The Dunda Episode

I am deeply disappointed in the San Diego County edition of The Times for the melodramatic tenor and piecemeal presentation of its stories about allegations of abuse to the African elephant “Dunda” at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

In repeatedly focusing on these allegations, with their inherent inaccuracies and distortions, The Times is playing to the emotions of its readers while overlooking the reality of the unique nature and needs of our largest land mammals and the people who care for them. In so doing, The Times perpetrates a disservice to Dunda and her keepers, to the Zoo, the Wild Animal Park and the Zoological Society, and to its own journalistic responsibilities.

I was pleased to see that one local newspaper found it possible to assign the space, the degree of objectivity and the investigative resourcefulness this issue deserves. I would recommend that all those interested in Dunda and the elephant program at the Wild Animal Park read “The Whole Dunda Episode” in the June 16 edition of the San Diego Reader.

BETTY JO F. WILLIAMS

President

Zoological Society of San Diego