ZSL London Zoo London Zoo elephants and their former keeper Jim Robson

[WhaleShark]

I'm not the only one here who has seen the excellent documentary "The Ark" (1993) which followed staff at London Zoo during a period where it was in dire financial straits and almost closed for good.

One of the most memorable and heartbreaking sequences is in episode two, where nervous Asian Elephant Thi is painstakingly cajoled and pulled by head keeper Brian Harman into a truck, to be transferred to Chester Zoo. (Incidentally, she was very successful there, becoming the matriarch of the herd and a great-grandmother before dying in 2020). Brian's affection for the elephants is clear and he weeps after Thi leaves.

Researching after watching the show, I was shocked to read that his fellow keeper Jim (James) Robson, who I believe also features in the programme to a lesser extent, was killed by one of the remaining elephants (Mya) ten years later, in 2001. Shortly afterwards they were relocated to Whipsnade. The news article is here, relevant quote below from the aforementioned Harman:

During the inquest executives at London Zoo - which nearly went bankrupt in 1990 - denied cost-cutting measures had led to Mr Robson's death. Head keeper Brian Harman said: "It is preferable to have two handlers, but Jim and I had been around the elephants for such a long time that we got by on our own.

"The problem was getting trained elephant handlers. I didn't ever think that one of those elephants would turn round and kill one of us." Mr Harman said he had handpicked Mya 13 years ago from a herd in Burma and had always regarded her as the least aggressive of the three.​

I was wondering if anyone here had any more information on this? I can only find articles referencing the coroner's inquest, but not the inquest report itself. There also does not seem to be any mention of whether Harman accompanied the elephants to Whipsnade or left ZSL employment.
Does anyone have any further detail? Was it ever established what caused Mya to attack and kill a keeper who had worked with her for sixteen years? Is Mya still with the herd at Whipsnade?

 

[FBBird]

I'm not the only one here who has seen the excellent documentary "The Ark" (1993) which followed staff at London Zoo during a period where it was in dire financial straits and almost closed for good.

One of the most memorable and heartbreaking sequences is in episode two, where nervous Asian Elephant Thi is painstakingly cajoled and pulled by head keeper Brian Harman into a truck, to be transferred to Chester Zoo. (Incidentally, she was very successful there, becoming the matriarch of the herd and a great-grandmother before dying in 2020). Brian's affection for the elephants is clear and he weeps after Thi leaves.

Researching after watching the show, I was shocked to read that his fellow keeper Jim (James) Robson, who I believe also features in the programme to a lesser extent, was killed by one of the remaining elephants (Mya) ten years later, in 2001. Shortly afterwards they were relocated to Whipsnade. The news article is here, relevant quote below from the aforementioned Harman:

During the inquest executives at London Zoo - which nearly went bankrupt in 1990 - denied cost-cutting measures had led to Mr Robson's death. Head keeper Brian Harman said: "It is preferable to have two handlers, but Jim and I had been around the elephants for such a long time that we got by on our own.

"The problem was getting trained elephant handlers. I didn't ever think that one of those elephants would turn round and kill one of us." Mr Harman said he had handpicked Mya 13 years ago from a herd in Burma and had always regarded her as the least aggressive of the three.​

I was wondering if anyone here had any more information on this? I can only find articles referencing the coroner's inquest, but not the inquest report itself. There also does not seem to be any mention of whether Harman accompanied the elephants to Whipsnade or left ZSL employment.
Does anyone have any further detail? Was it ever established what caused Mya to attack and kill a keeper who had worked with her for sixteen years? Is Mya still with the herd at Whipsnade?

Elephant Database shows May still at Whipsnade

 

[GaryA]

The thing is, elephants just have so much force behind them, that a move usually done on a herd mate could have fatal consequences on a person.

It could have been as simple as that, just a couple of tons swinging round would send you flying.

Unless anyone knows that this elephant has a particular nature it may well have been a tragic accident rather than her goring him.

Given he was alone and presumably no CCTV existed, we will probably never know the full story.

 

[Panthera1981]

Elephant Database shows May still at Whipsnade

Mya (Maya) left for an Italian zoo over two years ago due in part to the death of her fellow ex-London Zoo stablemate Azizah. She never successfully fully integrated into the Whipsnade group, often vying for dominance with resident matriarch Kaylee.

Regarding the incident, I’m sure there’s plenty of current and ex-employees that know more than any of us, but prefer to keep quiet out of respect. What I found strange was that some tried to apportion blame onto fellow London Zoo stablemate Geeta. Incidentally, theres a small memorial plantation to Jim outside the elephant house at Whipsnade

I find it somewhat ironic that Thi, the most highly strung of the four Malay elephants that London Zoo procured, would turn out to be the most successful. However, with the exception of Mya, it would seem that Azizah, Geeta and Thi all eventually succumbed to ailments associated with arthritis (Azizah’s predicament personally being the most traumatic).

 

[Dassie rat]

From memory, the elephant concerned was Dilberta. This is supported by Keeper Deaths. This thread also says that elephants cause more fatalities to keepers than most other captive animals.

As many of the species involved in keeper fatalities are not part of reintroduction programmes, shouldn't these species be conserved in situ?

 

[Panthera1981]

For clarification, “Dilberta” was Geeta’s “public name.” If memory serves, Azizah’s was “Layang-Layang.”

When the group transferred to Whipsnade I think the keepers discarded the public names. I don’t recall ever seeing/hearing Azizah being referred to any differently for example.

