Sigh. This is a tough note to write. We’ve had zoo memberships for years, have taken several classes at the zoo, and attended special events there. And I have two animal and nature crazy kids. But I can’t in good conscience support this institution anymore.

There have been a number of animal deaths at the Calgary zoo in recent years. Now granted, deaths alone may indicate nothing whatsoever: animals live, and animals die. The number of deaths raises some questions, however, as does the manner of some of these deaths. But it is the way these deaths have been handled by the zoo that really disturbs me, and today’s announcement (more later) was the last straw.

Now, keep an open mind here. While we are a (mainly) vegan family and concerned about animal welfare, I’m not an irrational propagandist. I understand the role zoos play in promoting awareness of animal and environmental causes and in animal research. I understand zoos’ participation in conservation and ‘species survival’ programs. I understand that most animals in zoos simply cannot be returned to the wild—perhaps they have lived in captivity all their life and would never survive; perhaps they have been injured and brought to the zoo for refuge. No knee-jerk ‘all zoos are evil’ thoughts here.

So let’s look at the death toll at the Calgary zoo in the last few years:

December 2004: Three-week old elephant dies after being rejected by its mother

August 2006, April 2007, May 2007, August 2007: 3 adult female gorillas die (one euthanized) and infant gorilla dies after dominant female in troop claimed her for herself but lacked milk to give her

October 2007: Hazina the hippo dies one day after arriving from Denver zoo, a 29-hour road trip

May 2008: the first of what would become a total of 41 stingrays die of unknown cause(s)

November 2008: Malti, a 15-month old elephant dies after contracting herpesvirus

January 2009: a goat called a Turkmenian markhor dies after becoming entangled in the ropes of an ‘enrichment toy’ and then losing its footing; in effect, it hung itself

And today? The president of the zoo, Dr. Clement Lanthier, admitted that the cause of the stingrays deaths was lack of dissolved oxygen in the stingrays water tank. Human error. And over a matter that anyone setting up a simple fish tank in their home knows is of the utmost importance to ensure. And a quick google search leads me to find that you can buy an oxygen monitor for a mere $250…a drop in the bucket to an institution whose annual budget runs in the millions. He went on to point out how it wasn’t the zoo’s fault, though, as:

"We didn't have any expertise in aquarium and fish, so we partnered with a reputable designer of life-support systems, one that came with a recommendation, and that's what we implemented," Lanthier told the Calgary Sun. And:

"I think we need to be very frank here. Our main expertise is not in fish here at the Calgary Zoo." And:

“I think we have a responsibility to connect Calgarians not only to the land animal but also to what’s going on in the ocean.”

Hmmm…seems to me the first responsibility a zoo has is to the animals in its care, and to that end it should not have an exhibit with animal X without staff who are adequately trained in the care of animal X. There is a further subplot to the stingrays story, in that the zoo is saying they have known for months now that lack of dissolved oxygen was the cause—since November according to one source—yet on December 11th, the zoo released the following statement:

"Several possibilities remain including unknown toxins or possible deficiency of dissolved oxygen in the water but a conclusive cause may never be known."

The zoo recently got a new shipment of cownose stingrays, and the exhibit is again open to the public.

The way the zoo handled the death of Hazina the hippo also did not impress me. Hazina’s climate controlled crate gave her enough room to move forward and backward but not to turn around during her 29-hour journey, an established practice designed to prevent her from injuring herself if the truck suddenly shifted. What went wrong?

“Doug Whiteside, the Calgary Zoo's veterinarian, said Hazina had been lying in one position in the crate for too long, which damaged her leg muscles, leading to a release of toxins into the bloodstream and overwhelming her heart.” (www.cbc.ca)

The zoo’s reaction? Essentially: “We followed all recommended protocols during her transfer.” This is not good enough, to me, anyways. Even granting that the zoo did follow ‘established procedures’, I’m left wanting an addendum to the effect of: “Maybe we need to look at those procedures again. Maybe they need to be adjusted for an animal of this size, an animal that spends much of its time in water. Perhaps there is something we can learn from this to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.” Instead of “we followed accepted protocols” I want to hear the zoo saying “Are those protocols acceptable enough?”

I have similar concerns about continuing the elephant breeding program. The virus that killed Malti, while rare, is known to exist in a latent form in some adult elephants—and we must now assume that there is at least 1 adult elephant at the zoo that is such a carrier. What has the zoo learned from Malti’s death? How will they (can they?) prevent this from happening to the next baby elephant? I hope the zoo has looked into the matter, but they have not been forthcoming about it to the public.

And the recent death of the Turkmenian markhor—clearly an accident—again raises red flags. While the zoo removed the toy that the goat became entangled in, and removed other enrichment toys throughout the zoo to “ensure their safety”, again, I am left wanting. Can the animals be better monitored when using these sorts of toys? (For sake of argument, let’s agree with the zoo that enrichment toys designed for the animals mental health are a good thing.)  Can the zoo do something to improve response time when the public informs them that an animal is in distress? The goat’s death was witnessed by people who noticed it had ropes tangled around its neck, and one woman ran to the nearest gift shop to have staff send over a zookeeper ASAP. Others called the zoo’s main office on their cell phones. According to eye-witnesses, it took unacceptably long to get help. My point is that there are many things the zoo could learn from this tragedy—it’s not just about the toy. This tragedy may have been prevented if through closer monitoring the entanglement was noticed sooner, or if it was easier for the public to summon help (emergency phone? buttons?), or if help was quicker to arrive.

Until the Calgary zoo decides to look at its current procedures and protocols, we—with much sadness—will not be supporting this institution.

Here’s a picture of Malti I took during one of our many visits to the zoo, whose death broke my heart. (Elephants are my favourite animal).