The cost of "rescuing" elephants is not a problem.
Regarding the case of two elephants at Hanoi Zoo living in chains, recently, Animals Asia sent a document to Hanoi People's Committee proposing a plan to bring these two elephants to Yok Don National Park (Dak Lak).
The content of the document of the Animals Asia Organization said: "The elephant enclosure at Hanoi Zoo is very narrow, not enough to meet the natural needs of elephants. Meanwhile, elephants need space to move freely to improve and maintain their health.
One of two elephants at Hanoi Zoo.
Elephants need to be allowed to engage in essential natural behaviours that are appropriate to their species. This will improve their welfare, allowing them to have positive experiences that will enhance their physical and mental health.
In fact, elephants at Hanoi Zoo are often chained in one place for long periods of time and the zoo's care and nurturing resources are limited, so the health of these two elephants will increasingly decline and will be difficult to improve if they continue to live in such conditions."
Animals Asia believes that the best option is to move these two elephants back to the natural forest in Yok Don National Park (Dak Lak province) where elephant conservation is being carried out. This organization is willing to sponsor the transportation costs, if the proposal is approved.
Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, Mr. David Neale, Director of Global Welfare of Animals Asia, said that having to live in chains negatively affects the lives of two elephants.
Mr. David Neale, Global Welfare Director of Animals Asia.
"If you go to Thu Le Park, you will see two elephants named Thai and Banang chained in two different places. There is almost no communication between the two elephants.
In particular, Hanoi Zoo is taking care of two elephants by dumping food in one place without giving them the right to choose.
"If in a semi-wild environment, even an unnatural environment like in parks, elephants still have the right to choose the food they want and move freely, but at Hanoi Zoo, they are chained," said Mr. David Neale.
A representative of the Animals Asia Organization said that Hanoi Zoo needs to re-examine the care and repair of electric fences so that elephants can move around in their living space at the zoo.
"The current living environment of the two elephants in the park is not guaranteed. Therefore, in the long term, the authorities including the Hanoi city government, Dak Lak province government, and Animals Asia should meet to discuss whether it is possible to include the two elephants in the elephant conversion model being implemented at Yok Don National Park (Dak Lak), to help them live in the forest environment.
In Yok Don, these two elephants will be cared for by Animals Asia staff. They are all very experienced in caring for elephants. In addition, there are always domestic and foreign experts and veterinarians monitoring their health and development," Mr. David Neale suggested.
"It's not enough to have money to move elephants."
Talking to Dan Tri reporter about the proposal of the Asian Animals Organization, Mr. Le Si Dung, General Director of Hanoi Zoo One Member Co., Ltd. said that there has been no conversation between the unit and the Asian Animals Organization as well as Yok Don National Park.
The leader of Hanoi Zoo said that the two elephants are old, so it is very difficult to reintegrate into nature.
"The above proposal is unreasonable. The two elephants are 60 - 70 years old, have been raised by the zoo for more than 10 years, if released into the wild, the elephants will not know how to find food, defend themselves and live in herds, they will die", Mr. Dung commented that the two elephants are old, so it will be very difficult to reintegrate into nature.
The leader of Hanoi Zoo added that elephants are herd animals, new elephants cannot join the herd. A wandering life alone is not good for each individual elephant. Moreover, each elephant weighs more than 2 tons, if the new and old elephants fight, who knows what will happen.
"We must also consider the case where the elephant is healthy when brought to the reserve, but if it dies after a while, who will be responsible?" Mr. Dung emphasized.
Transporting elephants into the wild can be problematic and carries many risks.
According to Mr. Dung, the distance from Hanoi to Dak Lak is thousands of kilometers long, and transporting elephants can have many problems and potential risks, the worst being that the elephants can die on the way.
"It seems that Animals Asia has not yet studied the biological characteristics of these two elephants. If there is a risk, the elephants will die on the road because wild animals when captured and held in captivity are easily stressed.
I have information that this organization will sponsor the transportation costs. However, having money for transportation is not enough," said Mr. Dung.
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