Globe and Mail letters

When will we learn?
ROB LAIDLAW

executive director, Zoocheck Canada Inc.

November 3, 2008

Toronto -- The news that Malti, the Calgary Zoo's baby elephant, has died from elephant herpes virus underscores the folly of trying to breed these animals in captivity (Baby Elephant Gravely Ill At Calgary Zoo - Nov. 1).

While zoos proclaim each birth as a joyous event and a boon to conservation, nothing is further from the truth. The problems that wild elephant populations face - including habitat fragmentation, human/elephant conflict and illegal poaching - will not be solved by keeping or breeding elephants in zoos.

The elephant population in North American zoos is diminishing due to high adult mortality and the poor survivorship of calves. Diseases like elephant herpes virus have played a part, along with the debilitating effects of chronic arthritis, foot rot and poor housing conditions.

If the future of elephants was actually reliant on breeding in zoos, they would most definitely be on the fast track to extinction.