Preserving Mali the elephant
The city council of Manila has approved a resolution accepting the offer of a private company to preserve for free the remains of Mali the elephant. PetEterniTy, which provides taxidermy service for beloved pets, promised to preserve Mali “in accordance with industry standards and best practices,” according to the resolution approved by the Manila city council on Jan. 25.
If the project pushes through, the preserved elephant will be displayed at the Manila Zoo, where Mali was the top attraction since being donated by Sri Lanka to the Philippines in 1981. The elephant died of congestive heart failure and pancreatic cancer on Nov. 28 last year.
Beyond preserving Mali’s remains, the government must also review the nation’s policy on the maintenance of zoos. The original purpose of zoos is to give people the opportunity to observe live or even physically interact with wildlife under a secure, controlled environment.
For some years now, however, animal welfare activists have campaigned to return wildlife in zoos to their natural habitat, or at least to transfer the animals to a man-made reservation approximating that habitat.
Endangered species in particular may need a controlled environment to prevent their extinction, but a zoo is not what animal welfare activists have in mind. Mali spent much of her life alone in an enclosure. There was a longrunning campaign to release her to an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, but opponents expressed concern that after growing up in captivity with the constant presence of humans, Mali might not learn to survive on her own in the wild.
Vast areas in the African continent have long been designated as wildlife preserves. Campaigns worldwide have intensified against poachers who kill elephants for the ivory tusks, the big cats for the heads and skins, and rhinoceros for the horns that are prized particularly in Asia for their supposed aphrodisiac properties. Some countries have also developed vast lands in the countryside as fenced-off “safari” areas where people can watch wildlife roaming freely from the safety of moving vehicles.
The level of development in a society is reflected in the way animals are treated. The death of Mali should prompt a review of the nation’s policy on the treatment of wildlife.