Why does she live alone?
Bronx Zoo Happy the elephant 'unlawfully imprisoned' lawsuit claims
- Thread starter Echobeast
- Start date
She's elderly and generally doesn't get along with other elephants. Her last companion died after an attempt to merge the zoo's two female pairs.
~Thylo
From what I've heard regarding Happy (since every time I rode the monorail it was always Maxine and Patty on exhibit), and from what I've seen on video, she's not emaciated, she doesn't show any stereotypical behaviors (at least not that I can recall), and I'm sure her keepers try to give her the best quality of life possible. I do admire that they split the yard in two so Patty and Happy could both be on exhibit. That said, when Patty and Happy eventually pass on, I do wish Bronx would double down on keeping elephants, maybe pulling an Antwerp by holding a bachelor group of 2 or 3 elephants for a couple years until one gets sent off to breed at another facility. The Khao Yai yard at the monorail is fine for a bachelor group from what I've seen, and hopefully (if they haven't already) they add new features like sand stalls or rubberized heated flooring. However this is all wishful thinking, and realistically this could just be a yard for a male Indian rhino while the females and calves have the original exhibit. Oh well, wishful thinking is fun to immerse oneself into until they have to emerge from the well and feel the cold, unforgiving air of reality and apathy.
On a side note, a really good example of introducing older elephants to one another in recent years would be San Antonio, where Lucky, an elderly Asian elephant lived alone after her companions Ginny and Alport died in 2006 (?) and 2010 respectively. They first introduced her to Queenie, a rescued circus elephant, who unfortunately bullied Lucky until her eventual passing, and then after a while they expanded Lucky's yard and brought in two new elephants from Ringling Brothers, Karen and Nicole, who actually got along with Lucky very nicely. It's all about the personalities of elephants, you can't just throw two elephants together and expect them to get along, at least without proper introductions and features like "howdy" gates and bollards. IDK, @PSO, thoughts?
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To be fair she wasn’t that old when her last companion died. She has been alone for 19 years (since age 31). Now I think she has a good quality of life, but the zoo had an opportunity to rehome her when she was much younger and did not.
Funny, it's usually Happy I see on-exhibit when I visit. She indeed looks very healthy and behaves naturally. I know she gets to interact with Patty sometimes through the fence lines in a more protected setting so things don't turn violent. I do hope that someday the two might be able to be reintroduced to one another, as I believe I've read the aggression was largely between Happy and Maxine (could be wrong on that, though). I, too, hope the zoo keeps elephants to some capacity once the current two pass on. The WCS is way too involved with elephant conservation to not showcase this species. Not to mention, the monorail would likely see a sharp attendance drop if the stars of the ride were suddenly gone...
~Thylo
I can think of several "candidate" elephants who would be perfect for the Khao Yai yard, like Samudra from Oregon, Tucker and Baylor from Houston, maybe some teenage bulls from Europe, or maybe even Ongard from Miami...
It would certainly be a good fit for purpose to have a bachelor herd facility. NY Bronx Zoo could fulfil that role perfectly. I just wonder how the WCS/NY Bronx management position is on a future for elephants at New York's biggest zoo attraction.
I would actually like to see Bronx take the same route as San Diego and specialize in keeping geriatric elephants. I think this is a type of exhibit there is a huge need for and Bronx is a facility that could make it work, perhaps they could convince Buttonwood to send them their two elderly elephants in exchange for helping them to kickstart their rhino program?
Elephantelephant
Well-Known Member
I don't think it's appropriate for Emily (57) and Ruth (63) from Buttonwood to move to the Bronx. Given their age, it would be risky and they should stay where they are for the rest of their lives.
Buttonwood has already said that when one dies, the other will be sent elsewhere. It would be much more appropriate for them to be sent to Bronx, which is just 3-4 hours down the road, then being shipped to somewhere outside of the northeast, which would be a much more risky option.
Seems like the sensible policy.
Elephantelephant
Well-Known Member
Still, I don't think it's very good. I don't know when they announced it, but it's possible that as the cows get older, they'll change their minds and leave them both at Buttonwood.
Then what do you think they should do when one of them dies? Leave the other in solitary confinement?
Elephantelephant
Well-Known Member
Of course, this is not a good situation, but due to age, moving such an old elephant is risky and, in addition, old cows often do not understand each other. But the zoo knows its elephants best, so it is possible, despite their age, that they are still in very good health and able to move. Anyway, Ruth shouldn't move at all, even if Emily died earlier. After all, it is one of the oldest elephants in North America.
I assumed there were elephants a good deal older than her alive today in USA?
Elephantelephant
Well-Known Member
Yes, but there are not that many. The oldest is Mysore (75), followed by Savannah (69), Billie (68), Suzy (66), and possibly others in Polk City. So she isn't the oldest, but she is one of the oldest cows in North America. After the deaths of Ambika and two Shirleys old elephants in North America is less.
An elderly elephant living on her own is not "solitary confinement" and we really need to stop giving the AR wackos validation by treating it as such.
~Thylo
I really don’t understand how people can’t consider that the elephant could be content by the presence of its keepers.
Because AR people don't actually care about the animal, they only care they get their way. Good example being they've pushed the court case over Happy as high as they possibly can now. Despite losing every prior court case they are still willing to shell out money to try and get their way. They could use the money so many ways that would actually benefit elephants, but instead they waste it in frivolous lawsuits over a well cared for elephant.
Even if you don't want to call it "solitary confinement", it is still not good practice for a facility to keep an elephant alone for any circumstance. Even at Bronx where Patty and Happy don't get along, they can see each other through a fence and interact that way. The logistical cost of sending one of the elephants to Bronx (or anywhere else) would be much more ideal than keeping a singular elephant when one dies.