Sri Lankan elephant at National Zoo celebrated during Asian Elephant Day
That I am not in favor of zoos or captive breeding is no secret. I have talked about that here and on "Focus Earth with Bob Woodruff." (Age of Extinction: August 22, 2009)
So when a reader directs my attention to an article in the Washington Post about the celebration of Asian Elephant Day, I trek to a newsstand and pay the premium out-of-state price for the paper. I am immediately saddend by the photograph---albeit skillfully and brilliantly composed by Post photographer Ricky Carioti--of a 7-year-old elephant named Kandula, who was born at the zoo. (Not the photo shown above and no link on the Post site, so far.) Kandula's situation is the kind that I find particularly distressing. He was born in captivity; he will die in captivity, never knowing the life his DNA promised.
http://www.examiner.com/x-5936-Animal-Advo...an-Elephant-Day