India to move all zoo elephants to wildlife parks
Elephant on an Indian sanctuary
Elephant on an Indian sanctuary
A major indication that zoos are on the wrong side of history when they insist on keeping elephants in tiny zoo “habitats”, this article came out of the Associated Press this past week:
NEW DELHI — All elephants living in Indian zoos and circuses will be moved to wildlife parks and game sanctuaries where the animals can graze more freely, officials said Friday.
The decision affects around 140 elephants in 26 zoos and 16 circuses in the country, said B.K. Gupta, an officer at India’s Central Zoo Authority.
The AP even acknowledged what elephant experts have been saying for years (at least those not affiliated with zoos):
Increasingly, research shows that elephants in the wild have longer life spans and better health and reproductive records than those in captivity, Sukumar said.
Zoo elephants often die prematurely and contract diseases or suffer obesity and arthritis more frequently than in their natural habitats, he said.
The sad news out of this article is that many captive elephants in India live terrible lives in temples and logging camps. Those elephants will not be released by this order. But as EcoWorldly points out, it is definitely a major step in the right direction.
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