National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan National Zoo

Chlidonias said:
All other sources saying they are at Yokohama derive from the information on Elephants Encyclopedia - facts and information about elephants since 1995 and even that site couldn't be consistent with itself! All reputable sources (including zoo ones) say the two elephants are at Okinawa. Hope that helps.
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Thank you very much for the information. It is for updating Elephant.se that I am looking for the information. Do you have any information regarding the elephants of Yokohama?
 
Taisha, do you really believe animals at that zoo starve to death because of employees stealing their food? Don´t be too guilible to anti-zoo propaganda.

I remmember when Prague zoo had a large problem with employees stealing food and many other stuff and selling it outside in early 1990es. But the whole system silently calculated with it and ordered amount of food in eccess and there was enough for animals left. No animal starved because of it, actually the proportion of obese animals was too big then. At that time, it was not easy to get competent people to work in a zoo, low wage and very low social status, the zoo was always short of employees (that is in stark contrast to today when zoos can´t save themselves before job applicants). It was only director Fejk who decided to combat it. Whole first year he took over he fighted against this practice, and only after he kicked out the whole management team he won. He had to kick out all curators too, nevermind their degrees and science work, they were part of it too, even if rather through their silent acceptance. For employees there is now an unwritten rule they can eat as much they want on their workplace, but to take anything out, it would be considered a theft.

If the part of the article is right and if this not just a rare occurence, I would suggest to the director the same way. To change all the people on leading positions and make clear to common employees it is not silently tolerated anymore.
 
Jana said:
Taisha, do you really believe animals at that zoo starve to death because of employees stealing their food? Don´t be too guilible to anti-zoo propaganda.

If the part of the article is right and if this not just a rare occurence, I would suggest to the director the same way. To change all the people on leading positions and make clear to common employees it is not silently tolerated anymore.
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I guess, you have never visited this zoo? Nor have I.
Each time before I went to Sri Lanka I came across travel guides, or travel blogs, with warnings to avoid the Colombo Zoo at all costs.
All anti-zoo propaganda? I doubt, and there is also no hint, that The Sunday Leader is only representing a biased view.

Sadly your kind suggestions, how to improve the situation, don't correspond with the actual (employment) politics in these countries either.

Remains the question, why doesn't EAZA feel more responsible for the animals they send abroad.
 
I don´t doubt much some employees of Colombo zoo probably steal. It happens in most companies in some extend, people are just people and one would be naive to think most EAZA zoos don´t have the same problem from time to time (but ofcourse, some countries are more prone to it, including my country). If it is in large amount and goes for longer time, it is clearly a managerial mishap.

But the info that some animals in the zoo are so hungry that they starve to death is not supported by even one fact in the article. It is full of assumptions and I would call it defamation in this moment. There are empty cages. Why? -surely because all the animals died of starvation. Nobody attached even one picture of emaciated animal. If you still take this article seriously after this deduction....

That animals starve to death by hunger in a zoo happens practically only in two situations - a small private zoo where owners run out of money and don´t ask for help, or when warfront/large violent upheaval goes over a zoo. Otherwise, it is extremely rare cases. Even when Germans encircled Stalingrad during WWII and so many people died of starvation, many exotic animals in their zoo survived.

When I see such an article, I always ask quo bono. Who has beef with the director? Which animal rights organisation is currently collecting donations? Is some private zoo/tourist attraction feeling threatened by the new safari park near Pinnawella? Or is having the journalist other personnal agenda?
 
Jana, agreed.

Without any concrete evidence instead of mere rumours and sensationalist press reporting or a bandwagon clamoring for foot soldiers the article carries little salt.

No denying though that the National Zoo at Dehiwala has seen better times. But that is a far cry from saying that animals die due to starvation.

Not sure what is keeping progress at Dehiwala at bay ... so much for now. Certainly, from my experience ... a lot is written in papers and in the sand for which no fundamental evidence is available. In India for instance papers state the wish list of zoos and unconfirmed exchange deals between zoos are often communicated / aired thru press without it actually having taken place (more or less anathema to common practice in most if not all other WAZA zoo regions where these are only publicly acknowledged when animals or new species are actually on the ground and new exhibits have been built) and without even a new enclosure specifically designed for the species is available on site.



This all reminds me way too much of Surabaya Zoo - aka Hellhole Zoo where the current Council and original dinosaur (= inept / incompetent, perhaps corrupt and most definitely ignoring the issues and priority needs for the Surabaya Zoo) administration / zoo management are trying to blame third parties that took over managerial capacities for a short period of time (under less than a year) and who were exactly addressing all - a variety of issues besetting progress in Surabaya Zoo. In that particular case it was Council/historical management deferring the blame game away from those with the financial resources that could actually make the Zoo "work" and/or those in decision making positions at the zoo that chose to ignore all the issues that needed immediate zoo management and curatorial attention. Amen! :D
 
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