Friday, March 24, 2006

As we read with increasing frequency stories about elephants leaving U.S. zoos for sanctuaries, along comes a story in the Edinburgh Evening News about the Edinburgh Zoo. The zoo, which has not kept elephants for the last 12 years, is planning a £58 million expansion that considers the possibility of reintroducing the animals:

A spokeswoman for the zoo said: "The masterplan is a vision for the future of Edinburgh Zoo. As it stretches over 20 years, it will have to be flexible. In this respect, the plans for the animal collection are very much aspirational, and will depend on the conservation need of each species.

"At the moment, the future does not look bright for the Indian elephant as a result of poaching and habitat loss. If we are to fulfil our aim 'to protect endangered species', then we have to include them in our future.

If zoos so value the edification to be offered by animals, I should think we'd see more money being put into the preservation of wildlands where animals actually live. If we protect the notable species of the world by bottling them up behind bars, no matter how gussied up their cells may be, we lose everything they have to teach us about our world. In order to increase populations and to sustain them, they must remain in their natural habitat, and we must protect that habitat with diligence instead of continuing to encroach upon it.

Zoos should not be some sort of "ark" against a man-made "flood" of habitat loss. If that's what we're stuck with, then the animals have already lost.

Categories: zoos | elephants | animals in captivity | habitat loss | endangered species