Woodland Park Zoo in US: An elephant's nightmare
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E-mail One Green Planet, October 17, 2014
The history of Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo in the United States dates all the way back to the 1893. The zoo began as part of the estate of Guy Phinney, a wealthy Englishman who set up the park on his personal home off the shores of Seattle's Green Lake. The first animals to live in the park were deer, in following with a traditional English park. After Phinney's death, the park was expanded and a collection of animals owned by the Lake Washington Cable Railway was brought to live in the new facility.
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An elephant in Woodland Park Zoo. [Photo/One Green Planet] |
From these humble beginnings, the Woodland Park Zoo has developed into a booming tourist attraction that sees more than one million visitors every year. Operating with the mission that many other zoo parks share, "[to save] animals and their habitats through conservation leadership and engaging experiences, inspiring people to learn, care and act," Woodland Park Zoo maintains 1,100 animals representing nearly 300 different species. Of all the species of animals that reside at the zoo, the Woodland Park elephants have garnered a lot of media attention recently.
Woodland Park Zoo's elephants
There are currently two Asian elephants, Bamboo and Chai, living at the zoo. Bamboo and Chai were both born in Thailand and came to the zoo when they were only one-year-old. Over the course of the four-decades these elephants have lived at the zoo, they have outlived two other elephants (Hansa and Watoto). Due to the sordid history surrounding the health and treatment of the elephants, the residents of Seattle have rallied together urging the zoo to retire Bamboo and Chai to a sanctuary and end the elephant program. In response, the zoo directors have proposed a larger enclosure for Bamboo and Chai.
The Woodland Park Zoo has been featured on In Defense of Animals' list of "Top 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants" seven times – winning its place in the "Hall of Shame" for repeat offenders. Taking the voice of the public into account, on top of this rather infamous designation, it begs the question of whether a larger enclosure would even begin to right the situation of Woodland Park's elephants. To help consider this question, let's take a look into the history of the elephants.
Animal welfare concerns
According to Friends of the Woodland Park Zoo, "The elephants endured harsh training methods in the past including block and tackle and being hit into compliance with the sharp-pointed bull hook."
In 2010, the taxpaying citizens of Seattle, represented by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), filed a lawsuit against the zoo. The suit was filed against the city of Seattle to stop the "unlawful use of taxpayer dollars to support the Woodland Park Zoo's reckless and illegally cruel treatment of its elephants."
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