A zoo-keeper's dilemma (and an ele with an unfortunate name in today's climate)

By John Roberts 7 November 2008 01:25:00

Back in the old days when Zoo's were places where the public came to gawp at exotic creatures for the financial benefit of the owners or the city people didn't think too much about the mental welfare or even mental capacity of their charges - after all, these were the tail end of the days when only the mega rich could afford to go on safari and see these things in the wild.

    Nowadays with 24hr Animal Planet beamed in from space and budget airlines the public, in general, have a much better chance of knowing and caring about the wild existence of the exotic creature's cousins, Zoo's have had to up their game and provide educational experiences that can't be found on TV (whilst phasing out what would seem to be their obvious advantage over the cathode ray (smells aside): interaction with the animals themselves - Health and Safety regulations have largely put paid to your chances of meeting domestic Zoo creatures, especially elephants) whilst justifying their presence in the scientific community by taking on a conservation role to protect species which, they argue, are inadequately protected in the wild.

    For the most part they have done this well, but adapting to the times cannot solve all their problems and, on the occasion of the birthday of one of their celebrated elephants, Auckland Zoo have bravely decided to address the issue one would guess they would have preferred to dodge, at least in public.

    What to do when one of the two remaining Asian eles in New Zealand dies, as will inevitably happen to us all even with the best care and best diet?  I guess the reason for going public now is to do it when the tide of public goodwill is focused on the ele's birthday and to show the critics that there is a planning process and that the remaining elephant's mental and physical welfare are part of that process.

    Not being a Kiwi, not being a Zoo keeper (well, perhaps a glorified amateur one) I would say the obvious solution would be to pack poor lonely Burma, the expected survivor, off to the Zoo's in Australia that have just received their Thai eles or even, if they wanted huge PR, back to one of the sanctuaries back here (they don't say how old Burma is, but if young enough perhaps to one of the dehabilitation and release projects).

    But, I can see that the keepers and the city have become attached to their ele and I can see that they will know that they can look after Burma well and will have the capacity to take on more eles, they'll be reluctant to give her up - they state that 'modern captive animal practice dictates' that Burma must have an ele companion, I would say that ele behaviour dictates, though living with mahouts who have taken babies onto the streets without ele company I know all too well how easy it is to fall into the trap of feeling that "my company is all she needs", especially with an adult ele who, well, already knows how to be an ele...

    ...and despite all that is written above; I feel there is a truth that dare not speak its name, that, to a large extent, Zoo's are still places where the general public come to gawp at exotic creatures for the financial benefit of the owners or the city and, in the words of the journalist, a Zoo without an elephant isn't much of a Zoo.

    As I have said before, given the numbers of elephants in trouble and out of work in the range states, given that we have a Governing body in CITES who could control and set minimum standards of care and of procurement, given that the animal rights groups and patriots are watching - I really don't see why that truth shouldn't be admitted.  I don't feel that options of export should be dismissed out of hand, though I'd have thought AZAA would be reluctant to go through the process again given the trouble and controversy they fielded last time...

     ...and I do feel sorry for Auckland Zoo's administrators and keepers that their birthday girl's name is such a gift for any headline writer seeking a commercial conspiracy.
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Kashin the elephant turns 40

Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 02 November 2008
 KASHIN THE elephant's snot is clear and gritty. "Blow into her trunk," instructs the zookeeper. "She wants to smell your breath."

Looking up an elephant's nose is like peering into twin surgical wounds. Pink and glistening tunnels, 1.6m long, containing more than 40,000 muscles, useful for pushing over logs, snuffling in the dirt and getting to know human visitors.

There are only three elephants in New Zealand. African-born Jumbo is currently in Nelson with the Loritz Circus. Kashin and her companion Burma, the Asian elephants living at Auckland Zoo, are the sole representatives of their species.

Kashin celebrates her 40th birthday next Sunday. Middle-aged by elephant standards, she suffers from arthritis, foot abscesses and skin ulcers. Keepers say her ability to recover from infections is diminishing. It is unlikely she will live to 50 and that leaves Auckland Zoo with a dilemma.

Modern captive animal practice dictates Burma must have companions; that once Kashin is gone, either multiple elephants must be imported to Auckland, or Burma must go to a new home, in a new country.

Is this the end of an era for elephants in New Zealand zoos?

Jonathan Wilcken, Auckland Zoo director, says it's too early to say. "But our default position would have to be we've got to give Burma what she needs in terms of companionship."

The zoo board has considered the issue in secret, at a public-excluded session of its August meeting, under the heading "Strategic implications of retaining elephants at Auckland Zoo".

In response to an Official Information Act request from the Sunday Star-Times, Wilcken said Kashin's health problems highlighted the need to plan carefully.

However, "the issue of future planning for such a species has clear commercial ramifications, and for this reason we are withholding details of the planning process".

He was no more forthcoming this week.

"We need to develop contingency plans. Clearly we're not going to be implementing contingency plans in advance of the contingency arising."

