The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria requires that zoos house female elephants in groups, but Tania, a 37-year-old female elephant remains in alone insolitary confinement at the Targu-Mures Zoo in Romania. She is reportedly forced to live indoors in a tiny barren cell standing on concrete, often in her own urine and feces.
Captured from the wild in the 1970s, Tania was sent to a zoo in France where she lived alone for more than 20 years,- and more recently was transfered from an Italian zoo last September to Targu-Mures Zoo in Romania.
Female elephants are profoundly social and need natural social groupings.The unnatural conditions of zoos causes psychological distress; and Tania repeatedly rocks and sways, a coping mechanism elepants exhibit indicating they are in distress. Additionally, standing in one spot on concrete leads to chronic foot infections- a leading cause of death in elephants.
Tell the Targu-Mures Zoo in Romania to stop depriving Tania of her most basic needs- room to move around and the company of other elephants.
SOURCE: http://www.all-creatures.org/alert/alert-20130215.html
Mr. Janez Potocnik
Commissioner for the Environment
European Commission
Environment DG, B-1049
Brussels, Belgium
Email:
janez.potocnik@ec.europa.euEAZA Executive Office
Dr. Lesley Dickie
Executive Director
c/o Artis Zoo - Amsterdam
PO Box 20164
1000 HD Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Email: lesley.dickie@eaza.net
