Activists protest elephant captivity at Oregon Zoo

Connor Johnson, 12, and his mother, Wendy Johnson, 47, protest outside the Oregon Zoo on Saturday in a protest as part of the International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos.

On any other weekend, Connor Johnson, 12, would have been with his friends. He might have been wrestling, shooting foam darts out of a toy gun or playing with his dogs, Oliver, Goose and Schutes.

But on the International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos, Connor and about 20 other protesters had a message for the crowds that passed him on their way into the Oregon Zoo: elephants are suffering.

According to Courtney Scott, a local filmmaker and activist who organized the protest as part of a worldwide string of similar events encouraged by the animal rights organization In Defense of Animals, captive elephants are confined in spaces that don't let them wander the miles they would in the wild, and the use of training hooks is a gross abuse.

"The most important thing is space," Scott said. "These elephants have a backyard — a suburban backyard."

They have also grown impatient with the time it has taken to build the elephant preserve outlined in 2008, when Oregon voters approved a $125-million bond for the zoo.

But inside the zoo's gates, Director Kim Smith on Saturday defended the happiness and health of her elephants and the passion of her staff, though she understands public concern.

"The community loves these elephants," she said of a fondness that traces back to the 1950s, when school children collected pennies so the zoo could buy its first elephant, Rosy. "They're a part of Portland, really. I've never seen anything like it."

Of the bond money, $40 million will go toward a six-and-a-half-acre elephant habitat where watering holes and expanses of natural terrain will allow the animals to move as a herd — or not, as in the case of Packy, the 49-year-old bull who often desires time alone away from the flirtatious females who jostle for his attention.

An argument at the forefront of activist concerns is that the use of guides, which the Oregon Zoo handlers use for training purposes, is abusive by default. The only reason the elephants obey commands is that they fear punishment from the pointed instruments.

Catherine Doyle of California-based In Defense of Animals said while defenders of the tools say they're safe and humane, there have been innumerable investigations that show elephants that are wounded and fearful where guides — which Doyle says are no different from controversial bullhooks — are used.

"I don't understand why the Oregon Zoo is hanging onto circus-style training," she said.

But Smith and Elephant Curator Bob Lee described a system of positive reinforcement complemented by instruments called guides, which are smaller and lighter than bullhooks and designed not as a weapon or a means of punishment but as a communication tool.

As he gave a series of simple commands to Chendra, a playful female, the guide dangled in his left hand, ignored as he motioned to her with his right. Smith and Lee said positive reinforcement is at the center of the elephants' interaction with their handlers.

"You're not going to get very far with an elephant without positive reinforcement," Smith said.

For 1,400-pound Chendra — petite compared to the rest of her herd — apples are the way to a girl's heart and the way she learned her spunky "shake" command, a spirited dance reminiscent of the mashed potato of the '60s.

At the mention of abuse or negative reinforcement, Smith, smiling a moment before, grows serious.

"It is not tolerated here," she said. "They don't want to deal with me if they've done that. It will not be pleasant."

More than a decade ago, an elephant handler was fired for injuring an elephant named Rose-Tu with a bullhook — an offense that was reported by enraged coworkers.

"These people are passionate about the animals," Smith said. "It's why I became a zoo director."

But for activists like Doyle, it's not enough. While things can be done to make life in captivity more humane, Doyle said, the only answer is to keep elephants in large preserves and not in the confinement of zoos. They hope the Oregon Zoo will follow the example of places like the Detroit Zoo, which in 2004 moved its elephants to a refuge.

Until that happens, the activists won't be satisfied, and they won't stop their fight.
Neither will Connor.

"I hope people will pay attention to us," Connor said. "These are living animals, and they deserve better."
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Wendy Johnson and her little robot, Connor need to lighten up. Don't they realize the Oregon Zoo treat's their elephants to organic, edible rose petals!!!! I was going to suggest Ms. Johnson was full of shit but then I read this statement from Director Kim Smith and Elephant Curator Bob Lee "instruments called guides, which are smaller and lighter than bullhooks and designed not as a weapon or a means of punishment" and realized they too were full of shit. Before I could decide who was more full of shit, all of a sudden there was the Queen of Full of Shit herself, Catherine Doyle of millions of volts of electricity stun gun hot shot electric prod fame with this bit of uninformed spit up, ""I don't understand why the Oregon Zoo is hanging onto circus-style training," Catherine, what a self serving mutt you are. Bull hooks have been used since the dawn of elephant captivity, long before the circus was ever a concept, and continue to be used in every elephant industry in the world. If a rider wears spurs are they "hanging onto dressage-style training," or reining-style training? You and your mate Peter Stroud need to get your head's out of the circus's ass.