PETA: Zoo elephant in distress

MANILA, Philippines - An elephant expert reported yesterday that Mali, the 38-year-old elephant at the Manila Zoo, is suffering from a potentially fatal foot problem and experiencing physical and psychological distress and should be transferred to a sanctuary.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said in a statement that Henry Richardson made a visual examination of Mali.

In the medical report, Richardson said that the only way to ensure her physical and psychological well-being is to relocate her to an elephant sanctuary.

PETA said that it has already secured Mali a place at a sanctuary with 14 other elephants in northern Thailand and is willing to pay for her transportation expenses.

Richardson said Mali has chronic pressure sores open to contamination as well as foot ailments, including cracked nails, overgrown cuticles, and cracked pads that can harbor bacteria and become infected. These kinds of foot problems are the leading cause of death in captive elephants.

“All of my comments on Mali’s health are based on a visual inspection only...(A) complete health evaluation requires hands-on physical manipulation and examination of all four feet, as well as blood sampling for inflammatory processes and infectious diseases... The lack of a preventative foot-care program is putting Mali in jeopardy of severe foot disease with accompanying pain and suffering,” Richardson explained.

All elephants that are confined alone and denied everything that is natural and important to them suffer psychologically. The frustrations of captivity and lack of companionship often lead to abnormal, neurotic, and even self-destructive behavior called “zoochosis” or “stereotypy” and, in Mali’s case, incessant pacing.

PETA Asia campaigns manager Rochelle Regodon said, “Even zoos with twice the finances and expertise of the decrepit Manila Zoo have proved unable to provide adequately for elephants... Even with the zoo’s best intentions, it’s only a matter of time before Mali’s lack of medical care takes her life, unless she’s transferred to a sanctuary immediately.”

Meanwhile, the chief veterinarian of the Manila Zoo denied a report made by PETA yesterday that Mali, an elephant originally from abroad and donated to the zoo, was in bad health and suffering from psychological problems.

Manila Zoo chief veterinarian Donald Manalastas told The STAR during a phone interview that they will not transfer Mali to a sanctuary abroad since this could do more harm than good since the elephant is not trained to live in “wildlife.”

“Our standpoint is, we will not transfer Mali. She is better off here in Manila Zoo... She won’t survive in a sanctuary. She won’t survive in wildlife. She is not trained for wildlife,” Manalastas said.

Manalastas also contradicted what PETA had written in a report quoting Richardson, who has just published his report on Mali.

Manalastas cited what Richardson told local veterinarians who were part of a committee made to check on the elephant that “Mali is in good physical condition.”

The chief veterinarian also denied that the elephant was suffering from psychological problems or stress while at the zoo.

“You have to study her in days (in order to check on the psychological condition),” he said.

Manalastas also noted that last year, a local group of veterinarians from an Animal Welfare Committee composed of doctors and representatives from the Bureau of Animal Industry, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, and different animal welfare groups, also made medical checkup on Mali and indicated in their report that Mali is in good medical condition.

Manalastas also clarified that Mali does not have tuberculosis and does noy need a blood workup.

He added that Manila Zoo has already given Mali a “pedicure” and is currently renovating the habitat of the elephant to lessen the stress on the feet of the elephant.

“We are doing everything needed to be done (to improve Mali’s living condition),” Manalastas said.

“We will accept constructive criticisms, but not destructive criticisms,” he stressed. – With Sandy Araneta