5:10 PM, September 25, 2008
Mexico has seized 12 animals from a circus a day after one of its elephants wandered onto a highway and was struck and killed by a bus.
Mexico's Environmental Protection office said the two Asian elephants and 10 Siberian tigers were not properly contained and were at risk of escaping.
The office said Wednesday in a statement that inspectors found the elephants tied to the tire of a trailer. Doors on several of the trailers also lacked proper locks.
On Tuesday, a 5-ton elephant named Indra escaped the circus, wandered onto a highway outside Mexico City and was hit by a bus carrying 41 passengers. The driver and the pachyderm died.
Mexican media reported that the elephant escaped as its keeper arrived to feed it.
-- Associated Press
Photo: Associated Press
11:34 AM, September 4, 2008
When the crime world and animal world collide, strange things happen. In China, an elephant was fed bananas spiked with heroin. In Brazil, drug runners kept a large caiman, possibly to dispose of enemies.
Reuters, reporting today out of Beijing, tells the tale of an elephant who beat its addiction:
A once drug-addled elephant fed heroin-laced bananas by illegal traders will return home after emerging clean from a three-year detox program on China’s tropical island province of Hainan.
The 4-year-old bull elephant, referred to alternately as "Big Brother" or "Xiguang" in state media reports, was captured in 2005 in southwest China by traders who used spiked bananas to control him.
After police arrested the traders and freed Xiguang a few months later, the elephant was confirmed to be suffering from withdrawal symptoms and sent to a wild animal protection center in Hainan for rehab, Xinhua news agency said.
A year of methadone injections at five times the human dosage had helped wean Xiguang off his addiction.
Associated Press, reporting Wednesday out of Rio de Janeiro, tells the tale of the drug dealer and the type of caiman known as a jacarei alligator:
Brazilian police say they’ve literally taken a bite out of crime.
Officers raided the home of a drug dealer’s mother-in-law on Wednesday and found two alligators, one of them about 6 feet long, said police inspector Ronaldo Oliveira.
Police speculated that traffickers used the jacarei alligators to help them dispose of bodies and to torture captured members of rival gangs, though they gave no evidence of anyone being eaten or tortured.
Oliveira said the woman didn’t know the animals were in her house and she was not arrested. The alligators were turned over to the Rio zoo. Police also arrested three men while seizing several guns and a small quantity of drugs during the operation in the Coreia shantytown, Oliveira said.
It's hard to say what's more surprising -- the bit about disposing of bodies or that the drug dealer's mother "didn't know the animals were in her house."
-- Steve Padilla
2:09 PM, August 21, 2008
Jenny the lonely elephant, whose pending move from the Dallas Zoo to Mexico had angered activists, isn't going anywhere after all.
The Dallas Zoo announced Wednesday that the 9,000-pound pachyderm will remain at her home of 22 years and will eventually get a new companion.
The decision to keep the elephant in Dallas "serves Jenny's best interests," said Greg Hudson, the zoo's executive director.
Dallas Zoo officials had planned to ship Jenny to a wildlife park in Mexico after her companion died in May. African elephants become unhappy when left alone.
But activists ripped the plan, saying Jenny is nervous and fears cars and would be miserable at the drive-through park in Mexico where the Dallas Zoo planned to send her. Protests were held in front of the Dallas Zoo last month.
Read more Elephant will remain in Dallas Zoo »
11:47 AM, July 22, 2008
Elephants march through Anaheim on their way to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus yesterday. (Of course, not everyone loves the circus. Not surprisingly, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals suggests we boycott, as previously reported on L.A. Unleashed.)
Photo: Karen Tapia-Andersen/Los Angeles Times
6:06 PM, July 17, 2008
L.A. Now blogger Veronique de Turenne reminds us that the circus has come to town (at Staples), complete with acts, animals and controvery. PETA and other animal rights organizations would like all of us to boycott the circus, which has a few problems of its own.
This fall, Ringling Brothers is supposed to go to court for a trial over charges that it abuses its Asian elephants in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act. Ringling Brothers denies the allegations, as reported in the L.A. Weekly's article on a most unusual protest against the circus.
