Paul Murphy TD has called for an end to the elephant exhibition at Dublin Zoo.
The politician said at a Freedom for Animals event in the capital yesterday: ‘We don’t think that elephants should be imported into Dublin Zoo. Elephants have no place in often quite small areas of captivity.
‘It has a damaging impact on the health of elephants in many ways. We’ve seen this happen at Dublin Zoo and we are looking at what we can do in terms of legislation to stop it.’
He spoke at the event to publicise a report highlighting the alleged mistreatment of elephants in the zoo.
Dublin Zoo’sAsian bull elephant Upali (right) is welcomed by 5 year old calf Asha to the zoo.
He argued, along with experts and animal rights activists, that elephants should no longer be imported into the zoo and that when the last one dies, Dublin Zoo should not house elephants.
Speaking at the same event, zoologist Robert Atkinson said: ‘There’s absolutely no proof that keeping elephants in captivity helps the conservation of wild elephants. The zoo makes one false claim after another.’
He argued that the space provided to elephants is too small in Dublin Zoo. ‘It’s less than a hectare. They can walk across it in less than a minute,’ Mr Atkinson said.
Dublin Zoo was also warned that young elephants are being forced to have children. One called Asha, was four years old and had a male introduced. Most elephants give birth at around 14 or 15 years old.
According to Mr Atkinson, this led to a genital infection and the death of Asha’s baby.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy. Pic: X
‘Of the 30 elephants that have lived in Dublin, 13 have been shipped off to other zoos. That’s not what elephants do. Elephants are highly emotional, highly bonded. The females stay together for life,’ added Mr Atkinson.
‘Dublin Zoo seems to have no conscience about where to send them. They send them to zoos all over Europe and one in America which was ranked among the ten worst zoos in North America for elephants.’
But Dublin Zoo was keen to highlight that the organisation behind the report, Freedom for Animals, are publicly committed to the closure of all zoos.
A Zoo spokesperson said: ‘On the report itself, we strongly disagree with many of the assertions made, which we believe present a partial and unbalanced view of modern zoo practices.
‘Our animal care protocols are informed by international best practices, underpinned by evidence-based science, and delivered by a team deeply committed to the welfare of the animals in our care.’
Asian elephants in Dublin Zoo. Pic: Patrick Bolger
Mr Murphy also came out strongly against the Wild Lights exhibition at the zoo, in which replicas of animals are lit up throughout the zoo.
It takes place after dark from November through January and the public are charged in to see it. Last year, the zoo imported 26 shipping containers of light-up animals from China, leading to accusations that it is an environmental waste.
Expert in animal welfare Andrew Kelly said: ‘When the zoo closes and everything goes quiet, it’s their [the animals] opportunity to get a break from human contact, which they demonstrably do not enjoy. So these kinds of shows, lights, music and so on do cause harm.’
In the winter, Dublin Zoo normally closes at 4pm. But for the Wild Lights exhibition, it reopens from 5pm to 9pm from the start of November until the end of January. The show is being extended to run through January for the first time this year.
