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The Elephant in The Room - The Future of Elephants in Zoos

Discussion in 'General Zoo Discussion' started by pachyderm pro, 20 Feb 2017.

  1. pachyderm pro

    pachyderm pro Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I have recently watched a interesting documentary on elephants in zoos. While I don't agree with every thing stated, it was a very interesting video. It may have came out in 2012, but I still thought it would be interesting to share here. I'm simply curious for other people's opinions on the subject.

     
  2. Carl Jones

    Carl Jones Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I watched the video and enjoyed it. The take home message was that elephants should be kept in social groups in large naturalistic enclosures. This is the trend in all modern zoos so you could argue there is no elephant in the room.
     
  3. Daniel

    Daniel Well-Known Member

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    I think the video is somewhat biased and puts a lot of emphasis on the old bad practices and leaves out all of the new developments in keeping elephants in zoos. Which modern Zoo is chaining it's elephants over night? Imho even though for the specific elephants mentioned in the video moving them to an sanctuary would be the right decision, this does not imply that all zoos have to phase out elephants because they cannot adequately care for them.
     
  4. elefante

    elefante Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    It was a very interesting and thought provoking video. I'm hoping elephants still will exist in zoos, but I think things will change dramatically. I would be surprised if many northern zoos will continue to keep elephants in the next ten to twenty years. And I do agree that Lucy should absolutely be relocated. What I dont get is why The Elephant Sanctuary was never mentioned as a home.