Van Nuys Lawmaker Trumpets Wild Animal Park’s Elephant Pen
By CONNIE LEWIS - 1/22/2007
San Diego Business Journal Staff
"A state Assemblyman who is crafting a bill that would dictate how much space is needed for elephant enclosures at zoos across California, says the Wild Animal Park is on the right track, but the San Diego Zoo isn’t. At least not at present.
Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, said he is still working on the details. But a bill he plans to propose likely would call for zoos, circuses and other organizations to keep no more than three elephants in 5-acre enclosures. For each additional elephant, the space requirement might be expanded by a half acre.
A similar proposal last year failed to pass out of an Assembly committee and Levine wasn’t sure why.
“Nobody told me,” he said. But that was before he visited the Balboa Park zoo and Escondido’s Wild Animal Park, which are operated by the San Diego Zoological Society, in the spring of 2006.
Based on what he saw at the Wild Animal Park, he came away with ideas for some exemptions on his bill’s space dictates.
At the center of an issue that animal rights groups are focusing on nationwide is the question of how much space is needed to contain giant pachyderms outside of their natural environment. Known to roam tens of miles a day in the wild, many elephants that are confined in zoos and circuses are severely limited in their movement, which animal rights advocates claim results in chronic, debilitating foot disease and joint problems.
The Wild Animal Park currently has nine African elephants confined in 3 acres and six Asian elephants in 2.5 acres. But Levine said he observed that through play and exercise prompted by their keepers, they walk about five miles daily.
“The people I’ve talked to who are experts on elephant behavior say they roam anywhere between five and 50 miles a day in the wild,” Levine said. “So I’d say five miles would be a minimum standard.”
Their area at the Wild Animal Park, which contains dirt and sand similar to their natural habitat, is “an acceptable substrate” superior to the concrete flooring in some zoo enclosures, he added.
The Wild Animal Park’s elephants also have a watering hole they can walk into that provides entertainment and relieves the pressure on their feet and joints.
“I was impressed,” Levine added.
The elephant enclosure at the zoo in Balboa Park is another story.
Christine Simmons, a spokeswoman for the San Diego Zoological Society, said the confine for three elephants at the Balboa Park zoo is currently 17,194 square feet in size.
In Defense of Animals, meanwhile, has listed both attractions on its 2006 list of “Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants.” The list was released earlier this month.
“For all its claims of being a world-class zoo, when it comes to elephants, the pachyderms are definitely given second-class treatment,” the San Rafael-based animal rights organization said.
Catherine Doyle, a spokeswoman for the group, said the zoo plans to expand its elephant exhibit to a “stingy” 2 acres. An acre contains 43,560 square feet.
Simmons said construction on the expansion will begin sometime next year, but the start date was undetermined. She also said plans have not been finalized on the amount of space it would contain, but that it would be more than 2 acres."....
Following the earlier lead of other zoos, including the Detroit Zoo, several zoos last year announced the closure of their elephant exhibits — the Lion Country Safari in Florida, the Philadelphia Zoo and the Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas. Two other zoos, New York’s Bronx Zoo and the Santa Barbara Zoo, announced the phase-out of their elephant exhibits, Doyle said.
Bob Rauch, a local hotel owner and professor at San Diego State University’s Hospitality and Tourism Management Program, said the deaths of the three elephants sent from San Diego to Chicago should not be blamed on the San Diego Zoological Society.
“I don’t feel you can lay blame on the sender,” Rauch said.
As to whether restrictions should be put on elephant enclosures at the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, Rauch said, “Both parks are phenomenal tourist attractions and they should have the ability to use their own discretion given their track record on animal safety.”
Carl Winston, director of SDSU’s hospitality and tourism program, said he doubted attendance at the Balboa Park zoo, which stood at about 3 million last year, would drop if the elephant exhibit were closed.
“With the exception of special exhibits like the pandas, people don’t plan visits to the zoo or to San Diego just to see one exhibit,” Winston said. “Attractions aren’t built around one animal and I’m not aware of elephants being a key driver of zoo attendance anywhere.
“But it’s a slippery slope. If you take away the elephants, what’s next, the monkeys, tigers and bears, and where does it stop?”............
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