Irizary
February 23rd, 2005, 03:24 PM
From www.dawnwatch.com...
The cover story of the current Anchorage Press (February 17-23) is
about Maggie, the elephant languishing in the Anchorage Zoo. It is a
beautiful article, detailing her plight, giving us information on the pitiful
history of elephants in captivity, and questioning the keeping of wild
animals captive for human entertainment. The article, by Robert
Meyerowitz, is headed "Elephant in the Room."
It opens:
"The Alaska Zoo, with its rough-hewn rails and obvious cages, feels
like a throwback to a simpler time and place - say, a Boy Scout camp circa
1965 - more than it resembles modern zoos today, which often strive to
seem not like zoos at all. Whether more natural habitats and invisible
enclosures make captive animals happier, or simply make visitors feel
better about captive animals, they're parts of one more Outside idea
that's taking its time coming north.
We learn that Maggie has been in the Alaska Zoo for 21 years, and that
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and many other groups feel
"she ought to be able to spend her golden years in the sun, in the
company of other elephants, preferably in a sanctuary."
Meyerowitz visits Maggie at the zoo. He writes:
"Rob Smith, Maggie's lead attendant, led me inside. In the winter,
Maggie lives in what is essentially a huge cage inside an even bigger room,
with a small, adjoining office for humans. The big room was warm, lit
and steamy from hot water used for cleaning."
We learn that "Maggie is unrestrained within her cage except when she
eats breakfast, for about half an hour, so zoo workers can clean in her
enclosure; at those times, one of her front legs is chained to a cage
bar."
We read about Maggie's personality, and then about elephants in
general, such as the way they communicate at frequencies too low for humans to
hear. Then we learn about their history in human captivity: in combat,
zoos, early circuses and about astonishing human cruelty towards these
animals.
Meyerowitz shares a description, from Martin Meredith, of a series of
games in Pompey in 55 BC that "culminated with 20 elephants put in the
ring against javelin-wielding African tribesman, the Gaetulians."
Meredith writes, of one elephant who put up a valiant fight:
"Wounded in its feet, it crawled on its knees towards the Gaetulians,
snatching their shields and tossing them into the air. Another elephant
was killed by a single blow from a javelin, which struck it just below
the eye. The remaining elephants then tried to escape by breaking
through the iron barriers of the enclosure protecting spectators. When their
attempt failed, they stood in the arena waving their trunks in
desperation and trumpeting piteously."
From that shameful ancient history, we move to shameful recent history,
and specifically to Maggie's:
"In the 1980s, African elephants were imperiled as never before. The
trade in ivory was accelerating, and the elephants, which had been moved
to game preserves, were overgrazing. The government of Zimbabwe, like
some other African states, culled their herds. From 1981 to 1988,
Zimbabwe slaughtered nearly 25,000 elephants, selling the ivory and other
body parts. Biologists, conservationists and others protested what they
said was senseless killing, but there were also conservationists who
supported programs like Zimbabwe's as sound game management....
"In 1983, a Zimbabwe cull left five baby elephants watching on grassy
plains as all the adults in their herds, all the elephants they'd ever
known, were cut down around their ears. The five orphans were purchased
by Americans and flown to the Catskill Game Farm, a private zoo in
Upstate New York."
One of those orphans was then purchased by the Anchorage Zoo, as a
companion for the zoos solo elephant, Annabelle. She was named Maggie.
Meyerowitz tackles the broader issue of zoos:
"Animals in a zoo fascinate me because I can see them. At the same
time, I don't ever really suppose they want to be there, any more than my
childhood collie really wanted us to dress him up. I just blind myself
to that elephant in the room to satisfy my curiosity. I'd bet I'm not
the only person at the zoo lying to myself this way, pretending that this
is somehow a choice the zebra or the leopard would make. What worries
me is this: Isn't saying we want zoos to remain really to say that our
interest in other animals is more important than their happiness?"
