Newswise — For many Philadelphians, summer brings one mandatory destination to mind: the Jersey Shore. And while the lure of sand, surf, and boardwalk pizza joints is one that's hard to deny, Saint Joseph's University History Professor Jeffrey Hyson, Ph.D., recommends adding another stop to your summer tour: the Philadelphia Zoo.
This summer, in particular, animal enthusiasts must make haste to the nation's oldest zoo, because it's the last summer for elephants in Philly. The African elephant Dulary, a resident of the zoo for 41 years, was moved to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee at the beginning of May, and the three Asian elephants " Petal, Bette, and Kallie " will move to the Pittsburgh Zoo's International Conservation Center this fall. Dr. Hyson, an expert on the cultural history of zoos whose book on the subject will be published later this year, says that the move is a smart one given the circumstances, but that it brings into question the mission and identity of the zoo.
"The decision to give up elephants makes a lot of sense, both as a financial matter and in terms of the animals' well-being," Dr. Hyson says. "But elephants aren't just any zoo animal. To many visitors, they are an essential zoo animal, one of those marquee attractions that collectively define 'zoos' in the popular mind. So when zoos start giving up elephants, whether voluntarily or under pressure, we're dealing with more than the welfare of one particular species. We're grappling with the very definition of zoos themselves."
Though the Philadelphia Zoo may not be able to support its elephant population after this summer, Dr. Hyson suggests that zoos still provide a unique experience. "For all their flaws, zoos still give their visitors " over one hundred million Americans annually " an immediate, emotional, 'nose-to-nose' connection to exotic animals that's otherwise unavailable outside of the wild," he says. "No TV show or documentary film can duplicate the feeling of standing a few feet away from a full-grown elephant. And if that feeling, in turn, inspires even a handful of visitors to find out more about wildlife conservation, habitat preservation, or animal science, then perhaps those elephants have done their job. We just have to do our job, too."
RSS