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Tucson elephants Connie & Shaba – sanctuary or zoo?

by on Jan. 23, 2012, under Animal Cruelty, Animal News, Wildlife

According to Jessica Shuman, a local Tucson animal activist, Tucson elephants Connie & Shaba going to the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey is not a good idea. Other people who commented in my previous post also agree.

Shuman says that this move is a calculated smokescreen that most of the public cannot critically see through unless it is spelled out. She spells it out below:

“This plan allows the AZA (Association of Zoos & Aquariums) to move forward in separating Africans and Asians in all the AZA facilities that still house them together and maintain control of all the elephants in their system.

To the many folks offering their congratulations with the announcement that Connie and Shaba will be going to San Diego together…this is not a victory. This move essentially guarantees that Connie and Shaba WILL be separated. It is predetermined and the AZA and their members will see that it happens.

For those of you who don’t know, as a point of reference…, When San Diego was forming a new herd in 2009, combining two small herds of Asians together, they chose to include African elephant Tembo with her 2 bonded Asian herd mates of 27 years. Their reasons were the same for why we want Connie and Shaba to remain together.

Long ago, prior to the PAWS (Performing Animal Welfare Society) proposal, when my co-organizer and I met with the director of the Reid Park Zoo, Susan Basford, we questioned this mixed herd. Could Shaba join Connie there? Could they be integrated together in Tucson and get a waiver like San Diego? She informed us that San Diego was planning on transferring Tembo out and was actively looking for another zoo for her. We were told the same thing by Reid Park Zoo’s Education Coordinator Jed Dodds. We were shocked by this and felt terrible for Tembo and her bonded herd mates.

In our correspondence with San Diego when asked if Shaba could join Connie we were told that “even though animals of other species are known to form bonds, they quickly abandon their former comrades to be with their own kind.”

NOW, on the heels of this announcement to send Connie and Shaba to San Diego, in the City of Tucson memorandum from Parks and Rec director Fred Gray it states:

San Diego remains confident that when given the opportunity to socialize with members of her own species Connie will bond well with fellow elderly Asian elephants. Similarly, they expect Shaba will find companionship with their single African “Tembo.” Experts will continue to evaluate individual animal behavior and relationships, as well as the needs of the entire Species Survival Plan, as future placement decisions are made for Shaba and Tembo together.

That’s not a typo! It says “as future placement decisions are made for Shaba and Tembo”! The African elephants will be transferred meaning an ultimate separation for Connie and Shaba.

They may be leaving together and living in the same exhibit for awhile, but once the heat is off and some time passes they will do exactly what they want–which is to isolate them with their own species. This can happen with no oversight, but if concerns were raised , the zoo “experts” will find any way to justify it–despite what every expert outside of zoo culture knows about elephants.

Zoos inherently create unnatural situations. Connie and Shaba–nor Tembo–should not be victims of humanities slow learning curve.

Nothing can replace Connie and Shaba’s bond.

We plan to keep moving towards what will guarantee the preservation of Connie and Shaba’s bond, prevent future transfers and in giving them the best quality of life possible. PAWS is a real solution.

We feel as longtime Citizens of Tucson and with all they have already been through in life, Connie and Shaba deserve this.”

Shuman also has an opinion piece in this week’s Tucson Weekly which discusses her contact with Bob Barker (Price is Right/animal lover) and his willingness to match funds if the elephants are sent to an elephant sanctuary where they will be together — no compromises. A zoo is not a sanctuary.

To weigh in on this still brewing controversy, contact the City Council
.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 23rd, 2012 at 5:51 am and is filed under Animal Cruelty, Animal News, Wildlife. Tags for this post: , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/saveallelephants Tory Braden

    Thank you for doing your research, Ms. Zoldan.  Unfortunately when doing research on either circus or zoo elephants one only finds hardheartedness (I’m being kind in that description) and heartbreak, if not death.   …..

    It has been said “corporations are people,” and the AZA is one with a huge ego propelled by patriarchial testosterone poisoning – “We know what is best” as the guise of  ”We do what we want.”  Most people have no clue what “animal broker” means – it means “slave trader,” and the AZA describes itself as the former.  When people realize, and hopefully that’s the city council, that these animals are only pieces of furniture to these decision makers, perhaps the move can be stopped.  

