yassa - i'm glad you too see this for what it is. this is about the long term prospects for the elephants and the exhibits at these public institutions that we payed for.
mark - you're right. and for what its worth i hope the elephant does just fine.
michaelanderson - seems you've made a few friends already. you should stick around.
jay and ara - thanks.
suricata - if you haven't got anything intelligent to say you need to stick to feeding your meerkats.
oh and lastly, since this is a debate based largely on philosophy and ethics - i see no reason why a zoo professional is any more authorised to speak on the topic than anyone else. in this particular case - its a non issue.
This debate is indeed about ethics and philosophy. It is therefore worthy of its own thread and I will support its relocation to a new thread "Australia elephant debate".
My objections are not re debate on the subject, more that this debate gets in the way of an essentially news thread that has developed sideways from **, but using ** as a vehicle. I feel that it is hence out of place here!
I again reiterate my commitment that ... I have no qualms to discuss and debate, I am somewhat surprised that I have found that some are not receptive to any counter-arguements (whatever their sound validity may be). At some point we will probably have to establish that a portion of our community is in favour of Australian elephant exhibits and others are not and agree that we can disagree and leave it at that.
I was somewhat surprised the word courage was used in this thread to suggest that someone stood up to the rest of the forumsters who felt compelled to reply vis a vis some of the more overtly critical postings. If this were about courage one would have taken one's concerns to the Taronga Zoo management in person and request for an official response. And after receiving that response, deal with it and than live with the consequences (as the exhibit and elephant herd are now fact and not fiction).
In this respect I fully support MichaelAnderson comments that armchair critique is easy, anomynous and seems to carry no consequences for or bestow responsibilities on the poster. Here, I disagree, as whatever you say or write ... even on the internet ..., we are bound by the basic laws that define regulation of our behaviour, the respect we give to and receive from others and our responsibilities as individuals in a free and open and democratic society. This is true not just for face to face interaction, but also for our doings on the internet as it is far from anonymous.
I will leave it at that and urge all esteemed forumsters to have further postings on ethics and philosophy put in the thread as I have suggested to you all above.
Thank you,
K.B.
, but as I mentioned above, the calf is out in the exhibit for short periods if the weather is fine, and can be viewed in the barn for short periods each day.
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