FOZE response to Oregon Zoo Director

Recently, Don Moore, Director of the Oregon Zoo posted statements on the Zoo’s website chastising Care 2 for its Free Chendra billboards and called FOZE out for being anti zoo. Here is our response. And you can see the director’s statement on the Zoo site here.

Director’s statement on misinformation in anti-zoo campaign
ZOO: The worldviews of animal and wildlife advocates are as varied as their chosen causes, from animal rights to habitat conservation. Some groups are firmly anti-zoo, and though this perspective is at odds with our mission, we share their passion for the well-being of animals.

FOZE: We have always said we are anti elephants in zoos, not anti zoo, but no matter how many times we say it, the zoo proclaims us anti zoo, so we now will accept that definition because zoos as they exist today are an anachronism and need to be abolished. If the Oregon Zoo were to instead focus exclusively on rehabbing and returning Northwest species to the wild, as they do with condors, we would support that direction. Or if the zoo were to install virtual computer animated displays, that would also be a humane and no doubt popular option for the future. We would however sincerely be grateful and congratulate the zoo if it ends the breeding, buying and any use of bullhooks at the zoo.
If only the zoo did share our concern for the well-being of animals. If it did, it would not recklessly breed them, resulting in many infant mortalities and a host of zoonotic diseases from being confined for decades in small and inadequate enclosures.

ZOO: But misinformation doesn’t help anyone — and, what’s worse, it distracts from the real issues facing wildlife.

FOZE: We agree! The zoo’s repeated claim that it is conserving elephants by keeping them captive is a major distraction from efforts to save elephants in the wild.

ZOO: Recently, the group Care2 purchased a billboard near Portland using rescued elephant Chendra as the face of an anti-zoo campaign. This campaign and the troubling tactics used to promote it are based on false and misleading information.
Care2 crowd-funded this billboard by exploiting the emotions of well-meaning people — many of whom undoubtedly had never heard of Chendra, let alone visited the Oregon Zoo’s world-class elephant home. Its purported goal is to “free Chendra,” which makes for a catchy rallying cry but ignores the fact that Chendra has a family and a home where she receives an extraordinary level of care. To “free” her would not only be life-threatening but would mean separating her from her home, her family and her devoted caregivers.

FOZE: One or more of those “devoted caregivers” inflicted bullhook wounds on Chendra in the past. The use of the word “herd” is misleading. Chendra does not have a “family” at the zoo. She is not related to any of the elephants at the zoo. A real herd is comprised of a family of mothers, babies, aunts and cousins.. Zoos do not have “herds” in the true sense of the word. In the wild. elephants choose who they mate with, they are not part of an AZA approved species protection plan that decides for them who and when and how to mate with.

ZOO: Chendra was separated from her mother as a result of conflict with people near a palm oil plantation in Sabah, Malaysia — a tragically common occurrence even to this day. She had suffered a gunshot wound that left her blind in one eye. After wildlife officials determined she would not survive in the wild, they found her a home at our zoo in 1999, where she has played an important role in the elephant family, including helping to raise calves Lily and Samudra. She is a healthy, vital member of her herd and inspires our community to take action for elephants around the world.

FOZE: Was there really no other place to send Chendra in all of SE Asia? Elephant Nature Park in Thailand opened in 1998, did the zoo contact ENP?
See our comment about the use of the word “herd” above.
There is no evidence what so ever to back up the zoo’s statement that keeping elephants in zoos is “inspiring the public to take action for elephants around the world.” Elephant populations are continuing to be decimated, despite zoos confining elephants for decades.

ZOO: The clearly misleading allegation that “Chendra is suffering and needs to be sent to a sanctuary immediately” is not based in fact and instead appears to be part of a larger anti-zoo agenda. Care2 regularly publishes anti-zoo materials, and the group behind this effort, which calls itself Free the Oregon Zoo Elephants, is also on the record as being anti-zoo.

FOZE: Well there you go, we are now on the record for being anti-zoo, and good for Care2 for taking the same stance.

ZOO: Lacking any compelling facts to bolster the campaign, its authors have attempted to mislead the public with claims that the Oregon Zoo abuses elephants with a “bullhook.” Animal-care professionals refer to this tool as a guide, and it is most often used for training in situations where there is free contact between elephants and humans. That is not the case at Elephant Lands, however, where there is a barrier between the elephants and keepers. Caregivers rely on verbal communication and positive reinforcement — not the use of guides — in their daily care and training sessions.

FOZE: Yes the zoo has moved to what it calls “welfare based training” with poles instead of bullhooks, at least in public. But the zoo staff admit they still have access to bullhooks and have them at the ready if the occasion arises. Due to the zoo’s long history of abuse with these weapons, we cannot trust the keepers are not using them behind the scenes, especially in light of the intense training the elephants undergo to perform tricks during the many animal shows at the zoo. Get them out of the zoo, as all zoos in California have done, and we will then be satisfied the zoo is indeed not using bullhooks on the elephants.

ZOO: Animal wellness is and always will be our No. 1 priority, and Elephant Lands, our elephants’ community-funded home, was built with that commitment in mind.

FOZE: See our statement above about “animal wellness”.

ZOO: The authors of this campaign did get one thing right: These are troubling times for elephants. Worldwide, all elephant species are facing unprecedented threats from poaching and shrinking habitat. That’s why we set up a $1 million Asian elephant endowment in 2016 and are working with partners in Borneo to stop the conflict that left Chendra without a home. Among other things, we are funding salaries for two elephant rangers with the Sabah Wildlife Rescue Unit and supporting the work of Dr. Farina Othman, Sabah’s top elephant scientist, who is focused on reducing human-elephant conflict.

FOZE: Salaries of elephant rangers are around $2,000 a year, what are the other projects being funded with this $1 million endowment from 2016? And compare this $1million endowment with the over $58 million the zoo spent to develop Elephant Lands. That money could fund African and Asian refuges for life.

ZOO: As animal advocates, we need to stand together and focus on real change. When we start bending truths to further special agendas — or worse, spread misinformation that could hurt animals — we only make it more difficult to take action for elephants around the world.

FOZE: We second this motion, and we sincerely and passionately urge the zoo to stop spreading misinformation and to start taking real action to help elephants around the world by ending the cruel confinement of them in zoos and instead focus on saving them where they live in their range countries, whether in the wild or sanctuary.

Courtney Scott
President, Free the Oregon Zoo Elephants

Dr. Don Moore
Director, Oregon Zoo