ACF opposes proposal to allow sale of indeginous wildlife/ Stop lone elephant transfer from India to Armenia

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Fri, 14 Jan 2005 14:41:44 -0000

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Selling Endangered Animals Opposed by ACF/Elephant from India

to Armenia

 

 

PLANS TO SELL ENDANGERED ANIMALS MAULED BY

CONSERVATION GROUP

 

CAIRNS, Queensland, Jan 11, 2005: A national conservation group last

night mauled a proposal for Aboriginal people to harvest

endangered Australian species for sale to private overseas

collectors as " inappropriate " and " illegal " .

 

In a contentious move to capitalise on traditional Indigenous

hunting, wildlife such as the highly-prized black cockatoo,

frill-necked lizard and numbat would be destined for collectors'

shelves and international animal parks.

 

Meat, bone, feathers, teeth, ochre, fruit and flowers could also be

exported under the plan, put forward late last year by an

Indigenous leader.

 

North Queensland Lands Council chairman, Terry O'Shane said

the animals and plants could be harvested in native title areas,

national parks, and where Aboriginal people had Indigenous

Land Use Agreements (ILUAs).

 

The money would then be poured back into struggling

Indigenous communities, he said.

 

Some animals, often the target of smugglers, were expected to

fetch thousands of dollars.

 

The Australian Conservation Foundation today dismissed the

sale of endangered Australian animals as inappropriate.

 

" It just can't happen, and that's appropriate, " executive

director

Don Henry said today.

 

Mr Henry said there was " no point " in considering trading in

endangered animals because it was illegal under domestic

legislation and the Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, of which Australia

was a signatory.

 

" There are uses (of land) that are appropriate and obviously

others that are inappropriate, " he said.

 

" It's something that would have to be developed very

carefully. "

 

Queensland Conservation Council coordinator Toby Hutcheon

said the proposal would set a " very, very dangerous

precedent "

and would only serve to discredit Indigenous communities.

 

" It would be a slap in face to our international (conservation)

reputation to allow it, " he said.

 

And Mr Hutcheon did not believe the plan could bring sufficient

funds to help Indigenous communities living below the poverty

line.

 

But Mr O'Shane said Aboriginal people were more concerned

with caring for the environment than making money.

 

" Our focus has to be on how we care for country. If in that

process we can make some good money, that's really just an

added bonus, " he said.

 

Mr O'Shane said licenses would be given to select members of

tribal groups to harvest the animals, and arrangements would

be made with scientists, universities or zoos to incubate and

hatch them.

 

None would be taken from the wild to be sold, he said.

 

" White Australia has a very bad history in terms of looking after

our environment, we need to take control of our environment

ourselves and start to monitor these sorts of things, " Mr O'Shane

said.

 

It was unknown how much the sales could earn each year. - AAP

 

http://www.nit.com.au/News/story.aspx?id=4232

 

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ELEPHANT ON WAY TO ARMENIA

 

If you have time and inclination, you might like to write a few

lines, as suggested below, to dissuade the Government of India

from sending a lone female elephant to Yerevan Zoo, in

Armenia.

 

Apart from any issue of legality, I am haunted by a doco of

Yerevan Zoo that I saw some years ago. A single hippo was

kept in a pitiful condition inside a shed and bathed each day by

hand - the only water available - , to try to prevent her tough hide

from cracking. She was treated kindly by her keeper, but the

conditions were totally inappropriate. The winter was severe

beyond our imagination.

 

The zoo map http://star.yerphi.am/~marina/ indicates it is better

than that now, but I doubt it is a paradise, let alone a mild winter

one. Although not to scale, the area for the elephant and rhino(s)

is small.

 

The elephant should not go there - on the contrary, they should

move the present one out!

 

For your consideration

 

Carole

 

STOP THIS TRANSFER

 

kindly send the letters to the Indian Prime Minister, President

and Secretary, Ministry of environment and Forests, Govt.of India.

manmohan

presidentofindia

secy

 

 

GIFT OF ELEPHANT VEDA AGAINST LEGAL NORMS TO

ARMENIA

 

As a gesture of goodwill, the President and the Prime Minister of

India have decided to gift a young female elephant from South

India to a cold place like the Yerevan Zoo in Armenia.

 

Noble as the thought may be, the repercussions of this gesture

are anything but 'goodwill' for the animals concerned.

 

VEDA, a 6 year old female elephant known to many

Bangaloreans as the gentle pachyderm from Bannerghatta

Biological Park in Bangalore(Karnataka), has been condemned

to a fate worse than death by the higher authorities. In total

disregard of animal welfare and the many legal provisions and

Government policies that prohibit the transfer of wild animals

and ensure protection to captive animals and endangered

species, the Government of India has gone forward with the

proposal to transfer Veda, from the Bannerghatta Biological park

(BBP) to Yerevan Zoo in Armenia in West Asia.

 

The proposed transfer of Veda, a Schedule 1 wild animal to

Yerevan Zoo in Armenia is in violation of The Prevention of

Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960; The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972;

The Indian Constitution; and the State Government Policy.

Section 42 of the Wildlife Protection Act clearly states that the

Chief Wildlife Warden, in respect of any wild animal, shall

ensure that the Applicant has adequate facilities for housing,

maintenance and upkeep of an animal.

 

In the present case, no enquiry or investigation with respect to

the conditions prevailing in the Yerevan Zoo, Armenia has been

made by the Chief Wildlife Warden or the State / Central

Governments.

