Baraza

News from the WildlifeDirect team

Support WildlifeDirect:
buy branded merchandise

Another gorilla dies, others are sick

Category: Gorillas | Date: Oct 06 2008 | By: baraza

Jenny, a 55 year old gorilla has died at Dallas Zoo in early September. She was an old gorilla, and died of a stomach tumor (actually she was euthanized because the tumor was inoperable).  In the wild gorillas don’t live much beyond 30 so Jenny had along life, yet it still feels sad and this story is getting wide coverage. It is the second death of a gorilla at the Dallas Zoo in a month.

Jenny who has her own Wikipedia page is a western lowland gorilla and was born in the wild and was acquired by the zoo in 1957. She gave birth in 1965 to a female named Vicki but never conceived again. Vicki was sent to a Canadian zoo at age 5. There are four other gorillas at Dallas Zoo.

Just last month, another gorilla at the zoo, 43-year-old Hercules, died after undergoing a medical procedure for spinal disease and in 2004, Dallas police shot and killed a 13-year-old gorilla named Jabari at the zoo after it jumped over a wall, bit three people and snatched up a toddler by his teeth. The enclosure was remodeled and the city paid a fine to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Should Gorillas and other apes be in zoos?

There are about 360 gorillas in North American zoos. I love zoos and think that they play an important role in education and awareness, but somehow it seems wrong to keep apes in zoos. We would never imagine keeping a human in a zoo - so why do we keep our closest living relatives in them? It must be like a prison for gorillas, chimps and other intelligent animals. You just have to google gorilla images to see the deplorable conditions that most zoo apes live in, check out their expressions, and see how sad they look. Gorillas are one of the mian attractions at the Dallas Zoo which recieved  670,084 visitors last year alone. The entrance fees would have generated almost $4.7 million.  I wonder how much of this goes back into conservation, to the places where these endangered animals were taken from so many years ago?

Today we also recieved the alarming news that gorillas are the latest victims of the tainted milk scandal in China that has killed four human infants and left more than 50,000 ill. The two gorillas from Hangzhou Wildlife World in the eastern province of Zhejiang, aged one and three, had been fed with milk powder made by Sanlu Group, the company associated with the contamination scandal. Both gorillas are showing the early signs of kidney stones.

Share This

Tags: , , , ,

4 Responses to “Another gorilla dies, others are sick”

sheryl, washington dc, on 06 Oct 2008

Well, you know I’ve strugged with lots of animal rights issues at zoos. I agree, most of the enclosures I’ve seen for Great Apes, including the Ape House at the National Zoo, or horribly inadequate. But here’s the other side of that coin: If we don’t have a population of apes in zoos then what will we do when they’re extinct in the wild? Zoos probably aren’t the answer, but perhaps sanctuaries are a better solution.

As for the tainted milk powder, I think we should brace ourselves for this to get much worse. I found out last week from my former volunteer colleagues at the zoo that giant pandas are being fed chicken broth in an attempt to heal kidney stones from tainted milk powder. The Chinese are so intent on breeding as many animals as possible in that program, that they separate cubs from their mothers at six months and feed them cow’s milk. They do the same for the apes and other animals, too. Cow’s milk is for CALVES, not for humans or other non-humans, damn it.

s.

Amy, on 06 Oct 2008

Paula — Very little of what zoos bring in goes to conservation.

It saddens me that zoos generally fail at what they call their principal issues — education and conservation. There are certain animals — such as apes and elephants — that zoos should have ONLY if they can meet their complex social, biological and emotional needs.

Sheryl — no offense, but as to the argument that if zoos don’t have certain animals they’ll go extinct — what kind of a life do apes and elephants have in most zoos? Conservation to me means preserving animals and the habitats they live in.

The crises of the past months expose how empty zoos’ supposed commitment to conservation is. If they are so committed to conservation they should put their money and their efforts where their mouths are. Instead of maintaining inadequate exhibits, pour resources into true education on how our choices as consumers affect animals and their habitats (palm oil, for instance). Increase funds going to projects seeking to find ways for humans and wildlife to coexist. Support grassroots initiatives in Africa and Asia to develop sustainable eco-tourism, businesses, etc.

If you (general you) sense anger behind my words, you bet I’m angry. Zoos have a chance to change the course of history right now. Yes — maybe many species are going extinct. But how might that change if zoos put everything they could into making a difference? How many times has one person changed the course of history? It’s time for zoos to step up and do their part.

sheryl, washington, dc, on 07 Oct 2008

“Sheryl — no offense, but as to the argument that if zoos don’t have certain animals they’ll go extinct — what kind of a life do apes and elephants have in most zoos?”

That wasn’t my argument. I did not write that species will become extinct if they’re not in zoos. That’s taking my words and changing them to make your argument.

s.

Amy, on 07 Oct 2008

Sheryl — After I posted I realized that I misread what you wrote, and I apologize.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply