FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants
Contact: Rowan Morrison P.O. Box 42564
Phone – 610-733-1248 Philadelphia, PA
BANNED ZOO MEMBER PLANS TO VISIT ZOO
Activist Sends Letter to Zoo Executive Denying Alleged “Threats” and Requesting Zoo to Allow Her to Visit
March 2, 2006 - Philadelphia, PA Today Marianne Bessey, Philadelphia Zoo member and leader of local grassroots group Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants, sent a letter to the Philadelphia Zoo director whose life she is accused of threatening (letter attached). In the letter, Bessey denies making any threats and assures the director, Alexander “Pete” Hoskins, that she wishes him no harm. She also advises Hoskins that she plans to visit the Zoo on Sunday. In addition, she begs Hoskins to immediately release Dulary, the only Asian elephant at the Zoo, to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee for health and safety reasons.
Dulary is confined in less than a quarter-acre with three African elephants, spending most of her time separated from the other elephants in a cement barn. African and Asian elephants are normally not housed together for health and temperament reasons since African elephants are known to be much more energetic, often creating a “bullying” situation with the more docile Asian elephants.
The Philadelphia Zoo continues to use a negative stimuli to dominate the elephants with a device known as a “bullhook” or “ankus.” It is documented that elephants kept in cramped quarters and dominated with pain-inflicting devices such as the bullhook are far more likely to exhibit aggressive behaviors.
The Philadelphia Zoo’s current quarter-acre elephant enclosure is not nearly large enough to allow Dulary to avoid another attack where she could suffer even more severe injuries, possibly death. Recently, Mame, a 32-year-old African elephant living at the Brookfied Zoo in Illinois, was euthanized after sustaining severe injuries during an encounter with another elephant. To avoid this horrible and very real possibility, Dulary must be transferred to The Elephant Sanctuary immediately for her own health and safety. Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants has filed a formal complaint with the USDA alleging violations of the Animal Welfare Act and previously requested all four elephants to be sent to The Elephant Sanctuary based on concerns about the elephants’ welfare and lack of space at the Zoo.
The Philadelphia Zoo, like other urban zoos, is physically incapable of providing the vast acreage necessary to accommodate elephants’ social, spatial and psychological needs. This lack of space leads to psychological and physical health problems including degenerative foot and joint disorders, digestive and reproductive problems. Because of these captivity-induced conditions, elephants in zoos on average die at half their natural lifespan of 70 years.
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