He admits that meeting Maggie instilled in him some of the wonder that
zoo proponents say makes zoos worthwhile. But he writes:
"I'm not sure the average zoo visitor, for whose benefit Maggie was
brought here, has anything like my experience. One recent Saturday morning
I went to the zoo during regular hours and went to the back, to the
elephant house. It was a bitterly cold day, and the elephant house was
warm. I watched as people trooped in until the gallery held about twenty
folks, families with toddlers in strollers, mothers and fathers with
just their eyes and the tops of their noses showing above their scarves,
two Goth teen girls and several soldiers. They all stopped for a moment
once they were inside and looked at Maggie, but Maggie wasn't doing
anything much that morning, just standing in her enclosure, her broad rump
at a 45-degree angle to the audience, her head in shadow. She was doing
what I imagine she spends much of her time doing, just standing
around....The visitors that cold morning noted that this was indeed an
elephant, as promised, and a few read aloud from the sign above their h
eads that talked about the size and shape and parts of African
elephants, and the danger they face nowadays in the wild, but eventually
everyone in the room ceased to pay the elephant much attention at all, which
made sense, since Maggie didn't seem interested in them either. But it
was cold outside. So the people lingered and soon were enveloped in
their conversations, their heads turned away from the enclosure, and,
except for a loud snort every now and then that punctuated their chatter
about work and school and hockey practice, it was as though they had no
idea they were in a room with an elephant."
You can read the whole article, and see heartbreaking photos of Maggie
alone in her concrete cell at:
http://www.anchoragepress.com/archives-2005/coverstoryvol14ed7.shtml OR
http://tinyurl.com/6f67y
And you can write appreciative letters, making it clear that the public
would like to see Maggie, after all she and her kind have suffered,
released to sanctuary.
The Anchorage press takes letters at:
http://www.anchoragepress.com/feedback.shtml
You can send an appreciative note to Robert Meyerowitz at:
robert@anchoragepress.com
A terrific resource on this issue is the website:
http://www.savewildelephants.com . There is a special section about
Maggie.
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal
issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant
media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at
http://www.DawnWatch.com.
The cover story of the current Anchorage Press (February 17-23) is
about Maggie, the elephant languishing in the Anchorage Zoo. It is a
beautiful article, detailing her plight, giving us information on the pitiful
history of elephants in captivity, and questioning the keeping of wild
animals captive for human entertainment. The article, by Robert
Meyerowitz, is headed "Elephant in the Room."
It opens:
"The Alaska Zoo, with its rough-hewn rails and obvious cages, feels
like a throwback to a simpler time and place - say, a Boy Scout camp circa
1965 - more than it resembles modern zoos today, which often strive to
seem not like zoos at all. Whether more natural habitats and invisible
enclosures make captive animals happier, or simply make visitors feel
better about captive animals, they're parts of one more Outside idea
that's taking its time coming north.
We learn that Maggie has been in the Alaska Zoo for 21 years, and that
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and many other groups feel
"she ought to be able to spend her golden years in the sun, in the
company of other elephants, preferably in a sanctuary."
Meyerowitz visits Maggie at the zoo. He writes:
"Rob Smith, Maggie's lead attendant, led me inside. In the winter,
Maggie lives in what is essentially a huge cage inside an even bigger room,
with a small, adjoining office for humans. The big room was warm, lit
and steamy from hot water used for cleaning."
We learn that "Maggie is unrestrained within her cage except when she
eats breakfast, for about half an hour, so zoo workers can clean in her
enclosure; at those times, one of her front legs is chained to a cage
bar."
We read about Maggie's personality, and then about elephants in
general, such as the way they communicate at frequencies too low for humans to
hear. Then we learn about their history in human captivity: in combat,
zoos, early circuses and about astonishing human cruelty towards these
animals.
Meyerowitz shares a description, from Martin Meredith, of a series of
games in Pompey in 55 BC that "culminated with 20 elephants put in the
ring against javelin-wielding African tribesman, the Gaetulians."
