The Skinny Elephant

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In 2005, BEC joined a wildlife conservation programme run by the Ministry of Forestry that entrusts privately-owned zoos and safari parks in Indonesia with the care of critically endangered Sumatran elephants. Elephants at BEC were found to be just ‘skin and bones’ after the coronavirus pandemic forced the park to close [Supplied]

AZA Standards for Elephant Management and Care.” Accessed January 12, 2014. http://www.elephanttag.org/Professional/Revised_AZA_Standards_Elephant_Management_Care_April2012.pdf.You cannot imagine a skinny elephant until you see one,” said Femke Den Haas, a veterinarian from the Netherlands who has been working to protect wildlife in Indonesia for 20 years. Hass says Bakas’ owners were also crying poor and demanding government assistance: “It’s quite easy to say we have no money to feed their elephants, so hello government, come and take care of it. But the ones who are responsible are the owners.” Tikiri reportedly collapsed in August after being forced to walk many kilometers during nightly parades for the Buddhist festival Esala Perahera while wearing an elaborate costume. Media reports indicated that she was just one of some 60 elephants taking part in the celebrations.* Bates, L. A., J. H. Poole, and R. W. Byrne. “Elephant Cognition.” Current Biology 18, no. 13 (2008): R545. A bit about the album... I was fascinated by the concept of ‘truth’ and intrigued by the concept of everyone having a different version of their truth... a personal viewpoint, their own narrative, their own story. The title plays a bit with shades of meaning - a ‘counter positioning’ if you like. The ‘other stories’ may challenge the truth, but ‘the truth’ retains that sense of the absolute. In the songs I hope to present the realities of different characters through short stories. Over time and through the pandemic however, different stories came to light and sometimes the focus would shift. Ultimately though, I have been living with these stories and these characters for some time now.

The plight of the underfed elephants amid talk of more sustainable tourism in post-pandemic Bali has reignited calls for a rethink of elephant tourism on the island. Regan, T. “Are Zoos Morally Defensible?” In Ethics on the Ark, edited by B. G. Norton, M. Hutchins, E. E. Stevens, and T. L. Maple, 38–51. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995.

Lessons from seals at sea

Alward, L. “Why Circuses Are Unsuited to Elephants.” In Elephants and Ethics: Toward a Morality of Coexistence, edited by C. Wemmer and C. A. Christen, 205–24. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008. All skin and bones and severely malnourished, Lakshmi was exploited for begging and commercial use. Her bent knees and bony projections which are visibly clear indicate that she was a victim of prolonged malnourishment. The approx. 30-year-old ailing elephant was rescued from a lifetime of abuse and neglect in a joint operation by Wildlife SOS and the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department. She was then transferred for lifelong care under Wildlife SOS.

Clubb, R., M. Rowcliffe, P. Lee, K. U. Mar, C. Moss, and G. J. Mason. “Compromised Survivorship in Zoo Elephants.” Science 12 (2008): 1649. Murphree, R., J. V. Warkentin, J. R. Dunn, W. Schaffner, and T. F. Jones. “Elephant-to-Human Transmission of Tuberculosis, 2009.” Emerging Infectious Diseases 17 (2011): 366–71. doi: 10.3201/eid1703101668. One simple question is fundamental to ecologists’ understanding of the natural world: Do hungry animals take more risks to find food? This should be true in theory, because wild animals perpetually weigh the risks of starvation and predation. For most species, it is nearly impossible to measure continuous changes in health. As a result, many theories about risk and reward in the animal kingdom have been around for decades but have yet to be tested. The female elephant seals, also large but not on the scale of a sperm whale, have devised a different solution - eating huge amounts of small fish. But it is laborious to catch enough small fish to meet the energy needs of such a large animal.Later in the foraging trip, when seals had plumped up to 35% body fat, they rested just before sunrise. Only 30% of their rest dives occurred during the high-risk daytime. Gradual shifts in body condition and behavior over the 220-day foraging trip accumulated to an impressive six–hour shift in average rest time by the end of the trip. Tourist elephants are often overworked and forced to work in the heat of the day with inadequate food, water or rest. They may not show overt signs of distress, and may be obediently plodding along, but constant, forced proximity to humans without choice of retreat is extremely stressful for elephants,” BAWA said. “They are deprived of the opportunity to perform natural behaviours, as they are either confined, tethered or under the bullhook. This creates anxiety and frustration.”