Elephant 3

Figure 1 Taken from the dailymail.co.uk

The image above shows 5 of 11 elephants that were killed by poachers in the Tsavo conservation Area in Kenya in January 2014. Poaching is a real problem for elephants whether in protected lands or not depicted in the image above. Elephants have no natural predators except for humans. The image above caught my attention when I did a simple search on elephants. To me it is a reflection of the danger posed to these animals from us humans. The conservation area is a place that should have allowed these animals to roam free from danger of being poached. This image I think is a perfect example of the “rupture” that Berger talks about of man from nature (Berger, p. 252). This rupture is to me the senseless killing of these animals. Berger talks of the relationship that man and animals once had where man depended on animals for labour, clothing etc. an animal would not have been killed just for the act of killing. 

I would have to agree with Berger in that animals were dependent on for survival and so were taken care of and not ill treated or killed. I question what is happening in areas that are not as well patrolled or easily seen as the conservation area. Peter Singer’s article on animal rights and animal liberation also applies to this image a because if animals are afforded the same rights as humans then the above image would be shocking and maybe they would happen less frequently.

Figure 2 Taken from the Toronto Star.com

The image above is of 2 of the first elephants to arrive at the Toronto Zoo in 1974.  What is interesting about the image above is the chains that a visible around the ankles of the elephants. These elephants had become the centre of a headed debate about their welfare and relocation to a animal sanctuary in California. These animals are aging and it has been decided that the elephant exhibit at the Toronto zoo is too costly to be sustained and revived and therefore the zoo claims for financial and not ethical reasons the will close the elephant display and the existing elephants will be relocated. My first thought when I saw this image was why would they need to have chains on because they are leaving and then I also realized that I would not accept any explanation given as valid and therefore I have drawn a foregone conclusion that they should not have chains on no matter the reason.

The article by Rachel Mendelson “What’s Best For Aging Limba?” could very well have been written for these elephants of the Toronto zoo. Their continued captivity, even after it has been proven that it is putting them at serious risk of death and, is very un-healthy for the animals and their welfare seems to be neglected and ignored by zoo officials. The animals’ welfare need to be taken into account and what is best for them is for them to be relocated to a habitat more suitable to and similar to their natural environment. Hopefully the planned relocation becomes a reality after more than 18 months of delay since the decision was made to move them.