This story from national geographic.com speaks about a study done over six years which now proves that protected Elephants in the wild live more than TWICE as long as those captive in Zoo's. This has really confused my views on conservation.
I do believe however that, unfortunetly, we have to have these animals in zoo's to educate people. As sad as it is, some people may not care for the elephants if they don't get the chance to see them in real life in a zoo. Hmm..the story still makes me kinda sad though.
"Wild elephants in protected areas of Africa and Asia live more than twice as long as those in European zoos, a new study has found.
Animal welfare advocates have long clashed with zoo officials over concerns about the physical and mental health of elephants in captivity.
"We're worried that the whole system basically doesn't work and improving it is essential," said lead author Georgia Mason, a zoologist at the University of Guelph in Canada. Until these problems are resolved, the authors are calling for a halt to importing wild elephants and breeding them in facilities unless an institution can guarantee long, healthy lives for its elephants. The study will be published tomorrow in the journal Science.
Mason and colleagues looked at data from more than 4,500 wild and captive African and Asian elephants.
The data include elephants in European zoos, which house about half of the world's captive elephants; protected populations in Amboseli National Park in Kenya; and the Myanma Timber Enterprise in Myanmar (Burma), a government-run logging operation where Asian elephants are put to work.
Only the survival rates of females were analyzed because of their importance to future populations.
The findings show that captive elephants live considerably shorter lives."
THE OTHER SIDE:
In 2004 Wiese co-authored a paper in the journal Zoo Biology showing the opposite of Mason's findings: that zoo elephants live as long as those in the wild.
He said that within the last decade accredited facilities have made huge improvements in the care of captive elephants by providing better nutrition to combat obesity, as well as environmental enrichment activities that reduce stress.
"Typically anti-zoo critics throw … in our face the things that the zoo community has already identified as issues that we need to work on," Wiese said.
6 comments:
Heres a site I just started reading Vic that you may click with
http://heyburton.blogspot.com/
his name is Chris and hes into animal rights too...x
Thanks A x
Sadly, many animals will only continue to live if they are kept in zoos, just because of their declining natural habitats &/or poachers. It's a bit of a catch-22.
thats exactly what it is pita. shame its that way
x
Well.... i've worked in a zoological garden (Denver Zoo in Colorado, USA) and have seen first hand the many ailments which affect captive animals. Tooth decay, bone and muscle degeneration, foot problems, etc. These injuries/diseases coupled with improper habitat makes for a shorter life span, i believe.
I've yet to hear of an elephant living to the age of 80 years+ in captivity... something which has been documented of elephants living out in the wild.
I now believe that zoos across the globe should be used as a place to rehabilitate and then release wildlife back into their own habitat. Use these places as a conservation aide and a way to educate the public on the animals they are rehabbing.
Tooth disease, bone and muscle deterioration, foot injuries, etc. All this because these creatures are not living in their NATURAL environment.
It is sad when we start to believe that zoos are a good and necessary thing because nonhuman animals are being driven from their environment. Instead of conceding to this fact, perhaps we should see this as a very real and big problem which we should address and remedy.
AHhh El Taxita very, very wise words.
I agree with you 100%. You are very privilaged to have worked closely in this industry to be able to appreciate the beauty of such captive animals but it is sad we are not observing them peacefully in the wild.
It is a very big problem that needs to be addressed however I believe unfortunetly, wild animals will always be used selfishly for human entertainment.
Thank you so much for your comment.
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