Photo: Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times
12:05 PM, June 6, 2008
Tornadoes have hopscotched across the Great Plains and Midwest, causing some damage and spooking two circus elephants that escaped their enclosure, according to Times wire reports.
The escaped elephants wandered around the town of WaKeeney, Kansas, Trego County Sheriff Richard Schneider said. One was found in a nearby backyard, tranquilized and coaxed into a truck. The other entered a different backyard and also was coaxed into a truck.
At least four tornadoes touched down in Kansas.
The weather service had warned that hail bigger than baseballs and "a few strong-to-violent long-lived tornadoes" could strike Kansas, prompting Wichita State University to cancel evening classes.
Other tornadoes were reported in Iowa, Colorado, Nebraska and Missouri.
--Francisco Vara-Orta
12:01 AM, May 15, 2008
No doubt, Ruby--with her fabled elephant's memory--has not forgotten that this is her first anniversary at PAWS sanctuary in San Andreas.
One year ago today, the Los Angeles Zoo's female African elephant, Ruby, left behind her solitary off-exhibit barn, and controversy over her fate, for retirement at the bucolic northern California sanctuary. From all reports, the move was a success.
"Ruby is the most delightful elephant," said Pat Derby, co-founder of PAWS. "And she's been a catalyst for harmony among the elephants. One of our really neurotic little elephants from San Francisco--Lulu--just fell in love with Ruby." Now, they ''stall" together.
Five female Africans--formerly from circuses, zoos, even private hands--enjoy the 75 rolling acres of shrubs and grasses. (Easy on the feet.) Ruby, above, so flipped for the verdant grass of February that she overindulged and ended up with a bout of colic. "She has now learned to eat grass in moderation," said Derby.
But an anniversary is no time for moderation.
Bob Barker, the TV game show host and Ruby's biggest benefactor (he donated $300,000 for her upkeep), is visiting. And there will be carrot cake--sugarless. "We try to limit their intake of sweets," said Derby. Try to catch Ruby on a sanctuary web cam. "She's like a tank," said Derby. "She's the widest elephant on screen."
-- Carla Hall
Photo courtesy of PAWS
6:39 PM, May 13, 2008
There's nothing like an elephant... in a zoo... to get many Angelenos riled up. Should the elephants stay or should they go? And what about that $40-million new elephant habitat under construction? Today, City News Service reports that a lawsuit filed to close the Los Angeles Zoo's current elephant exhibit and stop the construction of a new one was dismissed. In the suit filed last Aug. 2 against the city and zoo director John Lewis, actor Robert Culp and real estate agent Aaron Leider maintained zoo authorities have withheld medical care, kept the animals over the years confined in a small area, and used bull hooks and electric shock to control them.
They also maintained the larger exhibit would be a waste of taxpayer money. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Shepard Wiley said the issues should be resolved in the political arena rather than in the courtroom.
“America is all about democracy,” Wiley said in granting the city’s motion to dismiss the case before trial. “Sometimes we like its results, and sometimes we abhor the results.”
While calling the arguments in the lawsuit compelling -- including opinions submitted from experts as far away as Australia -- Wiley said the grievances should be brought to the attention of the politicians who made the decisions to have an elephant exhibit and expand the one already there.
The Los Angeles Zoo’s elephant exhibit is currently home to a 21-year-old Asian elephant named Billy. The $40-million exhibit under construction, set to open in 2009 and be called Pachyderm Forest, is designed hold up to five adult Asian elephants and three of their offspring.
4:31 PM, May 7, 2008
For decades, zoos and aquariums across the country have encouraged animals to paint as a way to keep the penned-up denizens mentally enriched. Typically, the paintings were discarded or set aside.
But the Associated Press reports that officials have recently discovered that animal lovers are willing pay even thousands of dollars for the creatures’ creations, prompting zoos across the country to study whether their animal artists, such as Brittany the elephant at the Milwaukee County Zoo, might be an untapped source of revenue.
