Animal activists protest Los Angeles elephant's move
Date: 21-Mar-03
Country: USA
Author: Gina Keating
Are Los Angeles zoo officials about to break the hearts of two middle-aged elephants by exiling one of them from her closest friend to a zoo in a far away state filled with strangers?
Los Angeles Zoo officials say the move will give Ruby, a 42-year-old African elephant, a chance to form deeper relationships with members of her own species, and a role as an "auntie" in the Knoxville Zoo's elephant breeding program.
But animal rights activists contend the zoo plans to cruelly rip Ruby from the only friendship she has known in the last 16 years - Gita, a 45-year-old Asian elephant.
Ruby and Gita have been pals since Ruby arrived at the zoo in 1987 following a stint as a circus elephant.
The two elephants appear to get along well but both sides agree that they are from vastly different species and don't even share the same pachyderm "language."
"I personally do not believe that it is that strong of a bond - not as strong as one that Ruby would have with another African or Gita would have with another Asian," principal animal keep Jeff Briscoe told Reuters.
"I think (the transfer) gives value to her life to improve her species and the future of elephants in general."
Elephants are highly social animals who roam the wild as matriarch-dominated groups of adult females and their offspring, with older females like Ruby lending a hand looking after the babies. But animal rights activists questioned whether Ruby, a Kenyan-born elephant who has spent most of her life in captivity, would remember those roles.
"A lot of zoos shuffle animals around without any consideration for the special friendships they have formed," said Debbie Leahy, a spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "It's not necessarily a bad idea for her to be placed with her own species. We just hope the move is in her best interest."
Carol Buckley, who runs an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee, said Ruby will have only two new companions to choose a friend from in Knoxville.
"It makes me a little nervous to think she is going to be taken away from a relationship she likes," Buckley said.
"If they are going to separate her from the only friend she has, let's give her equal or more - let's make sure the move is as beneficial to her as it is to the Knoxville Zoo."
Briscoe said Ruby and one of her handlers will journey to Knoxville before the summer, and if she doesn't like her new digs, she'll come home for good.
