Animal Group Calls Beating of Elephant Isolated Abuse

The Humane Society of the United States said Tuesday that the beating of an elephant at the San Diego Wild Animal Park in February was “a case of animal abuse” but that it was an isolated incident.

“We think the animal was beaten, abused,” said David Herbet, an official of the Washington-based group who visited San Diego on Tuesday. “We’re hopeful that the San Diego Zoological Society will look into the incident and take the appropriate action, whether it be reprimands or firings.”

Herbet, a captive-wildlife specialist for the Humane Society, said he interviewed about a dozen employees and officials of the Wild Animal Park and the San Diego Zoo, both of which are operated by the Zoological Society.

Staffs ‘Quite Cooperative’

The staffs of both were “quite cooperative,” Herbet said, but they gave conflicting accounts of the handling of the animal, an 18-year-old African elephant called Dunda, who spent most of her life at the zoo, but was transferred to the Wild Animal Park on Feb. 16.

Herbet said he was not able to resolve the conflicts in the stories but that photographs of Dunda taken about three weeks after she was beaten were sufficient evidence for a finding of abuse. The photographs, taken by a keeper from the zoo, show ragged flesh wounds on Dunda’s head.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Douglas Myers, executive director of the Zoological Society, said he was disappointed in the Humane Society of the United States statement and called it advisory. He said it was produced after only five hours of investigation.

“We are still awaiting the report we requested from the San Diego Humane Society, whose findings will determine the next steps to be taken,” Myers said. “Their extensive investigation, conducted by two officers over three weeks, is expected to be concluded by the end of this week.”

The Washington and San Diego groups are not related.

The transfer and discipline of Dunda have caused a bitter dispute between elephant handlers at the zoo and the Wild Animal Park.

Keepers at the zoo say Dunda, always a nervous animal, was transferred without proper preparation, including time before the move to adjust to her crate and meet her new keepers while still on familiar turf.

Once at the Wild Animal Park, Dunda, by then extremely frightened, was chained on all four legs, pulled to the ground, and struck on the head more than 100 times over two days with heavy sticks or ax handles, the zookeepers say. They also say their complaints to superiors at the zoo, first voiced in late February or early March, were largely ignored.

Keepers at the Wild Animal Park deny that any abuse occurred; Myers of the Zoological Society has supported their version in preliminary statements.

About three weeks ago, after inquiries by the Humane Society of the United States, Myers asked the San Diego Humane Society to look into the allegations.

A spokesman for the San Diego group said Tuesday that the incident is still under investigation. The local group has authority under state law to seek criminal charges.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which licenses both the zoo and the Wild Animal Park, also is investigating.

In its statement issued Tuesday, the Humane Society of the United States said it “believes that the way in which the San Diego Wild Animal Park dealt with this African elephant is an isolated case of animal abuse.”

“While we recognize the excellent reputation the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park and its elephant training and management program receives nationwide, we feel that this indeed is a case of animal abuse.

“We do feel that this problem should be handled internally by the San Diego Zoological Society and are confident that they will take whatever actions are necessary to guarantee that this will not happen again,” the statement said.