Writing Alert: Dallas Doesn't Need a Second Elephant it Can't Take Care of

[Guest guest]

Write Dallas Morning News LTE: http://www.dallasnews.com/cgi-bin/lettertoed.cgi

 

 

As a result of recent, effective efforts by Concerned Citizens for Jenny, the Dallas Zoo accelerated their plan to obtain tax dollar funding for an only slightly elephant expanded exhibit. This changes nothing in the plans of Concerned Citizens for Jenny a grass-roots citizens advocacy group who advocates for retiring Jenny to The Elephant Sanctuary (www.elephants.com).

 

Why is the City of Dallas is spending almost $30 million tax dollars to build an elephant exhibit that will not meet the needs of elephants? Dallas already has a $100 million dollar budget shortfall. The debt service on that $30 million expands the actual amount that tax payers will pay many fold. This makes no fiscal sense.

 

The only modestly expanded Zoo exhibit will not meet Jenny's needs. Planned for completion in 2010 or later, the new 3.75 acre elephant exhibit will not accommodate the needs of one elephant, let alone the six the Zoo intends to cram into this space. To thrive and be healthy, elephants need to walk 30-120 miles a day, not a few feet.

 

Zoos are physically and psychologically stressful for elephants. As noted in the prestigious journal Science in December, 2008, Zoos may be the least place on earth for elephant. Elephants in zoos live one third the lifespan of elephants in protected wild enviroments.

 

Jenny has a history of severe depression. She needs the theraputic care that she can only get at The Elephant Sanctuary, which specializes in healing and rehabilitating troubled and ailing elephants such as Jenny. The Dallas Zoo's response to Jenny's needs is to drug her. The Zoo can not (and has not) provided her with mental health care.

 

Jenny should not have to continue to eke out a miserable existance as she has for the last twenty two years in a tiny, antiquated barren one quarter acre exhibit for yet at least another year while the Zoo plays politics with her life.

Yesterday's events change nothing. CCFJ continues to advocate for Jenny to be retired to The Elephant Sanctuary. She can never get the care she needs in the Dallas Zoo.

 

As someone said to me yesterday, "Oh, Great. Now the Zoo has two elephants they can't take care of."

 

 

 

 

Miracles sometimes occur, but one has to work terribly hard for them.-Chaim Weizmann

 

Cross post widely, please.

Margaret Morin

Concerned Citizens For Jennyhttp://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/040209dnmetelephant.3900f72.html

New elephant arrives at Dallas Zoo, will be quarantined for a few weeks

 

12:27 AM CDT on Thursday, April 2, 2009

By JOANNA CATTANACH / The Dallas Morning Newsjcattanach

 

Nearly a year after losing her lone companion, Jenny the elephant finally has a new friend.

Gypsy, a 27-year-old female African elephant, arrived at the Dallas Zoo on Tuesday, trucked in from a private owner near Beaumont.

 

 

 

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New elephant arrives at Dallas Zoo

04/02/2009

 

 

She'll remain in quarantine for the next few weeks before being introduced to Jenny, who was thrust into the spotlight last year as part of a national debate about elephants and zoos.

 

The pair will be part of the zoo's new 11-acre mixed African species exhibit dubbed "Giants of the Savanna."

 

On Wednesday, City Council members unanimously approved $13.5 million to construct the first phase of the exhibit that will eventually house lions, impalas, zebras, ostriches, giraffes, wild dogs, wart hogs – and up to six elephants.

 

The current elephant exhibit is less than a quarter acre. The new exhibit, set to open next spring, will feature a 5- to 6-acre elephant enclosure. Zoo officials want it to serve as a national model.

 

Jenny has been alone at the zoo since her previous companion, KeKe, died in May. The zoo came under fire from local and national animal-rights groups after announcing plans to send Jenny to a Mexican zoo. Critics wanted Jenny, who has a history of behavioral problems, to go to an elephant sanctuary. Zoo officials changed course, and decided she would stay in Dallas.

 

Margaret Morin of Concerned Citizens for Jenny said Wednesday that the new exhibit will not be adequate.

 

"Why are they spending $30 million on an elephant exhibit that won't meet the needs of elephants?" she said. Morin said a new elephant and a new exhibit space don't help Jenny's underlying emotional problems. "It makes it hard to believe that the Dallas Zoo has Jenny's best interest at heart."

 

Zoo director Gregg Hudson said that concerns about Jenny's care probably won't end with the new exhibit.

 

"Jenny's a pretty well-known animal now," said Hudson, who thinks Jenny will thrive in her new home. "I'm not gonna rest until we have her in the new exhibit."

 

Dallas Zoo Gypsy, who arrived at the Dallas Zoo on Tuesday, will be part of the Dallas Zoo's new exhibit, set to open next spring. View larger More photos Photo store

The Savanna exhibit will also include breeding programs for lions, impalas and endangered wild dogs, as well as educational programs for children and research opportunities.

The total construction cost will be about $27 million, with $24 million coming from bond funds and the rest from private donations.

Gypsy, purchased by the Dallas Zoological Society, is also used to the spotlight. She's starred in movies and traveled around the country doing presentations with her owner and caretaker, who will stay with her through her transition.

Zoo handlers describe her as smart and sweet, with the kind of temperament they say will mesh well with Jenny's stronger personality.

 

Two other elephants are expected to be sent to Dallas before the exhibit opens.

Staff writer Rudolph Bush contributed to this report.