For details, read below.
-Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Morry Gash/Associated Press
Read more Animals as artists ... seriously »
9:04 AM, May 2, 2008
South Africa lifted a 13-year ban on killing elephants Thursday, a move conservationists warn could encourage poachers to slaughter the animals for ivory and threaten dwindling populations elsewhere on the continent, the Associated Press reports.
Elephants -- once on the verge of extinction in some parts of South Africa -- are flourishing, with the population there growing more than 5% annually in recent years as a result of a well-managed national parks industry.
South African authorities want to keep a lid on their burgeoning numbers and protect the elephants' viability. Killing elephants, which have no predators and can turn woodlands to grass and stubs in a matter of years, is the best way to control the population, South African officials say.
The AP reports that conservationists worry about the repercussions of South Africa's move.
In war-ravaged Congo's Virunga National Park, for example, 14 elephants have been killed since mid-April by soldiers, militias and villagers -- an upsurge in poaching that is "part of a widespread slaughter across the Congo Basin" of Central Africa, according to Dr. Emmanuel de Merode, director of the conservation group WildlifeDirect.
For the full AP report, a photo gallery and other stories on elephants, click here.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times
3:06 PM, April 11, 2008
A circus elephant act in Panorama City was shut down Thursday by Los Angeles city animal services, the LA Daily News reports.
The elephant act, contracted to appear with Circus Vazquez, was found to be violation of the City of Los Angeles' permit requirements.
The elephants, Tina, Jewel and Queenie, have a long history of abuse and neglect, all documented in official U.S. Department of Agriculture records, said Ed Boks, general manager of Animal Services.
Boks told the Daily News that when he contacted the USDA, he found out that the elephants’ owner, Will Davenport, acting under different names and business aliases in Arizona and Texas, had a history of numerous Animal Welfare Act violations.
"We commend L.A. Animal Services for taking action to prevent these abused elephants from being exploited in our city,” said Catherine Doyle, a campaign director for In Defense of Animals, which helped draft the city permit guidelines. “If only federal authorities would act as swiftly and decisively as the city has.”
Doyle told the L.A. Times she's calling for federal authorities to seize the elephants and return them to an animal sanctuary.
-Francisco Vara-Orta
11:04 AM, April 8, 2008
Winky, a popular but ailing elephant that had been transferred from the Detroit Zoo to a California refuge, has died, the Associated Press reports.
The 56-year-old elephant was euthanized Monday, according to the Performing Animal Welfare Society, which housed Winky in its San Andreas compound.
Officials with the society say Winky was unable to get back on her feet after sliding to her hindquarters over the weekend, forcing veterinarians to euthanize her.
Winky and another Asian elephant, Wanda, were moved in 2005 to the sanctuary in the Sierra Nevada foothills because of arthritis and foot problems.
Wanda, pictured here in the foreground, and Winky stand in their enclosure at the Detroit Zoo in May 2004, months before their transfer to San Andreas.
Fifty-year-old Wanda remains there.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Mandi Wright/AP
12:30 PM, April 7, 2008
The elephant show at the Wild Animal Park, an attraction at Tembo Stadium since 1977, the most popular show in park history, closed this weekend.
The show's stars -- Ranchipur, Sunita, Cookie, Mary and Cha-Cha -- are set to be transported down the freeway to the San Diego Zoo to join three elephants there in a new exhibit, Times staff writer Tony Perry reports.
The herd will share 2.5 acres, part of a $44-million project called Elephant Odyssey that will cover 7 acres and include tree sloths, jaguars, lions, birds, tapirs, camels, turtles, pronghorn sheep and life-size replicas of prehistoric beasts, Perry reports.
At their new habitat at the San Diego Zoo, there will be no elephant show. Why?
Says elephant trainer Brian Greco, pictured here with Ranchipur, the Wild Animal Park's 42-year-old, 12,000-pound bull elephant, "A lot of us are not big on the idea of elephants performing in shows. We like to give our elephants every chance to just be elephants."
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Rick Loomis/Los Angeles Times
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