Meredith writes, of one elephant who put up a valiant fight:
"Wounded in its feet, it crawled on its knees towards the Gaetulians,
snatching their shields and tossing them into the air. Another elephant
was killed by a single blow from a javelin, which struck it just below
the eye. The remaining elephants then tried to escape by breaking
through the iron barriers of the enclosure protecting spectators. When their
attempt failed, they stood in the arena waving their trunks in
desperation and trumpeting piteously."
From that shameful ancient history, we move to shameful recent history,
and specifically to Maggie's:
"In the 1980s, African elephants were imperiled as never before. The
trade in ivory was accelerating, and the elephants, which had been moved
to game preserves, were overgrazing. The government of Zimbabwe, like
some other African states, culled their herds. From 1981 to 1988,
Zimbabwe slaughtered nearly 25,000 elephants, selling the ivory and other
body parts. Biologists, conservationists and others protested what they
said was senseless killing, but there were also conservationists who
supported programs like Zimbabwe's as sound game management....
"In 1983, a Zimbabwe cull left five baby elephants watching on grassy
plains as all the adults in their herds, all the elephants they'd ever
known, were cut down around their ears. The five orphans were purchased
by Americans and flown to the Catskill Game Farm, a private zoo in
Upstate New York."
One of those orphans was then purchased by the Anchorage Zoo, as a
companion for the zoos solo elephant, Annabelle. She was named Maggie.
Meyerowitz tackles the broader issue of zoos:
"Animals in a zoo fascinate me because I can see them. At the same
time, I don't ever really suppose they want to be there, any more than my
childhood collie really wanted us to dress him up. I just blind myself
to that elephant in the room to satisfy my curiosity. I'd bet I'm not
the only person at the zoo lying to myself this way, pretending that this
is somehow a choice the zebra or the leopard would make. What worries
me is this: Isn't saying we want zoos to remain really to say that our
interest in other animals is more important than their happiness?"
He admits that meeting Maggie instilled in him some of the wonder that
zoo proponents say makes zoos worthwhile. But he writes:
"I'm not sure the average zoo visitor, for whose benefit Maggie was
brought here, has anything like my experience. One recent Saturday morning
I went to the zoo during regular hours and went to the back, to the
elephant house. It was a bitterly cold day, and the elephant house was
warm. I watched as people trooped in until the gallery held about twenty
folks, families with toddlers in strollers, mothers and fathers with
just their eyes and the tops of their noses showing above their scarves,
two Goth teen girls and several soldiers. They all stopped for a moment
once they were inside and looked at Maggie, but Maggie wasn't doing
anything much that morning, just standing in her enclosure, her broad rump
at a 45-degree angle to the audience, her head in shadow. She was doing
what I imagine she spends much of her time doing, just standing
around....The visitors that cold morning noted that this was indeed an
elephant, as promised, and a few read aloud from the sign above their h
eads that talked about the size and shape and parts of African
elephants, and the danger they face nowadays in the wild, but eventually
everyone in the room ceased to pay the elephant much attention at all, which
made sense, since Maggie didn't seem interested in them either. But it
was cold outside. So the people lingered and soon were enveloped in
their conversations, their heads turned away from the enclosure, and,
except for a loud snort every now and then that punctuated their chatter
about work and school and hockey practice, it was as though they had no
idea they were in a room with an elephant."
You can read the whole article, and see heartbreaking photos of Maggie
alone in her concrete cell at:
http://www.anchoragepress.com/archives-2005/coverstoryvol14ed7.shtml OR
http://tinyurl.com/6f67y
And you can write appreciative letters, making it clear that the public
would like to see Maggie, after all she and her kind have suffered,
released to sanctuary.
The Anchorage press takes letters at:
http://www.anchoragepress.com/feedback.shtml
You can send an appreciative note to Robert Meyerowitz at:
robert@anchoragepress.com
A terrific resource on this issue is the website:
http://www.savewildelephants.com . There is a special section about
Maggie.
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal
issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant
media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at
http://www.DawnWatch.com.