Animal group turns on Niabi after elephant death
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By Barb Ickes | Tuesday, December 04, 2007 |
Babe, one of the elephants at Niabi Zoo. (John Schultz/ QUAD-CITY TIMES) Buy this Photo
The death of a young Asian elephant at a Missouri zoo has made Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley, Ill., the target of an angry animal-rights group.
A 16-month-old Asian elephant calf named Nisha became the latest casualty Saturday in a breeding program at Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, MO. The animal was one of several that have succumbed to a deadly herpes virus that also killed one of Niabi Zoo’s most beloved residents, Kathy Sh-Boom.
The 42-year-old female was the oldest captive elephant to die from the virus known as EEHV when she suffered a heart attack related to internal bleeding in November 2002. Niabi Director Tom Stalf said it is assumed that Sh-Boom contracted the virus from Babe, a 31-year-old Asian elephant the zoo acquired from Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus about a year prior to Sh-Boom’s death.
“Kathy had been alone since 1964,” Stalf said. “We brought another elephant to Niabi, and about a year later, Kathy died. We’re assuming Babe infected her.”
Tests later revealed that Babe is a carrier of EEHV and Niabi’s second Asian elephant, Sophie, also tested positive for the virus.
In a statement issued Tuesday, In Defense of Animals, or IDA, was critical of Niabi, saying the zoo is at risk of spreading the fatal elephant virus. The group also is calling for an immediate ban on Asian elephant breeding until a cure is found.
But Stalf said the testing on Babe and Sophie, along with the fact that both are too old to breed, will spare Niabi the risk of spreading the virus.
Niabi, which recently earned accreditation with the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, or AZA, is planning to add at least one more elephant — possibly three more — when a new, larger enclosure is built in coming years.
If that happens, Stalf said, the additional Asian elephants most likely would come from the same place as Sophie and Babe and likely would have been exposed to the virus, too. Tests will show for sure, he said.
Elephant experts suggest that Asians be housed in at least groups of three because they are socially dependent herd animals. Niabi Zoo, however, is not a breeding zoo for elephants and has no plans whatsoever to become one, Stalf said.
“We have a great relationship with Ringling Brothers, and they have great animals,” he said of his hopes of adopting more elephants over the next few years. “Babe and Sophie are going to stay at Niabi Zoo forever.
“We will continue to educate and entertain our guests with these beautiful animals while giving them a great life.”
He said that IDA’s position on Asian elephant breeding and on Niabi’s threat as a potential carrier of the herpes virus is grounded largely in the organization’s overall opposition to keeping elephants in captivity.
“There are only 200 Asian elephants in captivity in the world,” Stalf said. “Niabi is the only zoo in Illinois to have them, and ours are too old to breed.
“If we’re writing a story about the herpes virus in Asian elephants, we also have to write the story about why they’re here. It’s to educate people on the conservation of elephants.
“It is human beings who are making elephants endangered. We’re the most intelligent species and the most destructive. Our animals are ambassadors, representing all the other animals in the wild.”
Niabi Zoo also is a donor, Stalf said, to three foundations that were established solely to protect the remaining Asian and African elephant populations of the world.
Officials at Dickerson Park Zoo have said they are not yet certain, in light of Saturday’s herpes virus death, whether Asian elephant breeding will continue there.
Barb Ickes can be contacted at (563) 383-2316 or bickes@qctimes.com.
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