Furor Over Animal Parks : Senate Panel Will Probe Elephant Beatings

Referring to “shocking” reports of animal abuse at San Diego Wild Animal Park, the chairman of a state Senate committee has launched an investigation into the beating of Dunda the elephant, as well as broader zoo policies and procedures that might have led to the incident.

Sen. Dan McCorquodale (D-San Jose), chairman of the Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee, is “genuinely concerned” about the beating and “now it’s a matter of trying to find out what’s happened,” the committee’s chief staff member, Mary K. Shallenberger, said Tuesday.

McCorquodale on June 8 wrote a letter to Betty Jo Williams, president of the Zoological Society of San Diego, informing her that his committee was prepared to investigate the treatment and handling of Dunda and “to examine the qualifications, training and supervision of the animal keepers at the San Diego Zoological facilities.”

“These reports are shocking,” McCorquodale wrote. “The allegations that Dunda was beaten and abused, under the guise of discipline, are extremely serious and must be fully explored. Any person that crosses the not-so-fine line between discipline and abuse must not be allowed to work with, or around, animals.”

Dunda, an African elephant, was reportedly chained, pulled to the ground and beaten on the head with ax handles for several days last February after she was transferred from the San Diego Zoo. The San Diego city attorney’s office is considering whether to press criminal charges of animal cruelty.

In his letter, McCorquodale also asked Williams to send him the statements of the zoo and wildlife park keepers who were involved in or witnessed the Dunda incident; the findings from the zoo’s internal investigations, and those performed by the U.S. and San Diego humane societies.

Shallenberger said McCorquodale was concerned that neither Williams nor the society had yet responded to his letter. She said there appears to be “some effort to keep it quiet.”

“There is a lot that doesn’t make sense,” she said. “The reports don’t fit together in a logical way to make you think that the society is moving as quickly as they can to get to the bottom of it.”

Williams could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Jeff Jouett, a spokesman for the zoological society, which operates the zoo and the Wild Animal Park, said a response to McCorquodale has been drafted and is awaiting Williams’ signature. The draft, which Jouett shared with The Times, indicates that the zoological society will cooperate with the Senate inquiry, beginning by forwarding the San Diego Humane Society investigation to McCorquodale when the zoo receives it.

“We are anxious to receive their findings so that we can move forward with the appropriate action,” the zoological society’s letter says. “We are determined that whatever conclusions are reached will be made totally public.”

The letter says that McCorquodale is “most welcome” to come to San Diego “to see whatever and whomever” he wishes.

Shallenberger said McCorquodale was particularly interested in finding out whether there have been previous elephant beatings and, if so, what was done to prevent a recurrence.

She cited a Times story published last Friday in which a La Jolla insurance executive reported that he had seen an elephant being beaten at the park in 1985 and had told park officials of the incident. Although the man, Peter Van Eepoel, produced pictures taken during a later, hourslong session at which keepers discussed the incident with him, zoo officials say now that no one recalls the reported beating or the zoo’s response.

“If what appears to be the case is true, then this has been going on for three years,” Shallenberger said. “How can someone who is abusing animals continue to work there?”

Shallenberger said McCorquodale hopes to examine the issue further at a special committee hearing, probably in San Diego, during the Legislature’s summer recess in July.

Although the zoo gets none of its regular operating funds from the state, the Legislature earlier this year allocated $250,000 to the Wild Animal Park to expand its California condor breeding program. The bill awarding the zoo those funds was heard by the Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee.

“It’s appropriate for the committee to consider this issue,” Shallenberger said.

Assemblyman Bill Bradley (R-San Marcos), whose district includes the Wild Animal Park, said he thought McCorquodale’s investigation was unnecessary.

‘Better Equipped’

“They’ve had two investigations already,” Bradley said. “The Humane Society and the San Diego Zoo people, who are certainly experts in preserving wildlife, are looking into it. They’re better equipped to do it than lay people.”

Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego), who has carried legislation for the zoo in the past, also questioned the need for a legislative investigation.

“The zoo is a pretty large institution, and it’s well-run,” she said. “It seems that this is something they’re not going to let happen again. I’d like to wait to see what the city attorney does. I wouldn’t be inclined to get involved unless there was some outcome that showed a need for it.”

Times staff writer Jane Fritsch in San Diego contributed to this article.