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| Spotlight on Jackson
Jackson was born in Zimbabwe in 1976. He was captured when he was just two years old and shipped to the U.S. where he became the property of Ferndale, an exotic animal broker, in 1978.
Not much is known about Jackson's early life, but records show he was transferred to Randall Moore in 1983. Moore pioneered the use of controversial "elephant back" safaris in Africa, where paying tourists ride on the backs of trained elephants.
The taming process for African elephants often involves immobilizing the elephant by tethering him to a tree or another elephant and hobbling all four legs; and then beating him into submission.
In 1989, Jackson was sold to Allen Campbell, a trainer for the Hawthorn Corporation, a supplier of performing tigers and elephants. Denver Zoo  officials would later reveal Campbell had been the target of complaints that he abused elephants. Jackson briefly lived at the Miami Metro Zoo and then returned to circus life with the Hawthorn Corporation and Allen Campbell until 1994, when Campbell was killed by another African elephant, Tyke, during a circus performance in Hawaii (photo, right). After Campbell's death, Jackson was sent to the Pittsburgh Zoo.
At the Pittsburgh Zoo, head elephant keeper Willie Theison (shown below left with Jackson) began working with Jackson. According to Theison, who referred to Jackson's former owner as his "friend and mentor," Jackson had more than 250 deep gashes and infected wounds all over his body when he first arrived at the Pittsburgh Zoo and "if you raised your voice, he would run."
 Later news articles reported Jackson had been abused until the age of eight, when he allegedly was confiscated by the Humane Society. According to the African Elephant Studbook and other official records, however, Jackson was 18 when he arrived at the Pittsburgh Zoo and had been traveling with the Hawthorn Corporation and Alan Campbell - Theison's "friend and mentor" - immediately before arriving at the Pittsburgh Zoo in 1994. The Pittsburgh Zoo put Jackson to work immediately as a breeding male. In 1996, he was bred with 13-year-old Savannah. Savannah's calf was stillborn in 1998. In 1997, he was bred with 15-year-old Moja, who gave birth to female calf Victoria in September 1999. ( Note: Moja, was born in captivity in 1984 at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. When she was just two years old, Moja was separated from her mother, Wankie, and shipped to another zoo. Moja never saw Wankie again. Wankie died in 2005 en route from a zoo in Illinois to yet another zoo in Utah). In 1998 Jackson was bred with Savannah again, and male calf Callee was born in September 2000.
In 2001, Jackson was shipped to Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida, where he was bred with numerous females, including 17-year-old Vasha (female calf, Kianga, born July 2004), and 19-year-old Donna (female calf, Nidirah, born December 2005). In 2004, Jackson was trucked back to the Pittsburgh Zoo, where his semen was collected through forced ejaculation and shipped to other zoos to be used for artificial insemination. The process of the collection of Jackson's semen was filmed for this video.
 In 2005, Jackson's semen was used to impregnate 20-year-old Miki at the Louisville Zoo, who gave birth in March 2007 to a male calf, Scotty .
Jackson's son Scotty, just over a year old, is shown in the left photo performing circus-style tricks for his keepers.
Jackson's semen was also used to artificially inseminate second-time mother Moyo at Disney's Animal Kingdon in 2006 (male calf Tsavo, born June 2008). In 2006, Jackson was bred again with the female elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo, with two more of his offspring born in July 2008 - female calves Angelina and Zuri. Also in 2006, his semen was used to artificially inseminate 25-year-old Dottie (who had not been bred before) at the Atlanta Zoo. Dottie died in October 2008 in the third trimester of her pregnancy.
 On December 18, 2008, Jackson was moved to the breeding facility outside Pittsburgh where plans are to forcibly breed him with 27-year-old elephants Kallie and Bette, who have never been bred before. Pittsburgh Zoo director, Barbara Baker, is shown at the breeding facility with Jackson (photo, right). Read more about Baker's management style here.
 Upon arrival at the breeding facility, Jackson was kept alone in a cement barn until March 24, 2009, when he was allowed outside for the first time. He was kept inside reportedly because of the weather and to avoid colic. According to Baker, "bull elephants like to be alone." However, Joyce Poole, Director of Research and Conservation of the non-profit, ElephantVoices, Member of the Amboseli Elephant Research Project, the longest study of elephants in the world, has stated: "Contrary to statements by the zoo, male elephants are not solitary. Until the age of 14 they live in the company of their families and, as adults, they spend two thirds of their time with other elephants..." (for more information from Poole, click here.)
Because Jackson has already sired ten calves (two stillborn) in the already limited gene pool of captive elephants, it's questionable as to why Zoo officials insist on attempting to breed him yet again, and why they would try to do so with 27-year-old females like Kallie and Bette. Kallie and Bette, since they have never been bred before, have little chance of getting pregnant at all at their age, and if they do get pregnant, they have a 71 percent chance of suffering life-threatening conditions like elephant Dottie.
