Animal Group Calls for Changes at Calgary Zoo

CALGARY – An animal advocacy group is calling for changes to how elephants are handled at the Calgary Zoo after a keeper was injured by an animal over the weekend.

Lisa Wathne with People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals is calling on the zoo to use protective barriers that separate the keepers from the animals at all times.

Calling the practice "protected contact," Wathne says in a letter to the zoo’s president that keeping the animals separate protects elephants by preventing keepers from using corporal punishment.

"Protected contact eliminates the beatings, bullhooks and chains that are routinely used on elephants when they are handled using the free-contact system," Wathne says in the letter.

Brent Vanhooft was taken to hospital on Sunday afternoon after a 2,000-kilogram Asian elephant named Swarna bumped him into a wall, causing lacerations and bruising to his face.

Zoo officials said that Swarna, although never having had a calf herself, has developed a strong attachment to a nine-month-old calf named Malti and may have been trying to protect the younger animal while Vanhooft was cleaning the floor.

"Swarna has elected herself as a bit of a protector of the herd and it is possible she perceived a non-existent threat," said Cathy Gaviller, the zoo’s director of conservation, education, and research, in a release on Monday.

The Calgary Zoo said Vanhooft, who has worked with elephants at the facility for 20 years, was recovering at home on Monday.

Gaviller said the zoo was reviewing the incident with Vanhooft and other keepers to determine exactly what happened. When further details are known, the zoo said it will review its elephant handling procedures to reinforce keepers’ safety.

Wathne maintains that protected contact is the only way to keep elephant handlers safe, aside from eliminating the practice of keeping elephants in captivity altogether. In her letter, she noted that her organization urged the zoo to implement protected contact back in 2004 when the calf’s mother, Maharani, injured a keeper.

The elephant was apparently trying to get a dropped treat. The female handler spent eight weeks off work, nursing three broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

"It is irresponsible for the zoo to allow keepers to continue using an outdated and dangerous form of elephant management that allows direct physical contact with the elephants," Wathne said in her letter.

Galliver noted there is a risk in dealing with such large animals.

"Even an unintentional collision can cause injury," she said.