This note has just been posted on the TWPZ facebook page: This leaves the zoo with 2 female Asian Elephants and 1 female African Elephant.
Sad. This leads TWPZ managing three elephants in separate paddocks. It was really unfortunate that Burma wasn't capable of mixing with Arna or Gigi. Does anyone think that it is possible now to try to mix Burma and Gigi together for company?
By your same ill conceived logic.... you would have keepers work in free contact with polar bears and lions ??
In this instance I find Frank Williams' comments very insulting to an elephant team that work very hard in a government insitution and do their job to the best of their abilities,but Just in case you aren't aware, TWPZ does manage one elephant Free contact. My little secret hope for Gigi out of this tragedy is that she would become FC as well. Not speculating. just dreaming. She will be finding this very hard and will be looking to her keepers for support.
There is at least one [that I know of], probably more, very skilled elephant people at TWPZ. Whether or not they work their charges FC is dictated by such things as the elephant's history, available staff's skills as well as management and regulator's directives. No-one with any savvy would work Burma FC. Anyone with any savvy could easily have worked Arna and Gigi FC. However, because Arna was alleged to have killed a man and because she was so closely bonded with Gigi, the understandable decision was made to work them PC. This did not preclude them from getting the best care. In fact, although Arna obviously pined for the circus lifestyle, she did enjoy new PC activities that were not available to her in the circus. The Africans at TWPZ should have been enjoying their FC walks for the last 30 years or so. In their case it could be argued that a lack of willingness to accept that they were circus trained [lack of willingness on whose part I am unable to say] and were perfectly safe in an FC situation, deprived them for all of those years of the enrichment that they used to enjoy in the circus.
Given the fact that she was trained by Fritz Schulz, she would certainly be a candidate to enjoy the enrichment that only FC can give her. Have you talked to the elephant team out there about the possibility of this happening?
I thought Gigi had been trained by Alfonse Arndt at Taronga and then Fritz Schulz once she joined Ashtons.I would love to hear more about her past. You are correct, management has the final say and at this stage she will remain PC, shame, but not neglected. Watch this space regarding introductions to Burma. Also to Frank Williams can I get a certificate in "Propper elephant MEN stuff" from NZ.(Chuckle)
Alright, so I shouldn't post before my first cup of coffee in the morning! To be more specific, yes her static venue training was at Taronga by Alf. In the context of going for walkies like the African do, then Fritz taught her all about that.
