Asian Elepahants Journey on 60 Minutes » Taronga Zoo

Zoo_Boy · **Asian Elepahants Journey on 60 Minutes** 12-08-2006

gday guys

this sunday (13th) 60 Minutes on Win television will be showing the 8 asian elephants jouney in a feature aperaing at 7.30 pm . and after the show at 8.30, guy cooper will be on the website for a live webchat, any1 intersted type in 60 minutes into a search engine and you will find details

jay · 15-08-2006

After Liz Hayes gace her opening statement (elephants taken from the wild, held in captivity for our amusement, )I thought that it was going to be very biased so switched it over straight away. I take it that it wasn't completely anti?

ZooPro · 15-08-2006

It wasn't completely anti - zoo at all, although the two zoo CEOs did a pretty poor job of justifying what they are doing.

patrick · 15-08-2006

too right! i wasn't gonna say anything but sinceyou did first - guy cooper especially. they just didn't come across as experts on elephants (and thats what you want in these sorts of situations - to be assured the zoos are headed by experts. but instead guy cooper was laughing nervously, making silly statements and ummmming an awful lot.

the zoos didn't look good. but they did struggle to answer the hard questions...

Animal Lover · **Taronga Zoo's response** 16-08-2006

Hi all,

I sent an email to Taronga Zoo today about the 60 minutes story, which I thought was pretty poor. Here's the reply I got from them:

Quote:

We have been incredibly disappointed at the treatment we received in the story by the "60 Minutes" program, and regret that caring people such as yourself have been mislead in this way.

Here are some facts that were given to the program, but disregarded:

The zoos are not-for-profit organisations. We cannot make a commercial profit - nor do we operate on that basis.
The elephants came from work camps where they lived on short chains and were only taken out to beg for food. They lived in non-family groupings as disparate individuals.
While in the care of the zoos, they have already developed social bonds and any offspring born in the zoos will be retained in family herds.
The elephant program is a huge investment by our zoos in a conservation breeding program for this endangered species.
Asian Elephants are endangered with as few as 35,000 left in the world. The overwhelming threat of extinction is posed through loss of habitat, and with world human populations growing at the current rate, Asian Elephants face the very real threat of extinction by the end of the century.
The planned conservation breeding program has been assessed against the strict criteria of the Australian Government, Thailand Government and international United Nations CITES criteria. In every case, it was endorsed as being for the conservation benefit of the species.
A similar conservation breeding program for Black Rhinoceros has produced ten calves in ten years. Taronga is now working with other reputable world zoos to assemble a Black Rhino herd that can be put back into a safe national park in Botswana. These zoos are the ONLY organisations that have the knowledge, experience and capacity to create successful conservation breeding programs for endangered species.
There are already 38 species in the world that are extinct in the wild and only exist in zoos, which are working incredibly hard to maintain their genetic integrity so that they may continue to exist.
Our zoo also operates many breed-for-release programs for Critically Endangered Australian species, including Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies and Regent Honeyeater birds.
The Zoos are already involved in five in situ conservation projects for Asian Elephants in Thailand, Sumatra and Nepal and will bring the plight of Asian Elephants before over 2.3 million visitors to Taronga and Melbourne Zoos annually, seeking their direct support of such our elephant consevration work.

The elephant program is designed to maintain the genetic diversity of the entire Asian Elephant species - this is ambitious but, we believe, critical to its survival. We are at the same time funding a project to protect the largest remaining wild herd in Thailand.

The elephant breeding program will range across many zoos in Australasia - Taronga and Melbourne simply being the first, and being big zoos that have the staff and resources to undertake the care of the elephants.

Our zoo keepers have lived with and grown to love this group of elephants for two years. They taught the elephants to live free from chains - in their earlier lives, the elephants would have been punished if they got free from their chains. Our keepers have truly given blood, sweat and tears for their precious charges, whilst an international campaign of disinformation has been waged against them.

