Just Walk Away

With all that understood, it’s baffling then when Co-Chair Jay Manning decries those who would question the objectivity of the Task Force, like he did at October’s meeting when he said those who disagreed with the Final Report have decided that “the fix was in.” If it was, Manning went on to say, “we would’ve carefully selected the Task Force so that there was no minority.”

I’m not quite sure that’s what Manning really meant to say, but it acutely captures his habit of voicing some ridiculous things at each meeting. Through intuition and gut extinct, Manning felt that there is simply no way to advocate for wild elephant conservation without having an elephant exhibit (a “disconnect” he called it); that you can’t create “empathy” (a term the Zoo repeated ad nauseam throughout the meetings) with the public without having elephants on hand to display; that no interactive exhibit or online display, regardless how well constructed, could replace seeing the real thing up close and personal in an environment that is wholly unlike what elephants live in and experience in the wild.

The fact that museums and both public and academic libraries everywhere would vehemently disagree about needing live exhibits to educate the public and inspire advocacy, Manning went on to double-down on the exhibit. “Let’s make it bigger, let’s make it better!”

It’s important to be reminded that the Task Force’s recommendations are just that: recommendations. Nothing more. Even though they created the Task Force, Woodland Park Zoo took great care in making sure they were toothless and couldn’t effectively interfere with anything the Zoo disagreed with. “The Task Force is not charged with studying broader issues regarding zoos or elephants, nor is it charged with conducting public forums on whether or not elephants should be part of the wildlife collection at the zoo. It will not reconsider the mission of the zoo.” Which raises the question of why the Task Force was even created to begin with. At best a public relations maneuver to help the Zoo make good with a concerned public. At worst, the means to justify not only keeping elephants at the zoo but adding more.

So it’s fine if Manning continually remarks about not reading any of the materials presented. It’s fine for the Expert Review Panel to joke about how much female elephants enjoy being put in an “iron maiden” in order to be forcibly inseminated. It’s even fine for the Task Force’s Final Report to include a section written by a minority of panel members (included in full at the end of this piece on Page 3) who disagreed with the majority’s opinion about the current state of Woodland Park Zoo’s elephant exhibit and its contribution to conservation and education, as well as the majority’s recommendation to bring in more elephants in an attempt to breed and expand their “herd.” The Zoo is going to do what the Zoo wants. Period. In a nutshell that is really what this entire farcical display has been about: Woodland Park Zoo showing just how much power it has, can, and will wield.

And what were some of the main points from the minority view on the Task Force included in the Final Report?

These statements also agree with how the general public feels about Woodland Park Zoo’s elephant exhibit, and the education and outreach the zoo claims to do through it. In a survey conducted the week before the final Task Force meeting by CPC Consulting on behalf of Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants, Seattle area residents were asked a series of questions about the zoo, its elephants, and wild elephant conservation.

Among the findings:

Clearly a majority of the public feels the same as the minority view on the Task Force; and taken on the whole it appears that the panel’s majority view on elephants in captivity, and as such Woodland Park Zoo’s view, is out of touch with both science and public sentiment.

The public presentation of the Final Report was short, and following a break those present from the Task Force took written questions from the audience. Those questions, on three-by-five cards, were read by Anne Fennessey, who for all intents and purposes had been a de-facto panel member as her firm (Cocker Fennessey) managed the operational end of the Task Force from its inception. Before reading the questions aloud Fennessey made a point of first going through the cards, one of which she shuffled to the bottom of the pile after showing it to Jay Manning – literally stacking the deck. That question? A statement, really, thanking the Task Force and extolling the Zoo for being an amazing force for good. After the questions were finished and the Task Force officially adjourned, Fennessey and Jan Hendrickson turned and high-fived each other behind Jay Manning; capturing the essence of what had been so very wrong about this entire process.

It’s shameful that this final meeting codifying the ongoing mistreatment of Watoto, Bamboo, and Chai took place wedged between the long-awaited arrival of Toronto Zoo’s elephants to sanctuary at PAWS in California, and the television premiere of Blackfish; both reminders of how magnificently intelligent and horribly unsuited elephants and orcas are in zoos and aquariums. I’d like to think that the Zoo has learned something from all this. I’d like to think we all have. But I’m struggling to find what the moral is in this ongoing tale. Unlike us, Watoto, Bamboo, and Chai can’t just “walk away” from the miserable lives and less-than-humane conditions they’re forced to endure day after day after day. Not for now, at least. One day, hopefully.

If you are concerned about how these elephants are treated, please write Woodland Park Zoo and the Seattle City Council and Mayor letting them know as much. Each needs to hear from the public that the WPZ3 deserve better than a sham task force chosen by the Zoo for the Zoo. Even if you don’t visit, your tax dollars still help support and contribute to its elephant exhibit.

Unlike what the Zoo wants you to believe, museums, libraries and the internet offer amazing and immersive ways to be inspired about these majestic animals and the terrible plight they face in the wild as a result of poaching. Consider learning about elephants and other iconic animals in ways that don’t involve putting them on display for the public’s entertainment in exhibits that are inhumane and unnatural to what they would otherwise experience in the wild.

Organizations like Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants and In Defense of Animals have worked tirelessly for years to help free Watoto, Bamboo, and Chai. PAWS and The Elephant Sanctuary provide a true home for former zoo and circus elephants. And WildAid and The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, among many other great organizations, work tirelessly to protect and help elephants and many other animals in the wild who face the very real danger of extinction because of poaching. All of these organizations do great work and could use your help and support.

Educate yourself and become involved so you can educate and inspire others. Make a difference, no matter how small. Don’t just walk away.