Should Australian zoos import Asian elephants?
The Veterinarian received the following letters on the issue… THE VETERINARIAN Should Australian zoos import Asian elephants? The Veterinarian received the following letters on the issue: Taronga, Melbourne and Wellington Zoos plan to import nine Asiatic elephants from Thailand and put these animals on display. This is a very problematic decision as only elephants that have been domesticated are imported, and the so-called domestication process involves torturing the young animals. As a Greens MP, I work closely with a number of animal welfare groups. Recently, I was supplied with a video depicting young elephants being subjected to a range of barbaric acts. The video shows a number of baby elephants, bound at the feet and locked in tiny cages, being beaten repeatedly with blunt and sharp objects. A number of men are seen stabbing spikes into the elephants around their ears. I have been informed these repeated and extremely cruel acts are designed to break the spirit of these young a
