Free elephants at Detriot Zoo

“They can give them to me! I love elephants!”

“PLEASE CURB YOUR ELEPHANT

”

“It would be nice if I could spell, sigh....”

“Ohhhhhhhhh, you meant Detroit!”

“Well, they do have a lot of riots there.”

“good for the Detroit zoo! i'm impressed.”

“Well, just so you know, the Detroit Zoo isn't in Detroit. Its in one of the flashy suburbs. But, if you wanna think better of the City because of this, then all the better! ;)”

“wow...that is awesome. I mean, when do you ever see people doing things for ethical reasons...weird.”

“They're not giving them away, they're sending them to a reserve.”

“Let's see, a dog, a horse...hmmm maybe I need an elephant too! As long as he/she can carry a pack.”

“I love elephants!"
Miss Opie
11:39:22 AM
05/24/04

Is this going to deteriorate into another Massachusetts thread ?

"wow...that is awesome. I mean, when do you ever see people doing things for ethical reasons...weird."
AmyG
12:24:03 PM
05/24/04

or is it a disguised budget cut on food and space ?”

“Actually, the Detroit Zoo's in great shape budget wise. They're sending them to the reserve because elephants suffer greatly in captivity, more that most animals. The experience psychological distress well beyond most "zoo animals" because they're so intelligent. Many zoos will no longer keep elephants because it's statring to be considered cruel. I think Detroit zoo is the third or forth zoo in the nation to do away with elephant exhibits.”

“Now that the elephants are gone, there is a new animal that "suffers more than the others".

Should it not also be freed ?

I saw a documentary recently about logging in Myanmar (Burma).
They capture elephants and they (Elephants) live their life in slavery.
The Burmese admitted it was cruel but also a paradox.
The people needed the timber income for their livlihood, with elephants they could selectively log and leave the forest intact as a home for the wild elephants.

Without the elephants they would have to clear cut to get the logs out and there would be no home for the wild elephants and they would become extinct.

It was looked on as a sacrifice of some elephants to save the species.

All logging was for export, no demand for teak, no logging.”

“what sass said.



lots of circus elephants litteraly go insane from their treatment.

they're very social animals who form tight commnuities with complex, long lasting bonds.

that scene with dumbo's mom going berzerk from trying to get to her son is not far from truth actually !

(i watch animal planet - alot)”

“"Without the elephants they would have to clear cut to get the logs out and there would be no home for the wild elephants and they would become extinct."


sounds pretty sketchy to me. why exactly would they NEED to clear cut to get to logs if they didn't use elephants?”

“The elephants could drag individual logs from the felling point to the nearest river/stream and float them out.

Otherwise they would need roads, the cost of building the roads would require a lot of additional trees to be cut.

Anyway that was the point of view presented by the Burmese on this documentary.

Their point was that this was the best balance for forest management and economic needs of the people there, but still really tough on the captive elephants.
The interesting point was that the Burmese DID acknowledge that it was cruel to the captive animals.

That viewpoint is not universally accepted here for animals bred for slaughter, cows, pigs, let alone the chicken and veal farms.”

“manuka

i understand that you're just commenting on the burmese point of view and the unusual admittance of the duality of their choice.

it still just sounds odd to me about them needing the elephants - or it's clear cut city.

from what i've seen cutting logging roads is not very difficult, expensive, or time consuming. remember, we're not talking about paved highways.
i've seen D-5's make alot of quick, easy logging trails for selective harvesting while causing very little damage.

it's hard for me to believe that a couple of D-5's including fuel, training, ect. wouldn't be more cost effective than the process of live capturing, raising, feeding and training of elephants.

granted, i've never even been to burma, let alone studied the nuances of logging there.

i'm just saying i'm skeptical that there isn't more to this story.”

“In 1986, Mike Hogan was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University.
On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.

The elephant seemed distressed, so Mike approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee and
inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it.

As carefully and as gently as he could, Mike worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the
elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on i ts face, stared at him for several
tense moments. Mike stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant
trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.

Mike never forgot that elephant or the events of that day. Twenty years later, Mike was walking through
the Detroit Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures
turned and walked over to near where Mike and his son Owen were standing.

The large bull elephant stared at Mike, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant
did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Rememberin g the encounter in 1986, Mike couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant.

Mike summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure.
He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder.

The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mike's legs and slammed
him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant”

“LOL...old one but a good one......”