Disappeared News

“
Among various concerns for the elephants, the  [Association of Zoos and Aquariums] criticized the zoo's limited shade, brackish pools and untested chlorine levels in the pools.
…
Meanwhile rocks in the yard could hurt the animals' feet and pose problems if the elephants threw them, according to the report.

"Of course the AZA had a major problem with the elephants," [Former chief of the Zoological Society Catherine] Goeggel said. "Lack of water. No enrichment. This barren, sad exhibit."
  
Goeggel noted that "the elephants were recently found playing with a car battery that got in there somehow, or they unearthed."
”

by Larry Geller

I have not seen a better compendium of reasons for first auditing then shutting down the Honolulu Zoo than this Courthouse News article by Nicholas Fillmore. Please read it.

… Goeggel noted that "several of the keepers at the zoo came from Las Vegas, where the animals do shows."
     "I was watching them put the animals through their paces, and it reminded me of the circus," she said. "They had the animals doing tricks, basically, with use of an 'ankus,' this nasty bull hook they use in the elephants tender spots, in the armpit, behind the ears."
     Goeggel worried that things will get worse if the zoo gets a bull elephant.
     "When they're in musth they're uncontrollable," she said.

[Courthouse News Service, More at Stake Than Money for Honolulu Zoo, 6/16/2016]

Why an audit? The article mentions that only a small part of the funding actually goes to the zoo. If true, all the more reason to shut it down, but the numbers should be established first by a competent and independent audit.

It’s not just the AZA criticism that begs for shutting down this facility. The article concludes with this report:

… the Honolulu Zoo scored poorly as well with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA reports have flagged rusted metal, flaking paint, inaccessible areas and a moldy, wooden nesting box as posing significant dangers to animals.

There’s much in this report that is shocking. After reading it, think if you want to weigh in somehow on this issue. If we the public don’t care, who will care for the animals?

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/16/2016 12:22:00 PM