Number of elephants at accredited US zoos grows smaller

(26 Jul 2019) LEAD IN :

Once a mainstay of zoos, the opportunities to see elephants at accredited zoos in the United States is growing smaller.



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Ruth is a big fan of popcorn. But she has to work for it.

Elephants have an "excellent sense of smell, so they can, they know what's what," says Chuck Wikenhauser, Milwaukee County Zoo director.  "Whether it's popcorn in there, whether it's some other treat, they enjoy that."

It's one of the enrichment activities at the Milwaukee County Zoo, as part of a new elephant exhibit.

The upgrade, which cost $16.6 million, was created in part because of an effort to improve standards for elephants in zoos. The treatment of elephants has been at the center of a debate in recent years, including the use of elephants as circus animals.

Part of the reason is that AZA, which sets zoo care standards, instituted specific requirements for elephants in 2011. Some zoos were unable to afford the requirements, which included putting barriers between keepers and elephants.

  

The standards also require zoos to have at least three elephants for their psychological comfort - the Milwaukee zoo is still working on finding more - along with specific guidelines for physical and psychological stimulation, and barriers between elephants and caretakers for their safety.

  

Some animal welfare advocates don't believe elephants should be put in enclosures.

In Milwaukee, the outdoor area is now 1.6 acres _ four times as big as the elephants' entire previous enclosure.

The new space has high-hanging devices, with hay, so they can exercise their trunks. There's also a wall with holes that allows them get food rewards.

There's also sand and padded floors inside, a watering hole and a self-activating shower.

While elephants receiving better care and more space is always a positive, Ed Stewart, who runs three California sanctuary facilities that take in abandoned, abused or retiring wildlife, says elephants don't belong in zoos.

"Any time you give an elephant more space and a better environment in captivity, it's a good thing,  says Stewart.

"When you call it 'State of the art' that's, that's kind of a misnomer. Once you put a fence up around a wild animal 'state of the art' goes out the window," he says.

He predicts zoos will end up like circuses _ without elephants.

"The circus industry fell apart because people quit going," he says "And they couldn't meet their humane requirements of performing with the elephants. Unfortunately I think people are looking at all of captivity like that now."

Milwaukee is one of the few places in the Midwest to see elephants.

Of the 236 U.S. accredited zoos, only 62 hold elephants, according to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, or AZA. That's down from 77 elephants 15 years ago.

Some zoos couldn't afford the required upgrades. Another reason for the decrease ?

'The mortality rate in zoos exceeds the birth rate," Wikenhauser explains.

Despite the cost and effort, the Milwaukee County Zoo decided it was worth it and raised half of cost of the $16.6 million expansion within the community.

The new exhibit was one of the main reasons Stephanie Goldstein brought her son during a recent visit from New York.

"I don't want my son to only see elephants as a picture in a book," she says.

A big fascination for the largest animal to currently walk the earth.



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