I very much understand your concerns. Unfortunately you have not been given the facts. Should you have any further queries or concerns, please feel free to be in touch. We wish to be completely open and for people to understand the reality of our efforts on behalf of this species. I have attached a photo of the elephants with their keepers, who have obviously become a large and very happy family.

patrick · 16-08-2006

zoolover, there are not two sides to the controversy.

their are infact four.

the uneducated against
the uneducated for
the educated for and
the educated against

you just recived an email from the taronga zoo (an educated for). unfortunately, the argument against the keeping of elephants at the zoo has been overwhelmingly taken up by the "uneducated against" - an issue that has brought about the situation of many of the more serious issues brought up by the "educated against" being overshadowed by people who really have no idea what they are talking about most of the time.

in response the zoos (largely taronga, melbourne seems to have done a remarkable job of, as a bogan housemate on that dispicable show big brother would say, "flying under the radar) let the protesters set the benchmark for the level intellect of the debate and made equally rediculous and contradictory counter-arguments.this has resulted in themselves, though no doubt educated, coming accross as an "uneducated for" much of the time.

do you have any idea how many different situations that these elephants have apparently come from?!!!!!

now even the zoo is painting a picture of the elephants as being a bunch of lonely abused animals that needed rescuing. (might i remind them that the responsible way to "rescue" and abused animal - is to make sure you don't pay for it).

forgive me if i'm suffering from dimentia at the ripe old age of 27 - but i'm sure the zoos originally stated that these elephants were from a "tourist camp" ("working camp" paints a different picture doesn't it) and that they where definately bred in captivity and definately had not undergone the torturous process of "breaking in" that is common in "domesticating" any asian elephant be them wild born or not.

if they where a bunch of street beggers from various sources, how exactly would they know?

and i thought the whole purpose of the import was to bring in animals that had previous herd and breeding experience, it being a instrumental in teaching the existing elephants how to "behave like elephants"....

oh well. if there is one thing zoolover, that i have learnt from this whole debacle is don't belive any of the stuff you read - just make a decision based on what you yourself are sure of.

i'm pretty sure that attempting a serious "conservation breeding program" in an area not much bigger a couple of house blocks in the middle of australia's two largest cities has gotta be two of the dumbest places a person could ever expect to do anything for conservation of the worlds largest terrestrial animal.

thats my educated guess anyway...

Michelle · 17-08-2006

the email recieved from taronga is a load of rubbish. to say the eles lived in work camps on short chains only coming out to beg for food and lived in non family groups is an outright lie. the 3 eles that came from here dont beg for food, we have an active breeding program so that means there are related animals, are only on chains when unattended, go to the river several times a day, walk out into the surrounding countryside to graze and socialise with other eles everyday.
to say they will remain in family herds is a contradition to the statement about them being involved in a breeding program across many zoos in australasia how can that happen if the are all going to stay together as a family.
to say these zoos are the ONLY organisations to have the knowledge, experience and capacity to create successful breeding programs for endangered species is laughable. how many eles have been born at taronga or melbourne let alone in oz, NONE. we have breed over 25 babies in 6 years. it is a known fact that the mortality rate of ele offspring born in zoos is alot higher than any where else. eles also die alot younger in zoos. thats why recently there was a story in the press about a zoo in usa which had just lost its grand old matriach at age 40ish, thats not OLD. our old matriach is 67 to 70 years and she is still going strong and she doesnt have any foot problems either as none of our eles do.
as for maintaining the genetic diversity for the entire asian elephant species come on how are 8 eles plus all the eles in oz going to do that. when the EEP has a couple of hundred eles and they dont have enough genetic diversity.
the funding to protect the largest wild herd in thailand ah yeh a few million baht to put up a fence is a HUGE contribution.
to say the keepers taught the eles to live FREE from chains is more lies as they still chain them to do wash downs, they were chained at night and chained them when they wanted to separate eles that would FIGHT with each other in this HAPPY social herd. as for eles being punished in their earlier lives for getting off their chain NO its the mahouts who are punished by having to pay the owner of the banana tree that his ele has just eaten while off its chain.
the internatioal campaign of disinformation is coming from taronga and melb zoo with statements like the ones in this letter. because its easier to make someone the bad guy to take the heat off yourself.

patrick · 17-08-2006

now thats what i call an EDUCATED against!!!

good on ya michelle......

Zoo_Boy · 17-08-2006

were is ya sanctuary michelle, is it in thailand, as i am commin in a few years, can i volunteer

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