Not ten minutes into the second meeting of the Woodland Park Zoo's Elephant Task Force on May 28th and it was becoming sadly clear what direction things were heading, and what that meant in regards to saving the zoo's three elephants, Bamboo, Watoto, and Chai.
“I would say that volunteering and seeing the world can be so eye opening and life changing if you allow it to be. You need to always keep an open mind and put in the time and effort to meet new people and become close with them because that is how your views change and you start to see things in a different way.” -Emma Yuh Coleman
Its face hacked off while still alive and conscious, left to die a slow and immeasurably painful death; it's difficult to watch, I'll admit that. But it's also necessary. People need to understand in the starkest terms what is taking place day in and day out in the name of greed.
Is the Woodland Park Zoo's Elephant Exhibit & Program Task Force just a dog and pony show? Or, will they actively solicit a variety of opinions from experts and others not associated with Woodland Park Zoo or otherwise brought forward by Woodland Park Zoo? Further, will they curtail Woodland Park Zoo's undue influence on the proceedings and work for the best interests of the elephants involved, not just the zoo's?
"There are an estimated 35,000 elephants being killed in Africa each year. That's 10% of the population every year. There are now just an estimated 20,000 lions left in Africa. That's a 75% drop in the last 20 years. At the current rate, there will be no elephants or lions left in the African wilds within 15 years."
You either get the point of Africa or you don't. If you can't get past the fear of animals, of poverty, the juggernaut of nature, then you probably won't. But if you do stand in it and smell it and listen to it, then it will be one of the biggest, most profound and powerful things you will ever feel.
Although I left my heart in Africa last year a part of it now resides in Thailand, a country I've never been to, as I follow the day-to-day progression of events at two internationally respected wildlife sanctuaries. The Elephant Nature Park (ENP), and Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT), have been repeatedly raided by armed government officials from the Department of National Parks (DNP) in what appears to be retaliatory actions for statements made by ENP and WFFT decrying the illegal wildlife trade in Thailand, and the Thai government's suspected complicity.
It's official: we're returning to Africa!
A list of some, but by no means all, of the many animals we were lucky enough to witness while in Africa, and even luckier to recall.
e’re in the van with Nathan, who has just picked us up at the bus stop in Gweru, where we’ve just arrived from Harare. As we’re making the short drive to Antelope Park, he tells us there are two phrases we will hear a lot that we need to know. He first asks if we know what “TIA” means. I ...
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