Sources:
Rock, Vicki. "Jackson in the great outdoors." Daily American 25 Mar. 2009.
"For Father's Day, 6 huge ties." Chicago Sun Times 19 June 2007 Fuoco, Linda Wilson. "Zoo's 'elephant whisperer' uses polite requests to keep behemoths in line." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 3 July 2005.
Massie, Michelle K. "Elephants find love at the zoo." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 25 Sep. 2004.
Srikameswaren, Anita. "His potency is nationally known." Pittbsurgh Post-Gazette 30 May 2004.
Jones, Diana Nelson. "In the shadows of the zoo." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 02 Jan. 2001. |
Report from Africa: FPZE Member Gigi Glendinning Visits Elephants in their Homeland
From Gigi: "I was fortunate to travel throughout Kenya this May. I saw many herds of elephants like this family, in Samburu National Reserve."
"Waiting on the rains, they resorted to digging holes in this dry river bed..."
"In Amboseli National Park they headed straight for the swamp..."
"...there were lots of babies! African elephants are prolific breeders in their native homes."
"This pregnant cow heads back to the woods at the base of Kilimanjaro where she will rest for the night."
"Free to be happy little elephants!"
"Living the life in the Masai Mara."
THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR TRIP WITH US, GIGI!
***All photos in this section copyright of Gigi Glendinning - please do not reproduce without permission.
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- LETTERS -
Local papers printed more letters from those speaking out on behalf of the Philly Zoo elephants:
Elephants Face Dangers in Zoo Environment
Delaware County Daily Times, March 30, 2009
To the Times:
According to Dr. Andy Baker of the Philadelphia Zoo, Petal, the African elephant who died at age 52 in the zoo, "lived the same amount of time she would have in the wild." How can Baker possibly know this, given that African elephants protected from poaching often live well into their 60s and even 70s?
An African elephant named Echo in Amboseli National Park in Kenya gave birth a few years ago at age 60. It's possible that Petal, too, could have lived decades longer in her native home in Africa. We'll never know since Petal was taken from Africa as a baby and confined in the same quarter-acre enclosure at the zoo for 50 years.
However, we don't have to speculate about the cause of Petal's death. We know from necropsy results that Petal was suffering from arthritis in her knees, elbows and hips so severe that it prevented her from rising after she collapsed in her cement stall in the middle of the night, unsupervised. Wild elephants do not suffer from arthritis, though it is common in captive elephants.
That Baker points to poor Petal as a evidence to support his claim that the zoo provides "good, significant care" underscores how the zoo industry is steeped in deep denial and highlights the danger elephants Kallie and Bette face by remaining in the clutches of zoo industry "experts."
MARIANNE BESSEY
Lansdowne
Another side of the story at the Philadelphia Zoo Philadelphia Inquirer, April 2, 2009
Animals are kept in cramped, outdated spaces.
Marianne Bessey heads the Philadelphia chapter of the League of Humane Voters
As the Philadelphia Zoo celebrated its 150-year anniversary recently, dozens of local citizens gathered outside to call attention to long-standing animal-welfare problems and wasteful spending at the zoo. For the most part, the media provided only partial coverage of the day's events, ignoring the other side of the zoo story.
Criticizing a childhood tradition such as the zoo is about as popular as a root canal, but it's just as necessary. Questions and calls for change are the only way we move forward.
Just a few months ago, the zoo spent $800,000 to import a spanking-new "Rainforest" carousel from the Netherlands, an executive told Fairmount Park commissioners. At the same time, many of the zoo's animal inhabitants remain confined to crumbling, Depression-era enclosures.
Too many of the zoo's animals are forced to sleep and eat in the same small spaces where they urinate and defecate. Based on my observations, examples of animals kept in inadequate enclosures include:
- A lone rhino confined to a dinky, barren exhibit lacking shade.
- Two hippos that spend most of November through March crammed in a tiny indoor stall due to chilly outdoor temperatures.
- An okapi stuck alone in a yard more suitable for a poodle.
- Lemurs, which are arboreal in nature (spending most of their time in trees and bushes), housed in small stalls where the only foliage is painted on the cement walls.
- The lone Asian bear is often seen neurotically bobbing and weaving, an indication that zoo conditions are negatively impacting his well-being.
- Even in the "state-of-the-art" Big Cat Falls exhibit, the big cats take turns in the outdoor display, so they, too, spend hours confined to indoor cages every day.
What do such artificial settings and unnatural animal behaviors really teach visitors, except that animals are display objects?
Finally, there are the elephants. Based on the average costs of keeping the animals, the zoo has probably spent close to a million dollars over the past few years keeping its elephants in conditions that zoo officials themselves have admitted are inadequate, awaiting the construction of a breeding facility outside Pittsburgh. It's unconscionable that the zoo refused to send the elephants to a wonderful sanctuary that offered to take them in at no charge years ago.
