The Hindu : International : Do elephants need warm climes?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 02, 2005

International

International

Do elephants need warm climes?

CHICAGO, FEB. 1. The memorial service was held outside, with a few mourners, bunches of flowers and a framed photo of the 55-year-old deceased, an elephant named Peaches. It was the oldest African elephant in an American zoo when it died on January 17 at Lincoln Park Zoo. But its death — three months after a younger pachyderm named Tatima died at the zoo — renewed complaints from animal welfare activists that elephants do not belong in cold-weather zoos.

"Peaches and I were very good friends. I'm stunned she's dead. They're saying she died of old age, but she died of the stress of living in Chicago," said Ray Ryan, a former elephant keeper who cared for Peaches, Tatima and Lincoln Park's last remaining elephant, Wankie, when they lived at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

Lincoln Park Zoo officials say the weather had nothing to do with the deaths. They say Tatima, a 35-year-old female, died from a non-contagious disease similar to tuberculosis, and that tests, while not yet conclusive, indicate that Peaches had kidney and heart conditions.

The three were sent to Chicago in 2003 in a move that was opposed by activists, who warned that they would suffer after enjoying the outdoors year round in warm and sunny San Diego.

Elephants in the wild — especially those in the mountains — are occasionally faced with freezing weather, and keep warm by huddling together. But most of the time, their habitat is much warmer than the winters in the northern U.S. African elephants live on savannas and in woods, mountains and tropical rain forests; Asian elephants in tropical forests.

As for how long elephants can live in the wild, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association says the median lifespan for African females in the wild is 42; animal activists say that if not for poachers, elephants could live decades longer.

Elephants roam for kilometres on end every day in the wild, but can develop serious health problems — including arthritis, sores and infections on the pads of their feet — when confined to small spaces, often with concrete floors, during much of the winter in colder cities such as Chicago, said the veterinarian, Elliot Katz, president of In Defence of Animals.

Peaches, Tatima and Wankie shared an outdoor yard of some 1,200 sq m but were kept in a heated, 307 sq m structure whenever the temperature dropped below 4.4 C, said a Lincoln Park Zoo spokeswoman.

Most zoo officials say elephants can be kept healthy in cold weather climates. They say many animal welfare groups are opposed to zoos entirely. And they say that keeping elephants in zoos delights visitors and thereby builds vital support for programmes that protect elephants in the wild.

Several zoos, however, have recently closed their elephant exhibits. The Detroit Zoo director, Ron Kagan, decided last year to move its two aging, arthritic elephants to a northern California sanctuary, where they can roam for kilometres and where the average high temperature in January is 58C, compared with 33C in Detroit.

In the meantime, Wankie is being kept company by its trainers, who are giving it more exercise and more time to play with toys. — AP

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