to die prematurely from lethal, zoo-induced health problems. Nancy was euthanized in 2000 after suffering for years from horrible and painful foot infections.
Toni stands as a national symbol for the suffering elephants endure in zoos across the country.
Zoos do not provide elephants with the things we know they need: space, soft ground and natural family structures. Elephants pay the price for zoos' unwillingness to listen to what science tells us elephants need.
Arthritis and foot disease are just some of the many painful, zoo-induced health problems that elephants suffer from.
Toni's death should prompt serious re-evaluation of the National Zoo's ability to care for elephants. The Zoo simply does not have the space to meet the vast needs of Earth's largest land mammal.
 It's time for zoos to stop poisoning elephants with Ibuprofen and other painkillers and start addressing the cause of their problems in the first place: the woefully deficient zoo environment.
Elephants are intelligent and free-ranging animals who live in tightly-knit family groups, walk 10 miles or more a day, and have home ranges of up to 200 square miles.
IDA has a local spokesperson available for comments. Photos are available upon request.
CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION NOW!!!!!
This is the original petition for Toni here on Care2’s Petition Site. Please sign still because I will be submitting this petition and all its signatures to the media, the reps, my 2 senators (you can send to your legislatures too!), and the other contacts listed below and in the links following. Please express your outrage in the comments section about Toni’s death – that is if you had not already signed the petition.
 Sent Toni the Elephant at National Zoo to the Elephant Sanctuary
You can still write these contacts and express your OUTRAGE!:
WHAT MORE YOU CAN DO
1. Please write today to the following officials to ask that the Zoo agree to transfer Toni to The Elephant Sanctuary where she will be given a second chance at life. In addition, urge these officials to ensure that the National Zoo re-examine an elephant exhibit expansion plan that will continue to fail to meet the needs of this intelligent and free-ranging species.
John Berry, Director
National Zoo
3001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20008
Fax: 202-673-4607
BerryJM@si.edu
The Honorable Bob Ney, Chair
Committee on House Administration
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Fax: 202-225-3394
bobney@mail.house.gov
The Honorable Juanita Millender-McDonald, Ranking Member
Committee on House Administration
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Fax: 202-225-7926
millender.mcdonald@mail.house.gov
2. Sign up for our Friends of Toni Action List for updates, petitions and flyers to circulate and sign ups for leafleting activities and other events at the National Zoo.
Email Kristie Phelps at Kristie@idausa.org.
Send comments of outrage to:
Smithsonian's National Zoological Park
Office of Public Affairs
202-633-3055
ZooPublicAffairs@si.edu
Representative Xavier Becerra
U.S. House of Representatives
1119 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0001
Senator Thad Cochran
U.S. Senate
113 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-0001
Representative Ralph Regula
U.S. House of Representatives
2306 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0001
Senator Bill Frist
U.S. Senate
509 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-0001
Representative Sam Johnson
U.S. House of Representatives
1211 Longworth House Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515-0001
Senator Patrick Leahy
U.S. Senate
433 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-0001
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
Lawrence Small
Castle Bldg., Room 205
1000 Jefferson Drive SW
Washington, DC 20560
smalllm@si.edu
Tel: (202) 357-1846
Fax: (202) 786-2515
New Director at National Zoo
John Berry
3001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20008
BerryJM@si.edu
Others to add are:
tannerm@si.edu ; murrays@si.edu ; gallowaym@si.edu ; barkerk@washpost.com ; jschroeder@fonz.org ; board@fonz.org
Les Shubert’s Op Ed
lqcasak9@dc.rr.com
David Evans, Undersecretary for Science, Smithsonian Institution and Interim Director, National Zoological Park
evansd@si.edu
Mary Rakow Tanner, Deputy Director, National Zoo
tannerm@si.edu
Suzan Murray, Head, Animal Health/Chief Veterinarian
murrays@si.edu
Marie Galloway, Elephant Manager
gallowaym@si.edu
BerryJM@si.edu (director of the National Zoo)
Evans@si.edu (assistant for the secretary at smithsonian institute)
Letters to the editor:
letters@washpost.com
- Bunny, 53, arrived at the Elephant Sanctuary (TES )in 1999 with foot problems; today her nickname is "Nature Girl" because she returns to the barn to sleep only in the coldest weather.
