Elephant Beating Was Abuse, Society Reports

The Humane Society of the United States said 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.”

Meanwhile, investigators for the San Diego Humane Society, which is conducting a separate investigation, held a “preliminary” meeting with the San Diego city attorney’s office Tuesday, said Larry Boersma, a spokesman for the group. The discussion centered on the group’s findings as they relate to California laws for the prevention of cruelty to animals, he said.

The San Diego group, which is not related to the New York organization, has interviewed 14 people and the investigation is continuing, Boersma said.

Stuart Swett, senior chief deputy city attorney, said Wednesday that the discussion had been general and that the local Humane Society had simply notified him of the inquiry.

”. . . I told them I would be ready to meet with them again in a week or two to review reports and make a decision,” Swett said.

The city attorney’s office prosecutes only misdemeanor cases, while the district attorney’s office prosecutes felonies. Regarding the Dunda case, Swett said, “If it’s a crime at all, I’m sure it would be a misdemeanor.”

Employees Interviewed

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.

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 Tuesday, Douglas Myers, executive director of the Zoological Society, said he was disappointed in the U.S. Humane Society’s statement. 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 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.

Keepers at the Wild Animal Park deny that any abuse occurred.

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