    The most blatant example of the worst of AZA zoos is St. Louis and its director happens to be president of the AZA.  If  the St. Louis Zoo can deceive its public with very sick elephants as “nothing wrong,” perhaps the Tucson city council by studying it, can understand what is in store for Connie & Shaba as they end up who knows where.  See clarasvoice.org  St.Louis Zoo is in the top 10 worst zoos in the US. …..

    We can only hope the real decision makers, and it is not subversive zoo officials, will understand the reality and stop the move.  ….. 

    Or can there be a petition for voters to vote on the issue of moving them to PAWS while getting an injunction to stop the move, until the vote in November?  This will, at the least, force the city council to review the many dirty dealings of the AZA further and perhaps they will stop the move themselves. …..

    For more information on elephants go to Save Queenie Save Elephants on   facebook.com/saveallelephants: poaching, circus and zoo abuse throughout the world. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/saveallelephants Tory Braden

    Fact – Tina & Jewel, Asians, did not bond well with their “own kind” after being sent to San Diego. Because of that they were moved again, only on loan (the “furniture” moving I previously mentioned), to the LA Zoo. How long for this stay only the AZA knows in its black heart with its “musical chairs” approach, rather than understanding that these elephants are sentient beings who get attached to their keepers (and vice versa) and possibly other elephants (but are separated from Billy who still sways neurotically alone).

  • Belinda Bowes

    Ms. Zoldan, I would like to thank you for publishing this story.   It is obvious you dug to find the information.
    AZA does not have the best welfare of the animals in mind.  One such case is poor Lucy, a tropical animal, still being in the Edmonton Zoo and having to face the harsh, cold Canadian winter.  All kinds of offers have been made to move her to PAWS, with Bob Barker offering a very generous amount to help.    Yet the AZA still argues against it.   There is also the Toronto 3, as we call them.  They should already be at PAWS, but the AZA and the zookeepers have blocked it.  They are also facing the harsh, cold Canadian winter.
    The memory and the loyalty of an elephant does not recognize race or nationality.  TES had an elephant that was best friends with a dog.  When the dog was injured, the elephant came to the house every day hoping to see him.  http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80487753/.   When Bella was killed by wild animals, Tarra mourned her friend.   
    Separating these two friends,  Connie and Shaba, would cause psychological damage.  The people at the AZA do not seem to take this into account. 
    Thank you very muc for giving a voice to these friends who should stay together.
     
     
     

    • Suzanne List

      Thank you so much, Ms. Zoldan! Below is a copy of a letter that I just sent off to the Mayor and Council.

      To: Mayor Rothschild and all Members of the City Council,

      The very transparent ruse that the AZA and Reid Park Zoo have devised , is nothing more than a shell game, to placate those of us who care about Connie and Shaba’s future together. I do not consider, being side by side on a 10 hour ride to San Diego, “keeping them together”. What seems to be somewhat sugar-coated in most of the articles I have read, is the fact that they will NOT be together in San Diego, and there are very good chances that both Shaba, and Tembo (SD’s only African elephant), will be sent to a different zoo. I would go so far as to say, all the exclamations and celebrations, based on the announcement of them staying together, is very misleading to the average Tucsonan,who does not consider themselves an activist, and grew up visiting the pair at the zoo here, since childhood. They have been bamboozled. I have not.
      Giving the community an extension to raise matching funds from Bob Barker, to send these amazing creatures to a respectful and loving sanctuary for the rest of their days together, is the only truly humane resolution to this sad story. Please vote to do so, please !

      If Connie and Shaba make it to PAWS together, then there will truly be a reason to celebrate !