Arguably even worse is the zoo's life-threatening plan to attempt to breed the 27-year-old elephants Kallie and Bette. Zoo industry data underscore the dangers associated with the first-time breeding of elephants over the age of 25.
It's time for the zoo to be held accountable. The zoo leases its city property for a dollar a year. In addition, millions of our city tax dollars are given to the zoo every year in the form of water, garbage, and capital-improvement subsidies. The zoo must stop wasting money on new animals, added visitor amenities, and high executive salaries while the animals already there are left to languish in cramped, outdated enclosures.
Conservation expenditures, which currently account for less than 1 percent of the zoo's annual budget, also need to increase substantially. And they should support true conservation of endangered species - that is, saving animals' native habitat, not breeding them in captivity.
It's time for animal welfare to become the top priority at the zoo. And city officials must stop blindly funding the zoo with tax dollars until the zoo does what is best for the elephants and other animals. Since zoo management isn't willing to make animal welfare a priority, we need to demand that city officials take a more active role. |
| Just for FUN! |
MUDDY baby! What's more fun than a tiny elephant living as nature intended? Watch the video here!
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.........IN THE NEWS..........
As if one elephant breeding mill diverting resources from true conservation wasn't bad enough...
Not only are zoos planning to spend millions to breed elephants in central Pennsylvania, but millions more are to be squandered on another breeding facility in Florida! We agree with Dame Daphne Sheldrick who says, "Unless you actually breed an animal in captivity to put back in the wild, it's just a con." No elephants bred in captivity in the United States can ever live in the wild.
So how are zoos so successful in conning so many people?
Article: National Elephant Center in St. Lucie County could get animals by end of year (click here for story online)
ST. LUCIE COUNTY - Elephants soon may be the latest visitors to St. Lucie County.
If all goes as planned, The National Elephant Center could begin bringing the giant mammals to a 300-acre facility in western St. Lucie County along the Okeechobee County border by the end of this year or early 2010, said Rick Barongi, center vice chairman.
"We hope to break ground this summer or at the end of this summer," Barongi said.
The National Elephant Center has collected $4 million to $5 million almost entirely from zoos around the nation for the first phase of the project, which calls for the housing of fewer than 10 Asian and African elephants.
Future phases of the site are in the works, though any plans are based on donations and revenue from the center, Barongi said. Eventually, the site could host up to 50 elephants. Some of the elephants could retire in St. Lucie County, while others could be brought in from zoos when their facilities need upgraded. Animals also are expected to be brought in when an elephant loses a mate and needs to be reintroduced to other elephants.
Brevard Zoo Executive Director Keith Winston said he is looking forward to bringing elephants to the Treasure Coast. The Brevard Zoo does not have elephants. Though the facility would not be open to the general public on a daily basis, the zoo could create a partnership with the center for research and bringing student groups.
"We're really excited about this project," Winston said. "One of the most charismatic animals we keep in zoos are elephants."
County staff is still thumbing through the site plan and working with The National Elephant Center to find out more details, Growth Management Director Mark Satterlee said.
Plans call for an initial area of 40-50 acres, a staff of five to six and a 1,600-square-foot observation tower. The nonprofit group had a press conference last February in Houston to announce the move before sending a formal site plan last week. The land is owned by Waste Management, which has a lease agreement with The National Elephant Center. The land has been used for cattle grazing and is zoned for agricultural.
But Nick Atwood, campaigns coordinator for Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, said he is concerned about establishing a breeding ground for the elephants, worried the animals could go to circuses and would prefer the elephants would retire there. Atwood said he had questions about environmental concerns for people and the potential for the spread of disease.
"I was a little disappointed," Atwood said. "They made it very clear that the purpose of the facility is for breeding. We were hoping for more of a retirement home."
Barongi said it is important to breed animals in captivity and reiterated the nonprofit's stance that animals would not be sent to the circus. Barongi said the public should not be concerned about diseases because the animals will be screened before coming to the Treasure Coast.
"If you don't breed elephants in captivity, you won't have a self-sustaining population," Barongi said. "I think it's safe to say an elephant would never go to the circus."
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Can zoos be trusted not to sell animals to circuses? You decide.
 In 1990, the Milwaukee County Zoo sold Lota, right, for $1 to the Hawthorn Corporation, a Richmond, Illinois, company that trained and rented elephant acts to circuses.
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ACTION
ALERT
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RESIDENTS OF PHILADELPHIA
The Philadelphia Zoo is subsidized by millions of taxpayer dollars, yet refuses to answer to the public - officials even refuse to provide medical records of the animals upon request, even though public zoos are required to provide this information to citizens!
Please take a moment to write or call your city councilmember. PLEASE ONLY PHILLY RESIDENTS AT THIS TIME - we have been told that City Councilmembers have received a lot of out-of-state calls and emails, so we want to focus on the local consituency base right now. If you live in Philly and don't know who your city council representative is, click here!
ACTION ALERT TO CONTACT
CITY OFFICIALS
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If we don't help them, who will?
Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants
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