Post by AnimalAvenger on May 22, 2009 21:14:38 GMT -5
Found this in my e-mail
NOTE: Scroll around text to find some links.
NOTE: Scroll around text to find some links.
Urge Brookfield Zoo to Send Lone Elephant to a Sanctuary and Shut Down Elephant Exhibit
affie the elephant brookfield zooLate last week, a 39-year-old African elephant, Affie, died prematurely at the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois. While no cause of death has been released, she likely suffered from painful foot and/or joint disease, conditions prevalent in zoos due to inadequate conditions for elephants.
IDA immediately filed a complaint
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, stating: “If in fact Affie did succumb to a disease caused by zoo conditions, the Brookfield Zoo should be found in violation of the Animal Welfare Act.” We also called for the zoo to immediately send the sole remaining elephant, Christy, to a sanctuary and shut down its elephant exhibit.
In response to IDA, the zoo issued a statement
and further comments
that contained a number of gross misrepresentations and falsehoods.
IDA today released its own statement of fact
, setting the record straight.
It would be inhumane to continue to keep Christy at the Brookfield Zoo, especially now that she is alone. Bringing in another elephant is not the answer because the Zoo cannot provide a high quality of life for elephants. Even if the exhibit is further expanded, it will not significantly change overall conditions.
Elephants are highly intelligent and physically vigorous animals that hail from warm climates. In the wild, they range seven to fourteen miles or more per day, and are active for 20 out of 24 hours, as they forage, explore, socialize and raise their young. Yet, at Brookfield Zoo elephants are held in a cramped elephant exhibit where they spend the majority of the long Midwest winters in tiny indoor cages that do not allow for adequate movement or mental stimulation.
Simply put, the zoo just cannot provide the space and natural conditions elephants need to live long and healthy lives. This is being proven with the death of each additional elephant. Seven elephants have died at the Brookfield Zoo since 1975; more than half did not live to age 40. Elephants have a natural lifespan of 60-70 years.
Help us urge the Brookfield Zoo to do the right thing and send Christy to a natural-habitat sanctuary where she would have a life much closer to what nature intended for Earth’s largest land mammals. Sanctuaries have received elephants from many Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited zoos. Eighteen zoos have closed or plan to close their elephant exhibits.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
1. Please write to Brookfield Zoo director Stuart Strahl and politely urge him to send Christy, now the lone elephant at Brookfield Zoo, to a sanctuary without delay.
Stuart D. Strahl, PhD
Director
Brookfield Zoo
3300 Golf Road
Brookfield, IL 60513
Phone: 708-688-8300 Fax: 708-688-7309
Email: bzadmin@brookfieldzoo.org
2. Please post a comment
to Stuart Strahl’s response and on stories in the Chicago Tribune
and Chicago Tribunal
.
3. Send a letter to the editor of the Chicago Tribune
affie the elephant brookfield zooLate last week, a 39-year-old African elephant, Affie, died prematurely at the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois. While no cause of death has been released, she likely suffered from painful foot and/or joint disease, conditions prevalent in zoos due to inadequate conditions for elephants.
IDA immediately filed a complaint
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, stating: “If in fact Affie did succumb to a disease caused by zoo conditions, the Brookfield Zoo should be found in violation of the Animal Welfare Act.” We also called for the zoo to immediately send the sole remaining elephant, Christy, to a sanctuary and shut down its elephant exhibit.
In response to IDA, the zoo issued a statement
and further comments
that contained a number of gross misrepresentations and falsehoods.
IDA today released its own statement of fact
, setting the record straight.
It would be inhumane to continue to keep Christy at the Brookfield Zoo, especially now that she is alone. Bringing in another elephant is not the answer because the Zoo cannot provide a high quality of life for elephants. Even if the exhibit is further expanded, it will not significantly change overall conditions.
Elephants are highly intelligent and physically vigorous animals that hail from warm climates. In the wild, they range seven to fourteen miles or more per day, and are active for 20 out of 24 hours, as they forage, explore, socialize and raise their young. Yet, at Brookfield Zoo elephants are held in a cramped elephant exhibit where they spend the majority of the long Midwest winters in tiny indoor cages that do not allow for adequate movement or mental stimulation.
Simply put, the zoo just cannot provide the space and natural conditions elephants need to live long and healthy lives. This is being proven with the death of each additional elephant. Seven elephants have died at the Brookfield Zoo since 1975; more than half did not live to age 40. Elephants have a natural lifespan of 60-70 years.
Help us urge the Brookfield Zoo to do the right thing and send Christy to a natural-habitat sanctuary where she would have a life much closer to what nature intended for Earth’s largest land mammals. Sanctuaries have received elephants from many Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited zoos. Eighteen zoos have closed or plan to close their elephant exhibits.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
1. Please write to Brookfield Zoo director Stuart Strahl and politely urge him to send Christy, now the lone elephant at Brookfield Zoo, to a sanctuary without delay.
Stuart D. Strahl, PhD
Director
Brookfield Zoo
3300 Golf Road
Brookfield, IL 60513
Phone: 708-688-8300 Fax: 708-688-7309
Email: bzadmin@brookfieldzoo.org
2. Please post a comment
to Stuart Strahl’s response and on stories in the Chicago Tribune
and Chicago Tribunal
.
3. Send a letter to the editor of the Chicago Tribune
