The Greater Vancouver Zoo's "Tina" the Asian Elephant, is a good example of what is wrong with zoos, and why they need to be disbanded and stopped.

Tina has endured the past 31 years in a tiny, sub-standard, fenced enclosure which doesn't even remotely resemble what her natural surroundings would have been in the wild. http://www.greatervancouverzoo.com/Codes/creature.html. She has no trees, no range to roam throughout, no watering hole, and no companions. Elephants need all of these things to be happy, so it's no wonder poor Tina is depressed and sickly.
http://www.greatervancouverzoo.com/Codes/creature.html

This is where Tina has spent the last 31 years of her life. The other elephant is gone, so she is all alone now. There is no natural stimuli to prevent boredom, no lake to wallow in, just dirt , an old tire, wire fence and a building.

It is interesting that the Greater Vancouver Zoo uses a wild elephant photographed in it's natural environment as a promotional photo to attract visitors. See: http://www.coastandmountains.bc.ca/page.cfm/603 (shown below) and compare this to the photo of poor Tina.

If this isn't false advertising which grossly misleads the paying public, then I don't know what is! Do you think the public would make the trip to see their facility if they showed a photo of Tina hanging her head in misery? Impressive photos sell tickets, and zoos are all about making money under the guise of teaching the public.

While the zoo has said they want to move Tina to a more appropriate location, they have yet to promise animal lovers that she WILL NOT be going to another zoo. The Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary has said they would welcome Tina, and yet the zoo is still exploring other options, including a place in Arkansas which sounds worse than where she is now. The facility in Arkansas chains their elephants overnight, manages them with human dominance and although they own 350 acres, the elephants are not allowed to wander the property unattended. The elephants are kept in a small corral. The public is allowed to visit and interface with the elephants and the elephants are used by students who pay to learn how to train elephants. This is unacceptable! Please send your comments to the Greater Vancouver Zoo, urging them to send Tina to this Tennessee sanctuary, and NOT to the place in Arkansas or another zoo. Their email address mailbox@greatervancouverzoo.com

Please send your letters ASAP, as a decision will be made by May 30/03. Quite honestly, I don't know what they need to debate or decide in this matter, it should be as obvious to the zoo as it is to many of us. They are being offered the ideal setting for Tina at no cost to them, so why not just say "yes"?

Here are a few links to the Tennessee Sanctuary where Tina has an open invitation to come free of charge, and be transported chain-free in their special elephant truck. They have 30 years experience in moving elephants from coast to coast, and they say Tina would make the trip just fine.

http://www.elephants.com/homepic.htm Panoramic view of the sanctuary
http://www.elephants.com/waterpic.htm Having a swim
http://www.elephants.com/mudpic2.htm Mud bath!
http://www.elephants.com/hangpic.htm With friends
and many more heart-gladdening pictures of this paradise for elephants: http://www.elephants.com/photo.htm

In this day of high technology and the internet, there are far better alternatives to traditional zoos available. This link is for a "Virtual Zoo" established in Europe due to growing public distaste for live zoos: http://www.naturalia.org/ZOO/indexing.html
It offers far more educational value, and no live animals suffer because of it.
We need to tell traditional zoos that they are sending the wrong message to our children about animals. They are teaching them less than what may be learned on the internet or at a CNIMAX presentation, where animals may truly be watched in their natural environment. Children watching zoo animals wander around in small pens, displaying behaviour caused by boredom and depression, is not teaching them about how these animals are in the wild. The Greater Vancouver Zoo's web site boasts about the fact it has over 900 animals crammed within 120 acres.

The lions, tigers and jaguars are another example of what is wrong with this zoo. Aside from Tina, I feel they are living in the worst conditions of all the animals there. A crappy chain link run with tall grass and a hut to go inside is all they have; they must be miserable. Ever wonder why several lions have their tails chewed right off at the base? Apparently, they fall asleep too close to the chain link fence and the black jaguar next door mauls them and rips their tails off. These animals would NEVER be together in the wild, and their living conditions are highly inadequate and cruel. I suppose they must keep these big cats in close proximity to better serve their other marketing scheme: daily feedings at 1:30 that the public may watch. See these huge cats stand up on their hind legs, towering above the keepers through the fence, and grabbing at meat being dangled for them. Another big money maker.

By their mere existence, these zoos are teaching our kids that it's ok to take wild animals and confine them to misery. The public needs to stop supporting these places by visiting them, while continuing to demand improvements for the existing animals that cannot be sent to sanctuaries, so they may live out the remainder of their lives in some comfort.

Emma Vandewetering
AAS