Guest guest Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Last Update: Wednesday, July 20, 2005. 0:27am (AEST) AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION Zoos await ruling on importing Asian elephants Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell will announce today whether zoos in Sydney and Melbourne will be allowed to import eight Asian elephants from Thailand. Humane Society International says it would be against Australian environmental laws to allow the importation. It says critically endangered species like the elephants are not supposed to be brought into Australia for exhibition or commercial purposes. The society says a breeding program is not viable. The group's Nicola Beynon says she is also concerned about the conditions the elephants would be kept in. " In nature the elephants live in large matriarchal herds and there's quite complex social relationships between the elephants, " she said. " When you take elephants that aren't related and put just a few of them in close confines, you're not getting a natural social system and that causes the elephant stress. " Ms Beynon says the elephants would need more space than the zoos could provide. " The Australian zoos have this old-fashioned notion that every zoo must have an elephant, " she said. " We think it's a 19th Century concept. " I think a lot of people, a lot of the Australian public today when they see an elephant in the zoo they think it's a pretty sorry sight and feel sorry for that animal. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.