      With great sincerity, and regards,

      Suzanne List

  • Sabine Zell

    Dear Ms. Zoldan, thank you very much for exposing the facts regarding this move of Connie and Shaba.   While it is true that Asian elephants and African elephants would never meet in the wild, the same cannot be said for zoo.  Reid Park Zoo is not the only zoo that mixed species, there are others.  Regardless, elephants are herding mammals and naturally try to form a family unit whether in the wild or in captivity.  It is instinct.  And this is exactly what Connie and Shaba have done.   They have sought each others company and have formed a life long bond that helps them survive in captivity.   The AZA seems to follow their inadequate guidelines only were it is advantageous to them.  The AZA seems to never demonstrate any humane actions in how animals should be treated in captivity.  There are zoos with elephants that are in such poor state that it becomes evident that the AZA  recommendations never consider the welfare of the elephant or elephants.  Thank you for speaking for Connie and Shaba.    They can’t speak words but their demeanor speaks volumes.
    Respectfully,
    Sabine Zell

  • Elin Landenburger

     
    Thank you for your well-researched article, Ms. Zoldan. I was one of the people who initially did a “happy dance” for Connie and Shaba until I saw the zoos’ actions for what they are – an elaborate smokescreen. Elephant expert Joyce Poole once said that “zoos are supposedly there to educate us – but what we continually ­see are exhibits of animal abuse”. While the actions of the Reid Park Zoo concerning Connie and Shaba may not qualify to some as abuse, their actions are surely being taken with total disregard to the well-being of these elephants. Because of Bob Barker’s generous offer, it would cost nothing for the zoo to have Connie and Shaba moved to a sanctuary. If only the Tucson city council would do the kind of research that you have done and ignore the AZA’s talk of “rigorous standards” that don’t hold a candle to the standards of PAWS. It is true that Connie and Shaba would never have met in the wild given the fact that Connie is Asian and Shaba is African. Reid Park Zoo, however, took it upon themselves to place these two elephants together and created a “family” in the process. Now it’s time to respect those family bonds and keep these two elephants together – for good.  Thank you again  for being a voice for Connie and Shaba.

    It is true that Connie and Shaba would never have met in the wild given the fact that Connie is Asian and Shaba is African. Reid Park Zoo, however, took it upon themselves to place these two elephants together and created a “family” in the process. Now it’s time to respect those family bonds instead of willfully ignoring decades of research that indicates otherwise.

  • http://ezinnbooks.com Elizabeth

    Dear Ms. Zoldan – thank you for keeping this very important story alive, and for doing the necessary research to bring the true facts to the surface for the citizens of Tucson to digest.  I believe Tucsonans are a generous and kind populace, in general.  I hope that you will keep this very sad story front and center so that the public can muster enough pressure on our elected officials to do the right thing – which is, of course, to send Connie and Shaba to a sanctuary to live out their days together, in peace.  Any other option is a travesty.  We humans do enough to destroy what’s left of the wild kingdom.  When we have an opportunity like this — and especially with the generous help of Bob Barker — to do something to save even two of these beautiful animals, shouldn’t we  jump on it??  I urge the Zoo officials, our City Council, and all interested Tucsonans to do whatever it takes to send our Connie and Shaba to a PAWS facility and not into the certain misery awaiting them in San Diego.

  • Nick

    Isn’t it a little short-sighted to say PAWS is the “real solution” for these two elephants given how elephants are housed at that facility? PAWS houses their elephants separately by species. The African elephant females live with the other African elephant females. The Asian elephant females live with the other Asian elephant females. The male elephants live by themselves. It’s on their website. Unless PAWS has offered to build a separate area of their facility just for these two elephants to be together, they would most likely be separated upon their arrival. It would be the same situation even at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. It may be a sanctuary, but the elephants as well as the other animals that live there are still managed much the same way those that live at zoos are managed – in single species groups (with some notable exceptions).

  • http://willmydoghateme.com Edie

    I’m tired of polarizing in politics — whether about human affairs or animal affairs. I had the privilege of interviewing the veterinarians who were caring for the Reid Park elephants and they cared very much about their happiness as well as their comfort — as do the zoo keepers. Everyone is doing the best they can for the animals — including trying to keep the elephants from going extinct. Please don’t assume that one side knows the entire story.

  • christy kowalewski

    Can someone post a direct link to make it easy to contact city council…the link in the article just takes you to the city website – I think the orginal article generated so much support because there was an easy link fort people to follow and write a form letter…is anyone doing that now?

  • Kath

    Have a heart… they should be together in sanctuary! They have done their time and deserve to retire!

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