USDA Vet Labels Reports Clearing Park in Dunda’s Beating Premature

The chief U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarian in California said Monday that reports clearing the San Diego Wild Animal Park in the beating of Dunda the elephant are “premature” and that he has not yet decided whether to take action against the park.

The Associated Press reported Monday that the USDA investigator looking into the incident concluded that keepers at the Wild Animal Park were justified when they severely beat the elephant to protect themselves.

The investigator, Frank Enders, said he would not recommend citing the park for animal mistreatment and said he agreed with keepers who said that the beating was necessary to discipline Dunda, who had just been transferred from the San Diego Zoo to join the park’s breeding program, the Associated Press reported.

However, James Roswurm of the USDA’s regional headquarters in Sacramento said: “Dr. Enders can recommend, but that doesn’t mean that’s what we’ll do.” Roswurm said he had not yet received a report on the incident from Enders, who is based in San Ysidro.

Elephant Experts Needed?

“What I’ll need to decide is whether we need to bring in some elephant training experts,” Roswurm said. “I’m not an expert on elephants. . . . The issue, as I see it, is how much reprimand is necessary in disciplining an elephant.”

Roswurm said a decision on whether to cite the Wild Animal Park will probably be made after consultation with the department’s Washington headquarters.

Attempts to reach Enders on Monday were unsuccessful.

The controversy over Dunda centers on the days after she was moved last February from the San Diego Zoo to the Wild Animal Park. Keepers at the zoo say Dunda became agitated when she arrived at the Wild Animal Park because she had been poorly prepared for the move.

Once at the park, Dunda was chained by all four legs, pulled to the ground and beaten over the head with ax handles, according to the zookeepers as well as several employees of the Wild Animal Park.

Wild Animal Park officials have given varying accounts of the incident but insist that the elephant was not abused.

The inquiry by the USDA, which licenses the zoo and park, is one of several investigations into the incident.

Different Discipline Method?

State Sen. Dan McCorquodale (D-San Jose), who met with Wild Animal Park officials last week, said Monday he plans to pursue an investigation of elephant care at the zoo and the park “aggressively.” McCorquodale is chairman of the Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife committee.

“They feel that discipline’s a necessary thing in order to control the elephants,” McCorquodale said of zoo officials. “It seems to me they just have to find a different way to do it. You can’t just physically beat an animal.”

McCorquodale said the committee staff is awaiting a report from the San Diego Humane Society, which also is investigating to determine whether criminal animal-abuse charges are warranted.