Last month, Elson a captive African lion died during a dental procedure at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colo. He was 16 years old and had been at the zoo since about 1996. The local newspaper, the Gazette, ran a story about the death and prompted sentimental online comments such as this one:
[teaserbreak]
“At 16 years old (average life span in captivity is 14 to 20 years), he had lived a long, full life.”
Really?
If by “full” we are to read “natural,” then wild animals do not live a “full life” in captivity. A fortunate few, including many of the 500-plus monkeys we care for at the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary, are lucky enough to be rescued from their miserable existences in laboratories, from misguided individuals who have bought them as exotic “pets” or from decrepit roadside zoos and are given the chance of a life worth living in accredited sanctuaries.
But in sharp contrast, many zoos generally provide little space, keep species in unnatural social groupings, cannot permit their animals to express the full range for their natural behaviors, and contribute little to public education or species conservation.
The Gazette, perhaps innocently, puts a fancifully positive spin on captivity. “During the 1990s, a species survival plan was established for African lions, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums began to carefully track the animals that were exported while making sure not to hinder species conservation efforts in Africa.”
Does that mean AZA zoos were still taking lions from the wild (making “sure not to hinder species conservation efforts”)? That is, at best, self-delusional, some might say blatant deception.
Oh, zoo apologists would be quick to say, but Elson had it pretty good. After all, he sired 13 cubs! Zookeepers recall fondly how he was a gentle “baby sitter.” Some of those offspring remain in Colorado Springs, while others have been placed at zoos in San Francisco, New York, Baltimore and Minot, N.D. I wonder what kind of lives they now endure?
Nature created these magnificent wild creatures in Africa. Elson was born there in 1995, but soon was caught and shipped to a city of 415,000 people some 6,000 feet above sea level. He was stuck in a small enclosure and expected to do two things: draw visitors and reproduce. Nothing else really seemed to matter.
Why do we think we have the right to kidnap a lion from his native habitat, imprison him in a far different climate, exploit him shamelessly as an attraction for years, and then — as the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has blithely vowed to do — upon his death replace them with another lion?
“I don’t think anything can compare with actually seeing them face to face,” explained the zoo’s animal care manager.
Yes, something can compare, and compare quite favorably. That’s to leave African lions in the wild, not in some cage in the Rocky Mountains or the Bronx or North Dakota, and do all we can to give them as much room and freedom — and respect from a distance — as we possibly can.
And compare Elson’s tale with that of Elsa. Thanks to George and Joy Adamson she did not end up in a zoo. She was Born Free and she lived free — go figure!
Blogging off,
Will