January 31, 2006

GGGGGRRRRRRRRR

I just wrote up this whole thing and then deleted it somehow. And this time the whole page is in English so I don't even have an excuse.

Well, I'm back home (glap bahn) and I decided I feel like I've been in a coma for the past three months. I remember/recognize most things but there are subtle differences people need to clue me in about. For example - Angelina Jolie is pregnant with Brad Pitt's baby, Rory is back at Yale, both Erica and Alex's rooms are now offices for my mom and dad, and there's a motion sensored, singing and dancing, five foot Santa Claus in the living room. The last one I kind of figured out by myself.

So far since I've been home I've...
1) slept a lot
2) put on all the accessories I've accumulated in Thailand (2 bracelets I bought from Hill Tribe women, an elephant bracelet from the park, the necklace from the boy in the Karen village, the elephant bell necklace from Kopi, my two hat purchases from the Sunday Market, simultaneously, and a scarf or two) and walked around the house pointing to things and saying them in Thai
3) reazlied what it's like to Mom, in that I was cold, like uncomfortably cold when no one else was
4) possibly gotten sick (I think my stomach is jet-lagged and upset)
5) spent a lot of time on the internet.

Most of the time on the internet has been on Asian elephant conservation websites. Mostly because I just miss them a lot and can't stop thinking about them (the ones at the park, but the species as a whole too), but I also have this idea that I can figure out how to make a real job out my obsession with them and I feel like sitting on the internet for hours may help spark my genius solution.

www.elephantnaturepark.org(the park!! It's an old, ugly ugly site, with a lot of dead links and some weird English, but a lot of information on the elephants, and Lek)

www.helpthaielephants.com(the site with the stolen footage from Lek that caused the elephant camps to get together to put a contract out for her head! Ahh! She had to hide in Burma. But it gives a simple explanation of "phaajahn" process.)

www.digital-rampage.com/serengeti (the Park's USA non-profit, outdated, and mostly the same info as ENP, but a nicer website and you can donate online to Elephant Nature Park. And don't worry, the Park gets 100%.)
www.serengetiusa.com (same group, similar website, better website name)

www.allforelephants.org (another non-profit in California for the Park, also outdated, but there's sound and a cool intro.)

www.elephant.org.th (an ex-friend of Lek's who joined in to accuse Lek of staging the footage. She's generally not good. Ask me for more details if you're interested.)

www.elephants.com (an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee.)

And then I've had some suggestions for the zoo option. But it seems like elephants aren't really made for zoos.

There's currently a huge debate about 8 Thai elephants being sold to 2 Australian zoos for their "conservation programs" and Lek, along with a bunch of other animal rights groups are trying to stop the trade. A lot of zoos say they have elephants in "conservation programs" but the fact seems to be elephants aren't into breeding at zoos. I read somewhere that since January 2000, US zoos, with more than 120 female elephants, have produced just eight babies, and only three survived. Still births and infanticide are much more common in zoos. Uh oh.

Here's an article from the International Fund for Animal Welfare about why elephants shouldn't be in zoos. There are a bunch more articles available through the link below if you're interested.

Elephants are Born to be Wild
Australian zoos are planning to import eight Asian elephants from Thailand to start a zoo captive breeding program.

We are fighting this import because elephants suffer in zoos and this program will do nothing to save the endangered species.

Will captive breeding save the Asian elephant?
No. The zoos plan to captive breed Asian elephants is only to create a "self-sustaining" Australasian zoo population. The zoos themselves have stated there are no plans to return calves to the wild.

Research indicates that zoo captive breeding programs for elephants are not viable.

Birth rates for Asian elephants in zoos are ten times slower than those occurring in the wild. Wild Asian elephants give birth to an average of six calves during their lifetime. This is usually reduced to only a single calf for zoo elephants.

An elephant has never been born in an Australasian zoo.

Is it really about conservation?
The facts speak for themselves.

Elephants feature prominently in marketing campaigns and are seen as a drawcard for zoos.

Taronga Zoo's long-term resident elephants Â? Â?He-ManÂ? and Â?BurmaÂ? Â? were recently sent to Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo while finishing touches were put on the new $40 million Asian Elephant Precinct (complete with 600 seat restaurant overlooking the elephant enclosure). The new elephant exhibit has been built for the four juvenile elephants the zoo wants to import from Thailand.

There can be little doubt that the primary motivation behind the elephant import is increased visitation to the zoo resulting in increased revenue.

Asian elephants cannot be imported for exhibition or for primarily commercial reasons. This is why the zoos are arguing that it is for conservation reasons.

There is no guarantee that thecaptivecaptve breeding program will be successful and none of the calves bred will ever be returned to the wild.

How do you save the Asian elephant?
Efforts to save the Asian elephant can and must be focused in their home range states.

IFAW works throughout Africa and Asia to protect elephant habitats and works with local communities to find lasting solutions to human-elephant conflict, funds anti-poaching measures and works globally to end the trade in elephants and ivory.

Captive breeding in Australasian zoos will do nothing to save the species.

Aren't elephants better off in a zoo than a Thai camp?
The ideal situation for elephants in camps is to be rehabilitated in a Thai sanctuary rather than transported thousands of kilometres for a life in a zoo.

Evidence indicates that elephants suffer severe anxiety when transported. In February this year, two of eight Asian elephants sent from Thailand to China died just weeks after arrival.

Transportation is only one problem. No matter how good the new facilities are at Australian zoos are they can never replicate an elephant's home and family.

IFAW has revealed that one of the nine elephants destined for an Australasian zoo was returned to the elephant camp it came from. It was rejected for displaying aggressive behaviour, developed since it had been in quarantine.

This is the second of the nine elephants, which have been in quarantine in Thailand since October 2004, to develop aggressive tendencies. As a result of this latest incident Auckland Zoo has temporarily dropped out of the import proposal.

Approximately one in 600 elephant handlers in the United States is killed each year and elephants kill more zoo personnel than all other species of animal kept in zoos and circuses combined. In Thailand it is estimated that about 200 mahouts (elephant trainers) are killed each year.

Is IFAW Opposed to Zoos?
No. We recognise that zoos around the world do some good conservation and education work, and IFAW works closely with many zoo experts on wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and sanctuary projects.

However, there are animals, such as elephants, that science and expert opinion have found to suffer tremendously in zoos. This is because, despite their best efforts, zoos cannot meet the physical, behavioural, psychological and social needs of elephants.

Interesting, huh? The zoos don't seem to have too much of a response either. They say stuff like, "we're doing exactly what's required by law," which doesn't really make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Oooh, there's a position open at IFAW in Sydney for an Executive Assistant. Could I do that??

Right. This whole getting a job thing. Stressful! Not because I don't have enough options, but because I feel like I have too many and I can think of like a billion ways that I would probably be happy. Last night, after looking at elephant places, I started looking at TOEFL certification programs so I could go teach English in Thailand. Before this crazy Asia idea the plan was to live abroad in New Zealand for a year and if I stayed here, working at a school and getting certified, then I could go back to Thailand where I could live abroad for a year (one of my goals from Walkabout), teach kids in an unconventional setting (another goal from Walkabout), and be closer to the park and get back to learning Thai (more recent goals). Then tonight Laura said there might be an opening in the children's department at Simon and Schuster and I thought that sounded cool too. And then there's Jordan who has been trying to get me to work at The Agency Group since I went to college.

I realize this is actually an awesome position to be in, but it's still kind of stressful. Oh the burden of being a 22 year old college graduate in the suburbs of New York City, returning from a 3 month vacation in Asia.

I have to shut up.

Tomorrow I'm going to clean my room.