IN HIS column "Save the Elephants!", Michael Smerconish expressed great concern about the animals' departure from the Philadelphia Zoo. Unfortunately, his concern is not about saving elephants, but about preserving his family's opportunity to view an elephant in a zoo.
http://snipurl.com/1g72y
Full Version: What the elephants really deserve
Excellent rebuttal, Rowan! 
thanks Ed. I wrote that over a week ago and it kept getting bumped (most recently over the Imus debacle) but I'm glad it's finally printed!
Outstanding letter Marianne!
Very thought provoking and well written. I loved the part about Smerconish not being interested in saving elephants, but preserving his family's opportunity to view an elephant in a zoo. And, if he was educated about elephants, he would know that family means everything to them, just as family is important to him.
That was great -- I read it about 10 times already!
Very thought provoking and well written. I loved the part about Smerconish not being interested in saving elephants, but preserving his family's opportunity to view an elephant in a zoo. And, if he was educated about elephants, he would know that family means everything to them, just as family is important to him.
That was great -- I read it about 10 times already!
Yet another letter from Merry Morris.
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/opinion/20...hould_stay.html
OP-ED writer Marianne Bessey uses emotional arguments designed to make anyone who disagrees with her sound like an uncaring, unfeeling person who only wants to be able to see animals up close in real life for no reason other than to be entertained.
It is true that some zoo directors have interpreted results of studies of elephant behavior in the wild to mean that elephants can't adapt and thrive in a zoo environment. But the majority realize that what elephants do in the wild is necessarily different, but not necessarily better, than what they do in zoos. Those directors are keeping their elephants because they know it is the right thing to do for humans, for elephants in the wild, and even for elephants in zoos.
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/opinion/20...hould_stay.html
OP-ED writer Marianne Bessey uses emotional arguments designed to make anyone who disagrees with her sound like an uncaring, unfeeling person who only wants to be able to see animals up close in real life for no reason other than to be entertained.
It is true that some zoo directors have interpreted results of studies of elephant behavior in the wild to mean that elephants can't adapt and thrive in a zoo environment. But the majority realize that what elephants do in the wild is necessarily different, but not necessarily better, than what they do in zoos. Those directors are keeping their elephants because they know it is the right thing to do for humans, for elephants in the wild, and even for elephants in zoos.