If you compare this show, with the one that Gary Johnson is currently doing with his elephants at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, it is obvious what the public now wants for a show. I also have to wonder at a facility that had a "high mortality rate" with skunks(excluding rabies or distemper) having the knowledge/husbandry skills to keep polar bears, elephants, etc. etc.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Vintage Detroit Zoo--Detroit, Michigan--50th Anniversary Guide Book 1978
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
Wade, I seem to remember that one year they lost their prairie dog colony.
Mary Ann
Just like the good old circus days when early mortality was expected. I wonder how many of those bottle feeding baby elephants imported in the fabulous 70's died before their first birthday
Mary Ann,
It may have been a distemper outbreak. When was that, and I wonder if there were any other caniade deaths at that time.
Anonymous,
I have addressed that issue of the baby imports in the 70's that are no longer with us, on another blog, but nobody wanted to touch it. Thankfully regulations were enacted, which led to the great strides in breeding of captive Elephants. If they do chose some time in the future to "relax" those regulations, I suggest they do it were carefully.
Wade
The birth of all those babies could have been the perfect opportunity to start from scratch and re-examine every aspect of circus elephant training, transport and general presentation. Too bad the opportunity was never siezed. Probably because there are too many people who insist there is no way to do anything better than they did in the old days.
I remember a post on the other blog where one old timer thought it impossible to present a decent elephant act without a ring, saying the elephants would have to be lead around. My first thought was "huh? elephants have been worked by trainers riding them for 2000 years".
Looks like the opportunity has already been lost.
Ian,
I am still trying to get a standard set on what is a trick/training and what qualifies somebody, besides owning it, and you want to muck it up with this nonsense. Knock it off, until we decide if sitting on a seat or walking on the hind legs is a trick.
Wade
Post a Comment