Joan Baez: Watoto, Bamboo, and Chai
Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Baez played a show at the Woodland Park Zoo recently, and stopped in at the elephant exhibit to get a first-hand look at how the elephants live at the zoo. This unanticipated and unsolicited article is her reaction. Here is an excerpt:
The elephant caretakers were kind enough to show me around the barn and introduce me to Watoto, Bamboo, and Chai. I blew into their trunks, and they blew back. We fed them carrots through the bars. They had almost no room to move, and when let outside they had only a tiny amount of barren ground to pace.
The concert was a huge success, not in small part because the Seattleites treated the rain as though it were a call to enjoy the wonders of Mother Nature. I dedicated a song to the elephants, making up the words as I went along, to the spiritual “Pilgrim of Sorrow.”
Watoto, Bamboo, and Chai were left pacing their unhappy quarters. Hopefully, if indeed elephants never forget, they can remember the happier times of their former lives. Better yet, with your help, they might be able to once more live in open space. With a concerted effort I believe they can be moved, and the ugly little secret of abused elephants at the zoo will be removed with them. Seattle is too wholesome a city to sustain such a blight under its generous skies.
Read the full story on Joan’s website.
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I want Watoto, Chai and bamboo to go to live in a sanctuary. Please tell the zoo to stop trying and force Chai to fall pregnant. This is not the natural way.
Thanks.