Pittsburg Zoo, Somerset (ICC), Bette, Jackson, Thandi, Seeni, Sukiri

[Space4Eles]

Original post RowanM 23 Sept 2010:

Here are links to the tour of the breeding-holding facility earlier this month.
Part one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVyN9xvVEEI
Part two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EksOSHv5KD8&feature=related
Part three: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlsnwLD8dQM&feature=related
Part four: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EksOSHv5KD8&feature=related

I'm working on an edited version with the "highlights" but thought some here might be interested in the full tour.

This post has been edited by spiritedlulu on Apr 20 2012, 02:34 PM

[Space4Eles]

Original post RowanM 23 Sept 2011:

I see the Philly Zoo just started posting their own video - 14 months of no videos or photos, and then all of a sudden a video....the timing is a bit suspicious, eh?

[Space4Eles]

Original post SL 20 July 2011:

Pittsburgh Zoo's Somerset Reserve Takes On Three Rescued African Elephants

Thandi, 20, Seeni, 18, and Sukiri, 18, are the new female additions to the preserve.

http://www.wjactv.com/news/28600196/detail.html

[Space4Eles]

Original post SL 20 July 2011:

Video ...

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The Somerset County location of the Pittsburgh Zoo is now home to three elephants from Botswana, but getting there was no easy task.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2011/07/19/...to-somerset-co/

[Space4Eles]

3 original posts S4E 20 July 2011:

More on the Botswana transfer.

'What's best for the elephants'

Uttum Corea: "You think of what's best for your children, and what's best for the elephants. You can't be selfish."

http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x9677388...r-the-elephants


Project' in Botswana, owned by Mr. Uttam Corea from Sri Lanka.

http://www.elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=1036

Note that the wildborn bull Shaka was "euthanised: agressive, killed elephant handlers" in April 2008:
http://www.elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=1036&show=4

Article from 2008:
Mokolodi Elephants Kill Two
He gave their names as Chandan Alahakoon (38) and Piyal Pedige (35). He said they have been working for the Serendib Elephant Project for several years. Van Wilgen said they started looking for the duo at closing time and became concerned when they did not answer calls. He said the suspected killer-elephants have been in the reserve since they were born 15 years ago and have never shown any aggression.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200804110061.html


Fuller report and photo on this link:

Three rescued elephants at ICC

When the female elephants reached sexual maturity, they were sent to a camp in the Okavango Delta, a wilderness area in Botswana, to be mated by wild bull elephants. One gave birth, but her male infant failed to thrive.

In 2010 an experienced handler was injured. Because of the distance from medical care, he died. Under wildlife laws in Botswana, animals involved in fatal accidents must be killed. The Coreas, and the deceased handler’s fiance, appealed to the wildlife authorities.

A compromise was reached that the elephants would not be killed, but had to be exported. The Coreas appealed to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums for help. The association contacted the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.

http://www.dailyamerican.com/news/somerset...0,6053410.story

[Space4Eles]

Original post SL 20 July 2011:

The zoos only interest in these 3 elephants is that they are young enough to breed

[Space4Eles]

Original post SL 20 July 2011:

While seeing an African elephant among the rolling hills of Pennsylvania may seem a bit odd, the decision to place the elephants in the Somerset program was actually a strategic decision from the U.S. Association of Zoos & Aquariums. There are only three African elephant breeding bulls in North America -- and one of them is just a half-mile from the new ladies in town.

"Jackson is definitely ready to go," said veterinarian Ginger Tackle, referring to the Pittsburgh Zoo's only African elephant breeding bull.

Ms. Tackle works with all of the elephants, and said that once the females are out of quarantine -- a 90-day process that gives her time to check them for infectious diseases and overall health -- they will be introduced to Jackson, who has already sired four calves.