- Jenny, 33, came to TES in 1996 with a crippling leg injury, arthritis and chronic foot rot. Today there is no mountain too high, no terrain too rough for Jenny to master.
- TES expected to provide hospice care for Delhi, 59, who arrived in 2003 with osteomyelitis, a debilitating foot disease. Today Delhi explores TES like an elephant half her age.
 Is there precedent for a zoo to send its elephants to a sanctuary?
Henry Vilas Zoo (Madison, WI), Mesker Park Zoo (Evansville, IN), the Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo (Monroe, LA), Chehaw Wild Animal Park (Albany, GA) and the El Paso Zoo (El Paso, TX) have all sent elephants to TES. And within the last year, the San Francisco and Detroit zoos realized they could not meet elephants' complex physical, social and psychological needs and sent their elephants to a sanctuary as well.
The National Zoo is accredited by the AZA. What about TES?
TES is not a zoo. It is accredited by The Association of Sanctuaries (TAOS, whose standards equal or exceed those of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA). TES is also licensed by the U.S. Agriculture Department and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
The Zoo has vets on staff. What about TES?
TES animal care staff live on premises. Unlike zoos, whose staff goes home at night, TES monitors its elephants 24 hours each day. TES's on-call vet lives and works only five miles from the Sanctuary. And TES has written emergency protocols addressing safety and veterinary emergencies.
What would it cost the Zoo to send Toni to TES?
Nothing. TES will accept Toni free of charge. Additionally, TES's experienced staff will orchestrate Toni's loading and transport free of charge.
The Zoo's mission is conservation and education. What about TES?
- TES uses interactive telephone, video, and multimedia computer technology to teleconference live with schools, libraries, community centers, and other organizations nationally and internationally.
- TES's live webcam (www.tappedintoelephants.com) takes viewers into the elephants' daily lives as they forage for food, play, swim in the pond and take their daily naps. TES broadcasts the arrival of all its new residents, so Toni's fans would be able to watch her first steps into freedom without even leaving their computers!
- TES supports research and conservation efforts in Asia.
- Next year TES will begin construction of an innovative, non-intrusive education center that will allow visitors to view the elephants and their habitat through cameras strategically placed throughout the habitat.
- Future plans include establishment of the first Elephant Health and Welfare Institute.
RESPONSE TO NATIONAL ZOO RESPONSE TO CONCERNS ABOUT TONI
“As a scientist who has studied elephant behavior and communication among free-living individuals for 30 years, I am stunned that the American Zoo and Aquarium Association is not able to perceive the empirical evidence that elephants need much more space than what is currently allotted to them. In the form of routine problems captive elephant managers face every day, the evidence is unmistakable: foot diseases, arthritis, weight related diseases, infertility, heightened aggression, and other neurotic behavior.”
-Joyce Poole, Ph.D., Research Director, Amboseli Elephant Research Group, Kenya
"No captive situation, however attractive it may appear to a human, can possibly be adequate for the needs of an elephant in terms of space. An example is our 10 year old bull, Imenti, who walked 84 miles in 14 hours, turned round and walked back 100 miles in search of a friend. Even Tsavo, which is 8,000 square miles in extent, can be traversed by elephants in a matter of days - and is"
- Dr. Daphne Sheldrick D.V.M., M.B.E., M.B.S., 1992 UNEP Global 500 Laureate, has worked with elephants for 50 years, both in a wild and captive situations, and is considered one of the leading authorities on the African elephant
The National Zoo has acknowledged the deficiency of its current exhibit, and is planning to expand its facilities. But unless its plans include a large preserve of hundreds to thousands of acres in a climate suitable for elephants, it will be proceeding without scientific basis and ignoring the science that does exist about the vast spatial needs of this wide-ranging species.
CLAIM 2: THE NATIONAL ZOO’S ELEPHANT EXPANSION WILL MEET THE NEEDS OF ELEPHANTS.
