|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Spotlight on Kutenga (1964-1991)
Another Philadelphia Zoo Casualty
Wild-born: Kutenga (meaning "to buy" or "to bring") was born in 1964 in Africa, where she lived with her extended family herd of mother, grandmother, aunts, sisters, and cousins. In the wild, female elephants like Kutenga stay with their mothers and female relatives their entire lives. Kutenga was about the size of the baby elephant in the center of the photo, right, when she was captured, separated from her family forever, and shipped to the Hannover Zoo in West Germany.
Zoo life: Kutenga was confined at the Hannover Zoo for less than a year, living in the same concrete elephant exhibit virtually unchanged today (see recent photo, left). Kutenga was likely chained and beaten during her stay, the beginning of the breaking process necessary to make elephants compliant for captivity.
Shipped to America: In 1966, the Philadelphia Zoo purchased Kutenga and shipped her by ocean freight to Philadelphia. At the Philadelphia Zoo, Kutenga, just over two years old, shared a quarter-acre exhibit and cement barn with 3-year-old Dulary, 11-year-old Petal and 24-year-old Peggy.
 Repeatedly injured: At the zoo, Kutenga was a popular attraction, giving rides to customers and entertaining them by reaching for treats over the moat surrounding her exhibit. In August 1978, when she was just 14 years old, she fell into the moat while reaching for a peanut. (Note: photo, right, is of Bronx Zoo - not Kutenga). She fell twice more in the 1980's, again reaching for treats proferred by zoo visitors. She permanently injured her left front leg in the falls, making it difficult for her to rise. It became so difficult for her to get up that she eventually stopped lying down at all. Zoo director Bill Donaldson would later note that after the falls, Kutenga's legs were "very stiff" and that "she'd gotten kind of cranky, like of older people get cranky when they don't feel good."
 Not even shade: The canopy providing a little shade in the elephants' exhibit (see photo, right) was added sometime in the 1980's. For most of her life, Kutenga did not even have the slight comfort of a shady area.
In addition, it is likely the exhibit was even more barren then it is today. Karl Kranz, head curator at the Philadelphia zoo in the 1980's, claimed that "in general, toys are no big deal to elephants," and enrichment for elephants was limited to "simpler things like some dirt to throw on their backs."
Lab experiment: In 1985, all four elephants were used in an experiment measuring the hormone levels in their blood to determine the ideal time for them to mate. The plan at the time was to artificially inseminate them with elephant semen flown in from the Portland Zoo. It is unknown whether artificial insemination was attempted on any of the elephants; at any rate, none ever became pregnant.
Boring life: The elephants at the Philadelphia Zoo were fed and watered three times a day. Exercise consisted of being let out in the quarter-acre yard for a few hours - but only when the temperature was over 40 degrees. Since the average temperature in Philadelphia in December, January and February is historically 35 degrees or less, Kutenga and the other elephants spent most winter days inside the cement barn, shown above. This remains true for the elephants, Kallie and Bette, living at the zoo today, who spend weeks on end confined inside.
Falling down: On the afternoon of July 30, 1991, Kutenga was locked in her stall, where as usual she would remain until keepers arrived the next day. Sometime after 5 pm, she collapsed and was unable to arise. Keepers arrived at 7 am the next morning and made various attempts to force Kutenga to get up. Zoo director Bill Donaldson noted, "We're not exactly sure why she may have fallen," and speculated that she "might" have had arthrtis.
 Torture, then death: First, keepers placed a nylon sling around Kutenga and used a "block and tackle" approach to force her up. The rope snapped, and everyone - including Kutenga - fell to the ground. Several hours passed where 25 employees attempted various ways to get Kutenga off the ground. Finally, a tow truck was brought in with a steel cable. However, Kutenga still was unable to rise, and she stopped breathing at 1:30 pm. Later necropsy results showed that one lung had collapsed and the other was filling with fluid. The necropsy also showed that Kutenga had fallen so hard that she shattered her left cheekbone, which pathologists noted would have made it impossible for her to eat normally again.
Used for soap: Kutenga's body was cut up and parts were sent to more than a dozen different institutions in the U.S. and Australia. Whatever was left over was sent to a rendering plant where it was made into soap.
To Kutenga - whose life was stolen from her as a baby: Rest in peace.
Sources:
Detjen, Jim. "To the rescue: Zoos are striving to save species from extinction." Philadelphia Inquirer 8 Apr. 1985.
Colimore, Edward. "Popular zoo elephant, 27, dies from fall." Philadelphia Inquirer 2 Aug. 1991.
Campisi, Gloria. "A handout from fan led to elephant's fatal fall." Philadelphia Daily News 9 Aug 1991. |
- LETTERS -
Local papers printed more letters from those speaking out on behalf of the Philly Zoo elephants:
Wild Elephants Need Help Too
Chestnut Hill Local, December 11, 2008
The article "Hiller trying to save elephants from extinction" [Nov. 28] sadly highlights the unfortunate results of devoting massive resources to captive elephants while the majority of elephant populations in the wild go virtually unprotected.
The "Probosciviruses" (more commonly known as Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes virus or "EEHV") that Ms. Pearson is "currently focusing on" is not a threat to wild elephants. It's a huge threat to captive elephants, though - killing about half of all baby Asian elephants born in captivity in the last decade. At the Houston Zoo alone, six elephants have died of EEHV, most recently 2-year-old Mac this November. Ironically, EEHV in captive elephants is believed to have originated from zoos' practice of confining African and Asian elephants in the same exhibit - two species that would never be found together in the wild.