 

[GaryA]

From memory, the elephant concerned was Dilberta. This is supported by Keeper Deaths. This thread also says that elephants cause more fatalities to keepers than most other captive animals.

As many of the species involved in keeper fatalities are not part of reintroduction programmes, shouldn't these species be conserved in situ?

No. Definitely not. Any animal can be deadly in the right/wrong circumstances. People are regularly killed by dogs and horses. Do we get rid of these based on your premise?

Working with exotics comes with some risks but these are usually covered by security policies. Occasionally something goes wrong.

But you are still much more likely killed travelling to work in the morning rush hour.

And if you had to defend animals in the wild against poachers/terrorists as well as protecting yourself against the animals/other wildlife, the risks would rise accordingly.

You are suggesting jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

And to be honest the info given in this thread by naming names is pretty distasteful and disrespectful. Imagine if one of the poor man's family/friends read that people were idly speculating on his death.

 

[WhaleShark]

And to be honest the info given in this thread by naming names is pretty distasteful and disrespectful. Imagine if one of the poor man's family/friends read that people were idly speculating on his death.

It has been 20 years and was covered widely in the news at the time (including a televised debate on ITV's flagship morning show, GMTV). I don't see what is disrespectful about the discussion. I haven't revealed anything or named any names that weren't already in the public domain.

Keeping elephants in captivity is a live issue at the moment with the British government considering banning the practice - don't you think the deaths of keepers are an important part of that debate? Far from being less dangerous than the morning commute, as you suggest, it is actually strikingly common for elephant keepers to be killed by their charges (three were killed in the same year as Jim Robson in the UK).

Knowing the circumstances around this, would certainly help me make up my mind on the issue, as Jim was an experienced keeper with a strong bond with the elephants.

I think it's relevant to know:

• Whether the zoo was neglectful - can these incidents be stopped by better zoo management?
• How current/former elephant keepers at ZSL feel about the level of protection they receive from procedure?
• Whether there were aggravating factors which contribute to a kind of "act of god" - e.g. the elephant was ill?

Once again, this is not idle speculation, ZSL were subject to an enquiry on this exact subject (found not responsible in the end) and the implications are great for the prospect of elephants in British zoos.

 

[Dassie rat]

I agree, Whaleshark

1. Several keepers have been killed by elephants.
2. Elephants are expensive to keep in zoos.
3. Decent elephant enclosures take up a lot of space in zoos.
4. Elephants are not kept as part of a reintroduction programme.

Surely, the money spent on keeping captive elephants would be better spent protecting elephants in the wild. This would also help protect natural habitats and many species that are not kept in zoos.

 

[E Maximus]

I agree, Whaleshark

1. Several keepers have been killed by elephants.
2. Elephants are expensive to keep in zoos.
3. Decent elephant enclosures take up a lot of space in zoos.
4. Elephants are not kept as part of a reintroduction programme.

Surely, the money spent on keeping captive elephants would be better spent protecting elephants in the wild. This would also help protect natural habitats and many species that are not kept in zoos.

All very good points, however removing elephants from captivity in many cases will mean that zoos may no longer provide funds to elephant programs in the wild. Many facilities only facilitate these programs due to the fact that they are able to easily get their message across due to their exhibition of a captive population. Removing them from captivity may do more harm than good in terms of funding because zoos are not going to take the millions they spend a year on exhibiting them and spend it on protecting wild elephants especially if it's not going to benefit them in the long run. They will just shift the money towards other species and potentially even just replace said elephant with another large hoofstock/pachyderm which could cost just as much to exhibit (Rhino,hippo, etc)

 

[Ned]

Keeping elephants in captivity is a live issue at the moment with the British government considering banning the practice - don't you think the deaths of keepers are an important part of that debate?

I don't think this particular incident is relevant, it happened 20 years ago when free contact was common practice. Then dangers of elephant keeping today shouldn't be judged by an indecent that happened a generation ago.

 

[tennisfan]

I think including Jim's name in the title of this thread is insentitive and would suggest that it is removed

 

[WhaleShark]

I can't now edit or delete the opening post, so I invite the moderators to delete it if the community feel the thread is in poor taste.

 

[Simon Hampel]

I think including Jim's name in the title of this thread is insentitive and would suggest that it is removed

This is a matter of public record - a Google search shows plenty of news articles covering the death.

The reality is that dealing with animals is a dangerous profession - we should not shy away from the fact that there are unfortunate and tragic deaths of those people charged with caring for them.

 

[Fallax]

Keeping elephants in captivity is a live issue at the moment with the British government considering banning the practice

This was a false rumour started by the Daily Mail and has been confirmed to not be true.

 

[Dassie rat]

All very good points, however removing elephants from captivity in many cases will mean that zoos may no longer provide funds to elephant programs in the wild. Many facilities only facilitate these programs due to the fact that they are able to easily get their message across due to their exhibition of a captive population. Removing them from captivity may do more harm than good in terms of funding because zoos are not going to take the millions they spend a year on exhibiting them and spend it on protecting wild elephants especially if it's not going to benefit them in the long run. They will just shift the money towards other species and potentially even just replace said elephant with another large hoofstock/pachyderm which could cost just as much to exhibit (Rhino,hippo, etc)

When I visited Shepreth, it had several items of information encouraging people to support campaigns conserving species not kept there. Some people conserve non-captive species due to television programmes and the like. There are also several whale conservation groups.