National Zoo director John Berry has stated that original plans for a 2.6 acre elephant expansion have been sent back to the drawing board for a facility 2-3 times the size. This is an important first step. But the zoo needs far more than 6-9 acres for space sufficient to allow elephants to walk, exercise and socialize in the manner to which they have evolved. Furthermore, it is unlikely that Toni will live to see the benefits of an expansion to the exhibit. Toni’s situation is urgent and needs to be addressed immediately.
CLAIM 3: HAVING ASIAN ELEPHANTS AT THE NATIONAL ZOO IS IMPORTANT TO CONSERVATION.
Unfortunately, breeding elephants at the National Zoo has nothing to do with conserving the species in the wild. What threatens wild elephants is not inability to breed, but rather poaching and loss of habitat in Asia and Africa. No elephants bred at the National Zoo will be repatriated to the wild. True conservation involves habitat protection and support for anti-poaching patrols. Many conservationists in range countries believe that zoos exhibiting elephants actually have a negative impact on survival of the elephant species.
"Western zoos claim their breeding programs will save the endangered Asian elephant but nothing could be further from the truth. Captivity does not equal conservation. . . . The best way for these zoos . . . to assist with the future conservation of this species is to support field conservation programs in Asia."
- Vivek Menon, executive director of the Wildlife Trust of India:
The National Zoo’s support for conservation programs in range countries is to be commended but not confused with its elephant exhibit, which does not promote conservation.
CLAIM 4: MOVING TONI FROM THE NATIONAL ZOO WOULD BE DETRIMENTAL TO HER HEALTH.
The National Zoo did good work in helping Toni recover from her early history as a lone elephant in a small Pennsylvania zoo. The Zoo is providing the best care it knows how for Toni, but the unfortunate truth is that it can only treat Toni’s symptoms. The Zoo can do nothing about the underlying cause of Toni’s illness unless it moves her to a sanctuary.
The Elephant Sanctuary (TES ) in Tennessee has experience in restoring quality of life to elephants debilitated from years of intense confinement in zoos or circuses. Rather than suffering damage to their physical and mental health, these elephants have enjoyed a second chance at life. Some examples:
· Bunny, 53, arrived in 1999 with foot problems; today her nickname is "Nature Girl" because she returns to the barn to sleep only in the coldest weather.
· Jenny, 33, came to TES in 1996 with a crippling leg injury, arthritis and chronic foot rot. Today there is no mountain too high, no terrain too rough for Jenny to master.
· TES expected to provide hospice care for Delhi, 59, who arrived in 2003 with osteomyelitis, a debilitating foot disease. Today Delhi explores TES like an elephant half her age.
TES is set on 2,700 lush green acres in southwestern Tennessee. There, Toni would be free to walk as much as she wants on hills, dirt and grasses. TES would treat her pain, but Toni's free-ranging movement would help ease her arthritis naturally. TES is USDA-approved and offers high-quality veterinary and keeper care. Unlike zoos, where staff clocks out at the end of the day, leaving elephants and other animals alone overnight, TES provides daily 24-hour, round—the—clock care and monitoring of elephants.
CLAIM 5: REMOVING TONI FROM HER ELEPHANT FAMILY WOULD BE DETRIMENTAL.
Toni is not integrated with all the elephants at the zoo; in fact, she shares space with only one of them: Ambika. If the National Zoo is concerned about separating this elephant pair, then it could send both to TES, thus giving Toni a second chance at life and pre-empting the zoo-induced afflictions that Ambika is sure to suffer as the years wear on at the Zoo.
CLAIM 6: TONI BENEFITS FROM HER CURRENT ENVIRONMENT WHERE VET TEAMS MONITOR HER THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
Toni’s current environment of compacted earth and concrete caused her original problems. No matter how good the veterinary care at the Zoo, keeping Toni in these conditions is a certain death sentence. It will be unconscionable for the zoo to continue to ignore
(continued on link above)
More Background info:
  <FONT%20CLASS=" BlueLink2?>eVideo: Elephant Euthanization Wasn't Easy
|