 

The State Government of Karnataka, vide Government Order

dated 28-06-2000 has banned the transfer of the elephants

within or outside the State. Section 48A of the Indian Constitution

calls upon the State to protect wildlife. The proposed transfer is

also in violation of Section 11 (1) clauses a, b, d, e, f and h of

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act which deals with cruelty to

animals generally. In view of the above the proposed transfer of

Veda is against the principles of natural justice and the above

legal provisions.

 

Veda, the gentle, playful youngster, born in captivity in BBP is

living happily and comfortably along with the other Bannerghatta

elephants as part of the elephant family in the Park. The

environment is closest to the forest habitat and all her physical

and psychological needs are met by the forest department which

is totally equipped to take care of elephants.

 

At Bannerghatta Biological Park, the elephants are provided with

sufficient food and water according to their needs, taken to the

forests in the evenings and allowed to roam freely in the forest

during the evening and night, brought back to the camp in the

mornings, where they are allowed to wallow in the lake and

given leisurely baths. Most importantly the elephants live in a

closely related herd which is vital to their well being.

 

In total contrast, the Yerevan Zoo in Armenia is a zoo and unlike

Bannerghatta Biological Park is not an forest sanctuary. Apart

from the freezing cold climate, the conditions of Yerevan Zoo

Armenia are totally unsuitable to house and maintain an

elephant. It has been reliably learnt that the outer elephant

enclosure in the said zoo is less than 10,000 sq. ft and the

winter shed is less than 2,500 sq. ft., which is totally inadequate

to house an elephant for the rest of it's life.

 

Winters in Armenia range from four to six months in a year from

-4 to -14 degrees below freezing point. Climatic conditions of

Armenia are thus totally unsuitable for elephants and as a result

the poor animal will be subjected to tremendous hardship and

suffering.

 

Apart from the totally unsuitable climatic conditions of Armenia,

Yerevan Zoo lacks the space, infrastructure and facilities to meet

the physical and psychological needs of Veda.

 

Isolation:- Veda, who is now part of a large, loving elephant

family will be forced to live in isolation in Yerevan Zoo. Though

the Zoo is supposed to have a male elephant, the same cannot

be compared to living with an all female, close knit family which

is an important condition for a sensitive, social and herd animal

like an elephant.

 

Studies reveal that female elephants in particular need to live in

herds along with other female elephants. Therefore the Yerevan

Zoo cannot meet this requirement of Veda and separating Veda

from her present family herd amounts to utmost cruelty.

 

Exercise:- Elephants require plenty of exercise for digestion and

also to maintain the condition of their feet. Presently Veda is

accustomed to long walks in the adjoining forests of BBP where

she is allowed to roam freely after evening hours. Unfortunately

the Yerevan Zoo at Armenia does not have the conditions or

space to provide for any grazing or exercise.

 

Transportation:- Transportation of Veda is also likely to result in

tremendous physical and emotional stress which can be easily

avoided.

 

Health:- Elephants in European and West Asian zoos all suffer

from degenerative joint diseases, arthritis and painful bone

conditions, due to standing on concrete floors for many hours.

The flooring for the enclosures are usually concrete and wood

which contribute significantly towards these medical problems.

Elephants are recorded to live shorter lives in zoos, where

stillbirth, infanticide and calf-rejection are collectively

responsible

for 74% of the deaths of infant elephants born in European zoos .

 

The proposed transfer of Veda cannot also be justified on any

grounds. While the CITES permits transfer of wild animals for

the purposes of conservation, education and research, the

proposed transfer of Veda does not in any way contribute to

conservation, education or research as conservation of a

species cannot be carried out by a country which is totally alien

to the species in question.

 

According to Dr. Karen Manvelyan, former scientific director of the

Yerevan Zoo, the zoo in Armenia should focus on rare and

endangered species of its own country like Armenian Muflon,

Bezoar goat, Leopard, Caucasian black grouse, Caspian snow

cock and other Armenia endangered species. Wild life experts

are also now of the view that zoos do not in any way help in

education and research as they do not present the true picture of

animals in wild. Education can be better achieved by films etc.

on wild animals in the natural habitat.

 

The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) and the Captive Specialist Group

(CBSG) to which India is a signatory has categorically stated in

its National Zoo Policy that all Governments should ensure that

State gifts of living animals should be compatible with ongoing

conservation or captive breeding programmes. It is also to be

noted that Yerevan Zoo has no such ongoing conservation or

breeding programmes and therefore the proposed transfer is

totally unnecessary.

 

Research studies reveal that zoos do not have the space and

other conditions to house and maintain elephants and keeping

of elephants in zoos is stressful and traumatic for the animals

as their physical and psychological needs are not met. In light of

the above, the San Francisco and Detroit Zoos have banned the

keeping of elephants .

 

It has become a trend for politicians to gift elephants to temples,

states and countries without realizing the consequences of their

actions and overlooking the prevailing laws relating to wildlife

and most of all the well being and the welfare of the animals

themselves.

 

It is high time that this unfortunate practice is checked and put to

an end.

 

FROM

Suparna Baksi-Ganguly

Founder-Trustee and Vice-President

Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA)

257, Ist Cross, HAL IInd Stage, Indira Nagar

Bangalore - 560038 INDIA

Phone: 91-80-22212215 / 22278678

Fax: 91-80-22293771 / 22279657

suparnaganguly

 

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