Preserve Aims to Keep African Elephants Healthy, in Shape and Breeding
26, 2014 10:34 p.m.
TEHAMA COUNTY, Calif.—Many elephants in U.S. zoos have the same problem as visitors who gawk at them: They are fat.
"The general public are familiar with Disney and the tale of Dumbo," said Deborah Olson, executive director of the International Elephant Foundation, a conservation group. "They're drawn as round creatures, so the general public has this conception that they're round instead of what they truly look like in the wild."
But now there is hope. In the rural, rolling hills of Northern California, plans are under way for a 4,900-acre preserve that would keep African elephants healthy, in shape and breeding. Part fat farm and part laboratory, the elephant preserve would start with three to five elephants and let them grow into a herd of 12 to 15 over two decades.
The paunchy Lisa eats from a suspended bucket at the Oakland Zoo. Max Whittaker / Prime for The Wall Street Journal
Scientists also would conduct research into the "near-wild" herd, and school groups would come to learn about African elephants, considered to be a threatened species because of poaching in the wild.
The preserve would be funded by a foundation set up by Roger McNamee, co-founder of Silicon Valley private-equity firm Elevation Partners, and run by staff from California's Oakland Zoo, including Joel Parrott, the zoo's president and chief executive.
The proposal highlights a trend in elephant husbandry of providing more space to captive animals. A recent study found that three-fourths of North American zoo elephants were overweight. The conclusion was drawn by researchers who made their determinations in part by studying the size and shape of the pachyderms' posteriors. They had too much junk in the trunk.
In addition, experts are concerned that zoo elephants aren't breeding enough to replenish an aging population.
"One of the researchers on the team developed a body-conditioning scoring system based on five different views of the elephant that does include a posterior view, essentially looking for fat deposition around the area of the rump and the spine," says Cheryl Meehan, consulting project manager on the zoo elephant-welfare study. "They looked at thousands of photographs to develop and validate this tool."
A recent study found that three-fourths of North American zoo elephants were overweight. Here, African elephants at the Oakland Zoo. Max Whittaker/Prime for The Wall Street Journal
The key to weight loss for elephants is the same as it is for humans: diet and exercise. At the Oakland Zoo, elephant keepers spread hard-to-chew food like brush around the animals' 6-acre enclosure, hiding other nutritious tidbits the animals have to seek out to make sure they keep in shape while they dine. The elephants have regular weigh-ins, just like Weight Watchers members.
On a recent day, a bull elephant named Osh lumbered onto a giant scale that put him at 12,495 pounds. That is a fit and healthy six tons for a 10½-foot-tall, 19-year-old male elephant, said an approving Jeff Kinzley, the zoo's elephant manager.
Lisa, a 34-year-old female elephant, weighed in at just 9,285 pounds—but was showing serious pachyderm paunch. Lisa is big-boned, but Dr. Parrott, a veterinarian, also politely pointed out her "rotund belly and lack of muscle definition."
Mr. McNamee declined requests for comment. A spokeswoman said his new Ndovo Foundation—the name is from the Swahili word for elephant—is "dedicated to conservation and protection of African elephants. Its first project will seek to redefine elephant captivity in a manner that respects and protects their nature."
Mr. McNamee, whose firm made a jumbo-size score with its investment in Facebook Inc., considered Dr. Seuss's ever-faithful Horton the Elephant to be a role model as a child, the spokeswoman said.
Real-estate broker Al Swan opens a gate at the 4,900-acre ranch proposed as an elephant preserve in Northern California. Max Whittaker/Prime
The elephant-preserve proposal has won praise from some local leaders, who believe it will bring the area jobs and recognition. But other people have voiced concerns about an elephant in the room: This is a cow town.
June Cooper, a retiree and resident of Red Bluff, the county seat, told county supervisors at a recent meeting that she feels "sorry for these elephants," but that "it's not right to bring a foreign animal into Tehama County."
The Tehama County Cattlemen's Association has balked about the potential impact on the land and water supply. Noting the state's drought conditions, the group's president, Steven McCarthy, said: "If we're competing with the elephants—who in my view are not producing food for the nation, which cattle are doing—is it going to be a problem?"
Dr. Parrott said all the concerns will be addressed in the environmental-review process. He says the Golden State is an ideal location for African elephants "because our climate is very similar to parts of South Africa."
African elephant
County officials still must approve the project. Supervisor Steve Chamblin said he is "very happy that they would consider such a small place with a large kind of plan." One thorny issue for local cattlemen could be whether the elephant preserve qualifies for a state tax break given to property owners who use their land for farming or raising livestock.
"I don't know if [elephants] have been used as food—I know the lions like them in Africa," said Mr. McCarthy of the cattlemen's association. "Are they going to sell them at Whole Foods—an elephant steak for 20" people?
The Ndovo Foundation is in the final stages of a deal to buy a property known as Diamond Ranch, said Al Swan, a ranch broker representing the property owner. It is a wide-open tract of grassy hills, scattered oak trees and views of snow-peaked Mount Shasta and Mount Lassen. The asking price was $6.4 million, said Mr. Swan, who never sold land for an elephant ranch before.
"It was out of left field, but after you think about it you go, 'OK, that's cool,' " he said while maneuvering his Toyota 4Runner along a bumpy dirt path that cuts through the ranchland.
Written by barokah
We are Creative Blogger Theme Wavers which provides user friendly, effective and easy to use themes. Each support has free and providing HD support screen casting.
0 comments:
Post a Comment