Organisations call for speedy removal of Charlie the elephant from Pta zoo

Several organisations are petitioning that an elephant bull at the Pretoria Zoo be moved as soon as possible “before he becomes another dreadful statistic”.

Concern for Charlie’s health is mounting as it is alleged that the bull is suffering from colic, which can be fatal for elephants.

Pro Elephant Network (PREN) co-ordinator Stefania Falcon called for an end to the alleged trauma and ill health suffered by Charlie.

PREN’s members include the Animal Welfare Institute, Animal Welfare Law, Bring the Elephant Home, The Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations and Rhodes University.

It is a forum of individuals and organisations with specific expertise on wild and captive African and Asian elephants, including in the fields of science, health and conservation.

Its members also campaign to stop the capture and exploitation of elephants.

They wrote several letters to Barbara Creecy, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, for Charlie to receive adequate healthcare.

“We have learnt much since zoos became fashionable forms of entertainment in late 1899 when this zoo was founded. Zoos, like circuses, are becoming redundant all over the world,” Falcon said.

“Zoos are incapable of being able to offer elephants the space they need to stay healthy.”

Falcon said elephants needed to walk great distances and forage for the correct diet.

“Too many elephants have died prematurely in zoos in South Africa and around the world.”

In October 2020, a 36-year-old elephant cow named Landa died at the Pretoria Zoo.

Landa’s cause of death was believed to be a contraction of acute colic. The zoo was, however, awaiting post-mortem results to determine the death, according to executive director Leslie Mudimeli.

Landa has been part of the Pretoria Zoo family since April 1986.

Falcon said the EMS Foundation had offered to relocate and rehabilitate Charlie into the wild and had attempted to engage Creecy and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), since December 2020.

“On December 16, 2020, PREN members alerted the minister to their concerns regarding the mental and physical well-being and welfare of Charlie.”

Falcon said it also wanted to request that Charlie undergo an assessment by independent elephant experts.

She said the results of the assessments would undertake whether a rehabilitation programme and reintegration was a more suitable environment for Charlie.

EMS Foundation said in a statement recently it had “diligently, persistently and explicitly presented valid requests” to have Charlie independently assessed by experts for more than 16 months.

“We have been unable to achieve a desirable result for Charlie throughout engagements with SANBI and the National Zoological Gardens.”

According to them, SANBI spokeswoman Angeline Schwan denied in 2019 that Charlie showed signs of distress after concerns were raised about Charlie’s appearance. She said that the allegations from the general public were false.

“Schwan told Rekord that Charlie’s head-swaying was learned behaviour from the circus life and would never be completely unlearned; however, the zoo had tried dealing with it during the years that Charlie had been at the zoo.

“Schwan’s statement is inaccurate. Kaavan, the solitary elephant who was released from a zoo in Islamabad after three decades and transferred to an elephant sanctuary in Cambodia, stopped swaying and bobbing his head shortly after he arrived at the sanctuary.

“His ongoing physical and mental recovery is remarkable and has been widely published to a growing global audience.”

The foundation said according to elephant specialists such repetitive behaviour was a sign of frustration and sometimes even mental illness brought on by being taken away from their natural surroundings and family members and kept in cramped enclosures.

Charlie was born in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe in 1982 and was captured as a young bull and trained to perform in the Brian Boswell Circus.

Charlie arrived at the Pretoria Zoo on loan from the circus in 2001 and has been there for 21 years.

The Pretoria Zoo has yet to respond to an enquiry from Rekord.

ALSO READ: Pretoria Zoo welcomes second giraffe calf – in less than two years

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