An Asian species recently migrated into Lincoln Park Zoo’s African area when keepers put three two-humped Bactrian camels into the elephant yard, vacant since the shocking deaths of the zoo’s three elephants more than a year ago.
The zoo has not ruled out bringing back elephants, but it has no immediate plans to do so. Zoo officials chose to place the Bactrian camels, which are native to Mongolia, in a yard intended for African critters last week for three reasons, said zoo spokeswoman Kelly McGrath.
“First, we couldn’t leave the yard empty for years. It is one of our major exhibit areas,” she said. “Second, it was relatively easy to rearrange the yard for camels. We also thought because the yard is in such a prominent place, it would be nice to have the camels where they would get a little more public attention.”
In the future, however, the zoo probably will use the space for a rhinoceros group, she said.
The zoo has been struggling to figure out what to do with the elephant yard, which is attached to the Regenstein African Journey exhibit building, since its three resident female African elephants–Tatima, Peaches and Wankie–died over a seven-month span in late 2004 and early 2005. The deaths fed a national furor set off by animal rights activists who oppose the keeping and displaying of elephants in zoos.
To ready the 16,300-square-foot yard for camels, McGrath said, the zoo took the precaution of disinfecting the soil by “cooking” it to kill off any infectious bacteria that the elephants might have left behind. Two of the elephants died of probable mycobacterial infections.
Covering the yard with black plastic allowed sun radiation to heat the soil to a temperature that kills bacteria, she said.
The camels had been housed in the zoo’s indoor-outdoor exhibit area for antelopes and zebras, on the south end of its grounds. They have been replaced there by a group of South American alpaca.
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During the elephant controversy, the zoo was criticized for several other animal deaths, including a Bactrian camel in December 2004. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an activist group, charged that negligent keepers caused the camel to freeze to death by leaving it outside on a frigid night.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s animal care division, which investigated the camel’s death, cited the zoo for non-compliance for not having an adequate wind shelter in the camel yard. At the time of the investigation, a USDA official sent an e-mail to PETA saying the lack of shelter contributed to the camel’s death.
The final USDA report, however, discounted the lack of shelter as a contributing cause, concluding that the camel died from a gastrointestinal ailment.
This week the zoo released a letter from Elizabeth Goldentyer, the USDA regional director for animal care, that apologized to the zoo for the erroneous e-mail, sent by one of her subordinates. The lack of the outdoor shelter, she said, “did not in any way contribute to the death of the young camel, nor was it ever suspected of having contributed to the animal’s death.”
The zoo, which already has a male and female pair of black rhinos in a space next to the elephant yard, is consulting with experts on what rhino species would be most appropriate for the zoo, said McGrath.
“It might mean putting Indian rhinos in that space, if they best fit the program we settle upon,” she said. “We are looking at which species would work best in bringing to the public the conservation issues for rhinos all over the world so that we can really build a program around them.”
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