Because the females were not bred in the U.S., the zoo is hoping that they'll introduce new genes that will restrengthen the population. Thandi is 20 years old and Seeni and Sukiri are both 18, meaning they are adults but still capable of breeding.



http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11201/11615...=localstate.xml

[Space4Eles]

Original post Rowan Morrison 20 July 2011:

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Contact: Marianne Bessey, 610-733-1248
Attn: News Desk

Traumatized Elephants to be Bred at Pennsylvania Facility
Deaths of Three Handlers Tied to Elephants Imported from Botswana

Philadelphia, Pa. – Three wild-caught elephants from Botswana, survivors of a cull in Kruger National Park in South Africa where their families were massacred in front of them, were moved last weekend to a facility in Somerset PA where they reportedly will be bred. Already confined at the facility are Philadelphia Zoo-owned elephants Kallie and Bette, and the Pittsburgh Zoo’s bull elephant Jackson.

The three new Pennsylvania residents, Thandi, Sukuri and Seeni, along with a fourth bull elephant, Shaka, had been popular tourist attractions in Botswana. There, they were rented out for “elephant walks” where tourists would pay to walk through the bush alongside them. In April 2008, elephant handlers Chandan Alahakoon and Piyal Pedige were killed by the elephants while out in the bush. After the trainers’ deaths, the Botswana government required Shaka to be euthanised, even though it was reported that it wasn't certain which elephant killed the handlers. The three surviving elephants were then moved to the Oksavange Delta in Botswana. Shortly thereafter, the elephants killed 32-year-old trainer Nathan Jamieson in October 2010.

Post Tramautic Stress Disoder (PTSD) is a disease acknowledged by many experts to exist in elephants, resulting in aggressive behavior. Joyce Poole, research director at the Amboseli Elephant Research Project in Kenya and her colleagues claim that many elephants are suffering from PTSD brought on by experiencing stress at an early age. Dr Felicity de Zulueta, a consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London, who specialises in trauma therapy and grew up in Uganda with an orphaned elephant as a pet, said that one cause of PTSD in humans is the failure of a child to bond or “attach” properly with its primary carer. “Prematurely separating an elephant from the family tribe will have very powerful effects in terms of the attachment system. One of these effects would be aggression,” she said. Oregon State University professor Gay Bradshaw has stated that the loss of social structure in elephants due to mass cullings and devastation of their herd structure through human encroachment results in PTSD in wild elephants.

“The incredible irony is that the Pittsburgh Zoo is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring three traumatized elephants to the U.S. in order to breed them in the name of ‘conservation,’ while at the same time entire herds are being killed in Africa due to an alleged overpopulation of elephants there ,” said Marianne Bessey, founder of local grassroots group Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants. “For a fraction of the cost, entire herds of elephants in Africa could be protected.”

On another note, local activists continue their crusade to relocate Philadelphia Zoo-owned elephants Kallie and Bette to a true sanctuary: this Saturday, activists will convene in front of the zoo during the annual "alefest" where exotic animals and drunk partygoers will intermingle.

WHEN: Saturday, July 23, 2011, 6 pm to 7 pm.
WHERE: Public Sidewalk in front of the Philadelphia Zoo, 3400 Girard Avenue, Philadelphia

Please see www.ElesAngels.com for more information.

[Space4Eles]

Original post SL 20 July 2011:

We must now work to ensure that what happened to Peaches, Wankie & Tatima by the San Diego Zoo does not happen to Bette & Kallie by the Pittsburgh Zoo.

[Space4Eles]

Original post S4E 20 July 2011:

Great work, Rowan!

Thinking round this news, I believe a very dangerous situation is being created here around these 6 elephants, on several levels ...

[Space4Eles]

Original post Rowan Morrison 20 July 2011:

I'm still trying to figure out where the new elephants are being kept - apparently there is a quarantine space built for them. But the photos look like the existing 3.5 acre yard. And the current barn only has four stalls, at least as of last year.

[Space4Eles]

Original post 4elephants 21 July 2011:

Excellent letter to the press Rowen--you are articulate and well tempered...... I tend to be both stark and raving with this total disregard of elephant welfare...

[Space4Eles]

Original post irishlass 22 July 2011:

Ditto, 4E, good work Rowan. Any idea of the cost to import these 3 and how their trip was funded?

[Space4Eles]

Original post t&tt 23 July 2011:

It cost $750,000 to transport them. The Richard King Mellon Foundation and the Colcom Foundation paid the costs. 20 hour flight, arrived 7/15.
http://www.dailyamerican.com/news/somerset...0,6053410.story

[Space4Eles]

Original post SL 23 July 2011:

Thanks for reposting the link t&tt. It would be interesting to know how much compensation the family received for them. I know the article says they were a gift, but I don't believe that.

