Joburg Zoo’s cash cows – and animal activists – aren’t happy

Lammie, the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo’s longest-living elephant in captivity, recently turned 40 – a ripe old age for an elephant in captivity.

Her partner of 17 years, Kinkel, died in September last year and she has recently been joined by two new elephants, Mopani and Ramadiba.

This has led to even more outcry from activists and ecologists.

Trans-species psychologist Dr Gay Bradshaw has researched the effects of trauma and violence on elephants and other animals.

Bradshaw’s research found that the death of an animal has an impact on the family and surrounding community, but that repeated losses result in sustained psychological trauma.

She said that when an elephant lost a family member in the wild, there was a grieving process, But, in captivity, an elephant can grieve to the point of dying in some cases.

“Being alone is definitely counter to everything in elephant society, so it is possible that depression may have left her compromised and more susceptible to illness,” she said.

Mopani and Ramadiba were brought to the zoo in June to become Lammie’s new companions.

Humane Society International Africa (HSI) wildlife director Audrey Delsink said elephants, like people, had their own personalities and there was never a guarantee that they would get along.

But one thing is certain – it is completely unnatural for female elephants to be alone, as they reside with their natal herds throughout their life.

Some rehabilitation centres have had some luck in elephants forming new groups by being carefully introduced, but because of Lammie’s age, the integration and bonding process will have to be facilitated much more carefully and will take time.

Mopani and Ramadiba are wild-caught elephants that lived in Selati Game Reserve in Limpopo. They were captured before the publication of the Norms and Standards of Elephant Management in SA, which was gazetted in 2008.

After being caught and placed in captivity, they lived at numerous facilities before being bought by Inkwenkwezi Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape.

Delsink explained that all wild-caught elephants have a “breaking-in” period where they need to become habituated to people. She said this was done by keeping elephants in isolation, sometimes chained up or forced inside a small breaking-in pen. Food was often withheld to reinforce a dependence on people for food and water.

In this way, food was used to encourage behaviour that pleases crowds.

Mopani and Ramadiba are being housed in a small enclosure near Lammie’s home until they are socialised. According to the zoo, this was done in September.

Interestingly, in a statement released on January 23 by community development MMC Nonhlanhla Sifumba, the zoo alleges that only elephants born in captivity would be considered Lammie’s new companion/s.

The statement was intended to assure the public that Lammie was “coping well” after the loss of Kinkel, with the zoo’s enrichment officer, Candice Ward, saying “the Joburg Zoo only considers elephants born in captivity, as a companion for Lammie.”

Delsink said there were rigid processes the zoo had to go through to acquire the new elephants. A zoo could not purchase a wild animal; it must come from captive facilities.

The zoo then needed to present a valid, approved elephant management plan, and would then apply for an import and conveyance permit from the Gauteng department of agriculture and rural development. Once granted, the import permit was sent to the exporting provincial department, in this case, the Eastern Cape.

So, the move was legal, but Delsink did not think it was ethical, saying Mopani and Ramadiba were used to a free contact, semifree roaming environment, but have now been made to endure a full contact, no free-roaming system.

Their frustration is visible. Delsink has visited and observed the new arrivals twice, for a few hours at a time, and said both elephants displayed signs of stress, through temporal streaming and foot-swinging.

Delsink, together with the Elephant Reintegration Trust, the EMS Foundation and HSI/ Africa, wrote a formal letter to Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba, Joburg Zoo MD Bryne Maduka and zoo manager Piet Malepa, explaining their proposal to have elephants rewilded.

Delsink says the zoo received the letter and came up with an array of excuses as to why it opposed this plan. According to the zoo, this would be too risky for Lammie, given her age.

Lammie is old, and there were always risks involved in rewilding or rehabilitating any animal, but Delsink believed the benefits “far outweigh the risks”, adding the zoo’s animals are essentially assets that draw scores of curious onlookers.

The allegation that animals at the zoo are merely assets was somewhat reiterated on World Elephant Day, after Mopani was recorded performing tricks for children visiting the zoo.

– nicas@citizen.co.za

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