 "Amy" Zoos may buy Arkansas elephant sanctuary March 8, 2007HoustonChronicle.com (Chron.com) © 2007 The Associated Press QUITMAN, Ark. — A group of zoos is considering buying a couple's elephant sanctuary and turning it into a national center for pachyderm research, breeding and training. Under a draft plan, the 10 zoos would buy the 330-acre Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary for $3.6 million, though both sides said the deal is still being discussed. The facility, which has 13 elephants, has been run for 16 years by Scott and Heidi Riddle. "Our interest is in keeping elephants in existence, and that takes a lot of time, hard work and funding," Scott Riddle said, explaining why the couple sought a buyer. Asian and African elephants are declining dramatically in number. In the past 25 years, the wild African elephant population has dropped from 1.6 million to fewer than 500,000, according to Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Only 30,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild. Elephant center board members hope to begin operating it by this summer. Represented on the nonprofit board are the Little Rock Zoo; St. Louis Zoo; Columbus (Ohio) Zoo & Aquarium; Indianapolis Zoo; Birmingham (Ala.) Zoo; Fort Worth (Texas) Zoo; Denver Zoo; Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle; Disney's Animal Kingdom; and the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kan. The sanctuary would aim to protect and increase the nation's elephant population and would train animal keepers, zoo officials said. (This might be a solution to the growing "Spineless Zoo Director Syndrome", not only a means of preserving the Species but as a clearing house for elephants on a rotating basis for mental stimulation as well as overall physical welfare.) Buckles  |
Friday, March 09, 2007
Riddle Elephant Sanctuary
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14 comments:
LET ME KNOW IF THEY NEED A MARKETING DIRECTOR!!!!!!!
:-)
Cindy Potter
"AMY" sure looks good. Motherhood becomes her.
This could be a big deal. I would hope that Mr. Riddle would continue to play a role. With an AZA consortium behind the sanctuary not only could it continue as a center for reproductive conservation, it would also provide a stellar alternative to TES. Assuming the Arkansas animals would be managed on the books two ways, "retired" individuals and "reproductive" individuals, with the reproductive elephants carried as a part of AZA SSP Elephant herd, separate from animals already in the partner zoos -- perhaps it would never be necessary for another AZA park bending to political pressure on elephants to ship another animal off to TN. Last summer's sad lesson in just how unprofessionally TES manages problematic elephants is in and of itself a good reason for the establishment of an AZA sanctioned center supported by multiple member institutions.
I have been bawling all day, I am so happy for the Riddles, but most of all for all the elephants in America. It is so sad that "FLORA" and "NIC" can not be a part of this breeding program. Such a waste of beautiful elephants.
This basic idea was to have been occurring in Pa. a year or so ago. I thought the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia Zoos were working together on the project but apparently not if the Philadelphia zoo is getting rid of their elephants.
I hope the AZA directors who are a waste of money dont screw this up and shove riddles great elephants into protected contact and whisper sweet nothings into there ears. I just hope they give scotts elephants the respect they deserve and not just liquidate them to fill holes where AZA has lasped in the past. What will happen to the elephants? i would hate to see Amy suffer the hands of marine mammal training hog wash
Marine Mammal training is not hog wash by any stretch of the imagination. I learned much valuable information during my 7 years at Marineland and Game Farm, in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Wade Burck
sorry for that comment, i was just a little frustrated at the whole thing.
I'm going to guess that since several of the parks named in the story still free handle at least some elephants, and since the story mentions training elephant keepers, something Riddles's has done well for a long time, the partners would not convert the facility to an entirely PC environment. In fairness Protected Contact is a great solution for some animals some of the time and some animals all of the time, but it's not a great tool for all animals all of the time. Twenty-five or thirty years ago when the idea was being touted in places like Tacoma and Calgary I remember more than a few people with sore ribs and scars wishing that every park could manage problematic adult males with PC. And it's saved the lives of some elephants and some elephant keepers. My initial thought after the TN incident last summer, was why the hell wasn't Winkie, given her history, managed in a PC fashion? I thought it spoke to the arrogance of TES that they believed if a female elephant was aggresive or aggresively defensive it was somehow "broken" and they could fix it by talking. Field study after field study documents a certain percentage of aggresive alpha females in the wild, so of course there are going to be some aggressive or aggressively defensive females managed in domesticity as well. They aren't broken, but they aren't to be toyed with. My take has always been that protected contact is unfair for all those elephants that don't need it. They simply aren't managed as well as they would be with free contact, because it adds a layer of complexity, but it's a necessary and legitimate methodology for the Winkies of the world or classically aggressive males.
Wade's spot on. It's hard to knock the success of operant training in marine mammals, even if the presenters sometimes look like they belong in a tooth paste commercial.
I would bet there are a whole lot of people filling out applications to work here. You know where has to hire dancing instructors to manage the place. Still no manager for the property after almost a year of searching. We all know many wonderful, talented animal keepers who would be an asset to Riddles. I do hope they keep the name. Elephant Sandy would be a great person to have as a trainer of other personnel. She has already done the managers/keeper program. Plenty of experience taking care of elephants. She can also fix computers/ weld/ build and remodel almost anything. I would put her at the top of the list for employment. Just a great person around elephants. She can also drive a semi and has the license to do so. She does have one weird bird that goes where she goes. Maybe I am just predigeous[?] Please keep her in mind when hireing. She is also under 50.
Hopefully not implying that those OVER 50 are unemployable?!
As a trainer who has trained elephants (not a lot)with both hands on and protected contact techniques, I know they both work if you know what you're doing. I've watched good trainers in action and they're quite similar no matter their technique; clear commands, get the trick or behaviour, and offer some type of reinforcement. Good protective contact training is not just giving an elephant cookies until they do something (maybe only in Tennessee). There are knowledgable, competent trainers and some just "fake it"; the same can be said for zoo directors.
Let's hope this works out well for the Riddles and for zoo elephants.
It really is a shame when we hear that some zoo that has maybe a couple elephants are letting them go to this so-called sactuary. The excuse being that they do not have the funds or space to upgrade their facilities required by some who seem to believe that they are knowledable in the caqr and handling of elephants, when in fact the zoo has done a fine job of caring for their elephants as well as the other animals exhibited there. Naturally all zoo directors are constantly trying to continue to upgrade their facilities, not just elephants, but various areas that need attention. This is quite natural and zoos are constantly having fund raising projects as are other places that emphasize the care and well being of people, but we don't throw up our hands and get rid of them, in fact we can't for humanitarium reasons, so should the zoos not get rid of their elephants by figuring out of sight out of mind. Thats terrible when a couple of nice elephants, well handled and cared for have to go to a place and be turned out with other elephants, some of which have serious behavior problems and should absolutely not be part of that general population and should remain solitary. So in so many words I feel so sorry for those elephants who have to live with trauma and fear. An injustice is done to these poor unfortunate ones that are destined to such a fate. Why in Hell don't these animal rights people realize the injustice they are causing and the general citizens in each zoos area should be aware of how sobering this alternative is. How to get the word out? I wish I knew.
You did a real fine job here yourself Johnny of getting the word out. I have fought that so called sanctuary in Tenn since Eloise died and buckley thought she could replace her at Circus Gianti[?] I should say carol buckley before the sanctuary. Everyone saw right through her except the public who did not know any better. You can get away with a lot by showing a baby elephant. It was when the baby "TARRA" became too big for buckley to push around that this mess started. What to do when you have no talent or knowledge of elephant? Start a sanctuary and lie about all the people who had what it took.
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