Kashin weighs in at more than three tonnes. She stands 3.2m high and eats up to 120kg of food a day (and poos out about 60kg of that). On her daily walk through the zoo grounds, she is a lumbering, rusty truck who doesn't like hills, but looks like she's smiling when she gets into the bush and starts browsing vegetation.

"Kashin is currently doing very well," Wilcken says. "There is no indication that any change to the current circumstances is imminent."

AUCKLAND ZOO is a member of the Australasian Zoo and Aquarium Association, which has developed a 50-year management plan for Asian elephants. The organisation says the animals are a key species because they are endangered (only 35,000 live in the wild, compared to 500,000 of their African counterparts) and face a very high risk of extinction (wild populations have declined by 80% in the past 60 years).

"Elephants are a much-loved species," says the association. "They are powerful ambassadors that assist in educating and engaging people in biodiversity and conservation."

And the kids love 'em. Last Labour Weekend Saturday, Auckland Zoo's elephant encounter packed out. Families broke out apples, bananas and umbrellas and settled in for lunch in front of Kashin. The birthday girl trumpeted and the crowd went "oooh" when she took a dip in her pool.

Heath Mitchell, eight, said his main impression of Kashin was "fat". Elephants, reported his youthful companions, had long noses, could push logs and were grey. Or brown. Or kind of black. No matter it was clear that for some visitors, a zoo without an elephant would not be much of a zoo.

Wilcken won't reveal Kashin's financial worth to his organisation. He won't even rank the cost of keeping elephants alongside other species. But across the Tasman, when Melbourne and Sydney's Taronga zoos expanded and upgraded to bring in new elephants from Thailand, they spent $13.5 million and $40 million, respectively. The move caused an uproar animal welfare groups called the plans "a commercial deal dressed up as an animal conservation effort" but the imports went ahead, and both zoos are now expecting baby elephants.

Auckland Zoo was part of that original importation plan, but had to turn down a young female after it became violent in quarantine. It couldn't take a bull, because it had no facilities to house it separately.

"In order to keep elephants as well as we do, it costs a reasonable amount of money," Wilcken says. "I think it's fair to say that zoos of the past perhaps didn't understand their needs as well as we do now... and the extent to which a zoo has to resource them... the elephant population we've got here is a remnant of past planning."

INTERNATIONALLY, ANIMAL rights groups are documenting moves to close elephant exhibits. New York's Bronx Zoo has announced that when two of its three specimens die, the remaining one will be sent to another zoo. California's Santa Barbara has a similar non-replacement policy. In 2001, London Zoo permanently relocated its three female Asian elephants and closed a 170-year-old exhibit. Wellington Zoo which received its first elephant in 1927 has not had one since 1983, when the much-loved Kamala died. Zoo literature says elephants should be ideally kept in herds of four or five as they are very social animals, and "Wellington Zoo does not have the space or resources to house elephants".

In the absence of other elephants, keepers play a crucial role. At Auckland Zoo, it's a minimum three-year commitment. "It's about that long before you really start to notice they like you, that they care about you," says Andrew Coers, elephant team leader.

Coers, 28, describes Kashin as "a bit of a queen mother". At the elephant encounter, he calls her "Kashi-bear" and uses a mix of Sri Lankan and made-up words to encourage her to nudge logs, spray herself with water and trumpet to Burma. But away from the public, at the top of the hill and into the bush at zoo's perimeter, it's more hands-off. The elephants munch grass and flick dust over their backs. They look happy.

"All the work we do down in the paddock, the training and spending time with these animals, is so we can take them out in the bush, and let them be elephants and have some time to themselves," says Coers.

"People don't tend to get to see a lot of this stuff, but the fact that it's happening is awesome... they need access to areas where they can do elephanty things."

Talk to an Aucklander about Kashin and invariably someone will remember riding her as a child. In fact, that was another elephant, Jamuna. Kashin is, however, the elephant on the ASB Bank money box scheme launched in 1964.

It was the bank that sponsored Kashin's arrival, in 1973, from a Thailand wildlife facility to the Old Elephant House (now a function centre).

It's a long way from that concrete enclosure to the pools, dust baths and bush walks Kashin enjoys today.

Coers says Auckland Zoo should not keep elephants for the sake of it. "My preference would be to see more, but it would have to be done properly, and there would have to be a successful breeding programme to be able to keep elephants here for a lot longer."

Kashin is too old to have children. Burma, 26, has scar tissue that makes artificial insemination difficult. `

`It would be very, very special for New Zealand to have baby elephants," says Coers.

"But nowadays it's getting harder and harder to bring any animal into the country."

It's pouring rain in the bush now. Kashin doesn't care. She lumbers further into the undergrowth. Next Sunday, weather permitting, she'll get a bath in the hippo pool that's being especially cleaned for her birthday and she'll eat a giant cake made of fruit and bran mash.

"Generally, elephants live to 50 to 70 years," says Coers. "But really, Kashin won't fall into that bracket because of her health issues. It's hard to put an actual two years or three years on it, but it could be any time.

"Kashin has touched so many people. One day, when we have to make decisions, it's going to be a pretty sad time for a lot of people. Not just those of us who look after her, but the whole community out there who support her."

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