[Space4Eles]

Original post t&tt 23 July 2011:

Info on the ICC, International Conservation Center of the Pittsburgh Zoo

They plan to have an Elephant Care School, a two-year academic program to teach elephant husbandry. Guess they need elephants for students to work on.

http://internationalconservationcenter.org/about.html

[Space4Eles]

Original post 24 July 2011:

Yes, thanks for keeping us informed, t&tt ...

I'm always suspicious when I hear the word "gift" used in connection with elephants moving from one facility to another.

In 2005 we protested, along with groups like Born Free UK and CUPA India, the proposed state gifting of 6 year old female elephant Veda, who lived with her family at Bannerghatta BP in India, to a wretched pen at Yerevan Zoo in cold Armenia. The protest was successful, and Indian PM Dr. Manmohan Singh declared that Veda will remain in India.

Here is the story:
Celebration time for Veda
http://www.hindu.com/2005/04/30/stories/2005043001572200.htm

[Space4Eles]

2 original posts S4E 29 Aug 2011:

15-minute video, uploaded 2 August 2011; sound quality poor.

Interview with Willie Theison, Pittsburgh Zoo Elephant Manager

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3qg7QmEyNI


1:30-minute video, uploaded 2 August 2011. The Botswana elephants - one clearly chained.

Elephants at the International Conservation Center in Somerset County, PA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vziuTqu2EIA&feature=related

[Space4Eles]

2 original posts SL 29 Aug 2011:

Good catch s4e... they must be so confused. They were captive in Africa but they could probably communicate with wild elephants. So sad


Dr. Baker is an opportunist Out to make a name for herself with AZA.

Anyway Thieson was interviewed in the documentary "One Lucky Elephant." He doesn't believe captive elephants suffer from PTSD.

[Space4Eles]

Original post SL 17 Nov 2010:

Activists seek probe of Phila. Zoo elephants' new home

An animal advocacy organization has filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture over what they say are inhumane conditions at a western Pennsylvania facility that now houses two longtime Philadelphia Zoo elephants.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/pets/Ac...wAll=y#comments

[Space4Eles]

3 Original posts SL 18 Nov 2010:

2 Videos in the right-hand column ...

Philadelphia elephants mistreated in W. Pa., activists say

A small squad of animal-rights activists gathered at City Hall early this afternoon to publicize their concern for two Philadelphia Zoo elephants now housed at a facility outside Pittsburgh.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20101117...ivists_say.html


Elephant advocates allege mistreatment at conservation center

The U.S. Department of Agriculture received a complaint yesterday from animal activists claiming that two elephants that lived at the Philadelphia Zoo are being mistreated at a conservation center in central Pennsylvania.

A spokesman for the USDA said the agency would investigate the complaint, filed by Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_updat...wAll=y#comments


Zoos scoff at elephant mistreatment charge

The Philadelphia and Pittsburgh Zoos strongly deny accusations that elephants have been mistreated at a Western Pennsylvania sanctuary.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20101118...ent_charge.html

[Space4Eles]

Original post SL 18 Jan 2011:

Philly Elephants In Trouble

Sad News for Bette and Kallie. According to a study by international animal welfare group In Defense of Animals, Bette and Kallie, the two elephants transferred from the Philadelphia Zoo in July 2009, are living in one of the top 10 worst zoos in the country. Here’s what the report had to say about Pittsburgh Zoo’s International Conservation Center:

http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post...cas-worst-zoos/

[Space4Eles]

Original post crm 18 Jan 2011:

So glad Dulary got to TES.

The Philly Zoo wasn't lied to by these people. The Philly Zoo knew exactly what would happen there. They're not that stupid.

If the elephants aren't allowed to use the 700+ acres of land, what are they doing with it? The Pittsburgh Zoo is exactly the same.

[spiritedlulu]

Need subscription to read the whole article. I contacted them and asked if I could purchase just the article. They said they would send it to me.