Wild elephants are threatened by habitat destruction, poaching and other human-elephant conflicts, not EEHV. For half the cost of one classroom's scientific equipment ($20,000 according to the article), many wild elephants could be protected. Just one example: $10,000 is the rough annual cost for supporting an anti-poaching team (including salaries and all equipment) in Thailand.
It's telling that the article doesn't even mention the elephants suffering right in our backyard, Kallie and Bette. These two wild-caught elephants have been confined in an exhibit that the zoo itself admitted is inadequate over four years ago, even though both (along with elephant Petal, who died in June) could have moved to a spacious sanctuary years ago at no charge to the zoo. Instead, the zoo chose to let these elephants languish in conditions known to cause life-threatening health problems. Unfortunately, those dedicated to working on saving elephants in captivity rarely if ever speak about the horrible conditions of elephants in zoos.
While it might feel good for Ms. Pearson to work with the multi-billion-dollar zoo industry and call it "conservation," it's not helping elephants in the wild. In reality, such diversion of resources may actually be hurting the species' chances for survival.
Marianne Bessey
Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants
Lansdowne |
"Leave no elephant behind"
campaign update
Our Elephant Rally on September 21, 2008 was a huge success - read more here!
 Summer is long over and so is the busy zoo season and so are our weekly outreach events at the Philadelphia Zoo. After Halloween, zoo visitors are scarce, and it is simply not productive to continue to conduct outreach there. So...we're taking our show on the road! Every week or so, we will be out in the Philly area - somewhere!- giving out information on the facts of the life of Kallie and Bette and asking for the public's help in rescuing them. We have already given out thousands of leaflets in Center City, including during the busy Thanksgiving Day parade.
We are also beginning a new petition drive - please stay tuned! We gathered over 7,000 signatures on our last petition - we plan to get more than 10,000 for this one!
But....WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS to help with this effort. Please consider joining the local animal advocacy "Meetup" group, where our events are posted. Click here to join (it's *always* free)
Dulary update
The reports are in - DULARY IS THRIVING! For those of us who visited Dulary during the winter of 2006 to help ensure she survived her last few months at the Philadelphia Zoo, we are still pinching ourselves. Although we all prayed for the day she would make it to sanctuary, I think we were all afraid she wouldn't get there, given her deteroriating health and isolation from the other elephants. But she did make it, and we know it was partly because of our determination to hold the Philadelphia Zoo accountable - among other things, by frequently visiting the Zoo at all different times of the day to see if Dulary was out, and when she wasn't, asking the zoo why (sometimes having to ask more than once); by offering to shovel the snow when the outdoor exhibit was closed to the elephants because of a small pile of snow near the door; by purchasing toys for the elephants to use to help alleviate the boredom of confinement (photo here); by purchasing food treats for the same reason (photo here) ...and much more. You can read more about our efforts by checking out our calendar entries during that winter - click here.
And the miracle of Dulary today is our reward:
Dulary Then (Philadelphia Zoo)
Dulary Now! (The Elephant Sanctuary)
|
| Just for FUN! |
Teeny baby elephant! What is cuter than a baby elephant living as nature intended? Watch the video here!
|
|
.........IN THE NEWS..........
The Royal Society published a fascinating study this week about the social needs of elephants. The study is summarized below and available in its entirety here. In light of this study and so many others showing the intricate social behavior of elephants, it's truly heartbreaking to consider the stress the zoo industry plans to put elephants through by shipping them from zoo to breeding facility to zoo with no regard for their social needs.
Elephants Like a Familiar Face
10 Dec 2008, The Royal Society
Everyone knows it's a bad idea to talk to strangers, and it
seems elephants feel the same way, according to new research in the
Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Researchers from the University of California studied elephants when
they arrived in an ecologically unfamiliar environment, and were
surprised to find they formed immigrant enclaves, rather than forming
new acquaintances. The research team, led by Noa
Pinter-Wollman, moved 150 African elephants in Kenya to a different
area. They used markings on the elephants, such as zip ties on their
tails and numbers painted on their backs, to track and monitor them for
over a year, and analysed the way the elephants interacted using
computer models. Despite being generally sociable in their new
home, the animals tended to stick to groups of familiar yet unrelated
elephants that they arrived with. Socialising with unknown individuals
has clear risks - they could be aggressive or carry diseases - but they
will also have invaluable knowledge about the habitat, which other
newcomers won't. Because elephants rely on social knowledge to
gain an understanding of their new home, the research team were
surprised to find that they associated less with these knowledgeable
local residents than expected. Initially, therefore, the cost of this
social activity seems to outweigh the benefits. With time,
however, the social segregation broke down, showing that African
elephants are able to successfully integrate into an unknown habitat. The
question of whether animal species are able to integrate into new
environments is not only important in understanding nature, but also in
understanding the effects of human behaviour on the natural environment. | |
|
|
|
ACTION
ALERT
|
HELP HOLD THE PHILADELPHIA ZOO ACCOUNTABLE!
The Philadelphia Zoo is subsidized by millions of taxpayer dollars, yet refuses to answer to the public. In its most recent newsletter sent to members, the Zoo boasts about receiving nearly a million dollars in state funding and specifically thanks 15 members of the state congress (click here for copy of the newsletter's list). Yet the zoo refuses to release the elephants' medical records - something every public zoo is required to do - despite repeated requests from local residents, the media, and concerned zoo members. Please take a moment to write to the government officials who were responsible for granting the Zoo funding and ask them to hold the zoo accountable.
ACTION ALERT TO CONTACT STATE OFFICIALS -
|
|
|
Thank you for caring,
Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants
| |
|