Trained Dogs will Guard Zoo Facility

FAIRHOPE — The International Conservation Center has another breed of animal walking the grounds – one that isn’t found in any zoo.

Trained German shepherd guard dogs are now on duty at the conservation center, the Pittsburgh Zoo’s breeding and research facility.


http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x6011843...rd-zoo-facility

[Space4Eles]

The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is seeking experienced elephant keepers who would be interested in joining a progressive elephant management team, utilizing both free and protected contact. The successful candidate's primary assignment will be at the Zoo’s International Conservation Center just outside of Berlin, Pa., about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh. We will also require a moderate amount of time spent at the zoo’s facility in Pittsburgh to facilitate the development of a versatile and cohesive elephant management team.

http://www.pittsburghzoo.org/Zoo%20Careers...ler-Farm%20Hand

Bold is mine.

[Space4Eles]

Thanks to a member of TEC Facebook for drawing this article to our attention:

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo lands 6th elephant

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's elephant herd just grew to six with the arrival of Kallie from the International Conservation Center near Pittsburgh ...

Since 2009, Kallie has been at the International Conservation Center, owned by the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. She is still owned by the Philadelphia Zoo, and went to Pittsburgh because the other zoo closed its elephant exhibit, according to Allen.

Here, she will continue to be formally owned by Philadelphia, "but we are looking at it as really long term loan," said zoo director Steve Taylor.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/11/me..._6th_eleph.html

[Space4Eles]

Ex-Philly elephant being moved again

The decision to move Kallie from Pittsburgh and split her from Bette was made by Philadelphia Zoo officials - who still closely follow their former elephants - after the Pittsburgh Zoo rescued three young elephants from Botswana.

Officials described Bette as a "sweetheart" and predicted that she'd be easy to integrate with the new elephants in Pittsburgh.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylv.../133054998.html

[Space4Eles]

Acknowledging a member of TEC Facebook for drawing attention to this article:

Female elephants on the move in search of love

One of the mahouts, or keepers, rode atop Thandi while leading the other two elephants to the barn. They paused periodically to enjoy some grass, but once they reached the new yard, went straight for the treats put out for them, Baker said.

http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x4592146...-search-of-love

The article contains a video which shows Thandi being ridden by a keeper with a bullhook ...

[Space4Eles]

Press release from Animal ACTivists of Philly:

For Immediate Release

Friday, November 5 2011

Contact: Marianne Bessey, 610-733-1248,

mabessey@gmail.com, www.elesangels.com

Attn: News Desk

PHILADELPHIA AND PITTSBURGH ZOOS LYING TO COVER UP SEPARATION OF ELEPHANTS

Despite Zoo Claims Otherwise, Elephant Was Never Mated and Never at Disney Animal Kingdom

Philadelphia PA - Pittsburgh Zoo and Philadelphia Zoo officials are reportedly claiming that a former Philadelphia Zoo elephant moved to the Cleveland Zoo this week was "reunited" with a "former mate" from "Disney Animal Kingdom." The story is as heartwarming as it is false. Kallie was never mated and was never at Disney Animal Kingdom.

The "former mate" referenced in the media reports is a male elephant named Willy, part of a traveling circus act that included Kallie and other female elephants. In captivity adolescent and adult male and female elephants are kept apart except to be bred, so it is likely that Willy and Kallie were "together" only while performing in the circus ring. Kallie was never bred with Willy or any other male elephant.

The circus ended in 1999 when Kallie was sold to another organization where she was used to give elephant rides along with Bette, who she had known at Jumbolair, a private zoo in Florida with over 80 other elephants - including Willy. Also in 1999, Willy was sold to Disney Animal Kingdom, where he lived until this year, when he was shipped to the Cleveland Zoo.

"It is disturbing that the zoo is lying about Kallie's history, apparently to cover up the heart-wrenching separation from her constant companion of 12 years, Bette," said Marianne Bessey, founder of Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants, which has been campaigning for six years for the elephants to be sent to true sanctuaries. "It is a shame that the public is being so misled."

https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheElephant...234039086655683

[spiritedlulu]

I read Ro's PR on Facebook. Kalle & Bette were bonded. This is so cruel!