Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim portrays himself as a defender of justice, yet right now, he is one obstacle to righting a wrong. Ignoring the recommendations of experts around the world, Lim refuses to approve the transfer of Mali, the ailing and depressed lone elephant at the Manila Zoo, to a sanctuary.
It’s a good thing that the makers of the film “Life of Pi” didn’t attempt to give human traits or a personality to “Richard Parker,” the adult Bengal tiger who shares a life boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with Pi Patel, a teenage Indian boy who survives a shipwreck where the rest of his family dies.
Of all the stories that came out over the last weekend or so—the Olympics opening ceremonies and the initial victories; the conclusion of the Judicial and Bar Council vetting of the nominees for chief justice; the release on bail of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo; and Typhoon “Gener” that turned the weekend into a wet and windy two days—there is one, quiet and yet heartbreaking, that captured my heart and my imagination.
Laudable was the editorial on Mali, the 38-year-old elephant caged in Manila Zoo for more than 30 years (Inquirer, 6/24/12). I agree: Mali should be kept there no further.
There is now a raging controversy between animal welfare groups and the veterinarians of the Manila Zoo over the fate of Mali, the lone zoo elephant. The animal welfare groups want the elephant transferred to a sanctuary in Thailand because its zoo enclosure is too small and Mali cannot roam as elephants do in the [...]
For decades, countless families have visited the Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden, better known as the Manila Zoo, for a treat: to see in the flesh some of the creatures they would not otherwise see in the workaday world. The zoo’s biggest attraction is its sole pachyderm: the 38-year-old and 7-ton Mali, born in Sri Lanka in 1974, and a resident for the past 35 years. Visitors flock to her enclosure to take photographs and admire the majesty of the elephant. But according to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) Asia, Mali has to be relocated for her own good.
This is in reaction to Jaymee Gamil’s article (“New elephant for Manila zoo, says official,” Inquirer, 10/10/11) about the orphaned baby elephant to be given to the Manila Zoo by Sri Lanka. I pity the elephant. It would just be in for a life of disappointment and heartache. Elephants in the wild are used to [...]
Does the elephant in question, a 34-year-old female from Sri Lanka, really look that curious? To me she looks malungkot (lonely). You would be too, if you were taken from your home, kicking and screaming, to be later confined in a small space with little or nothing to do for the rest of your life. [...]
QUOTING FROM Shakespeare’s Henry V: “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more…” we need your help. I’ve just been informed by Mariel Jana Sevilla of Peta [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals] about an old elephant that has been behind bars at the Manila Zoo for the past 31 years. No animal [...]
GIVEN THE appalling conditions at the Manila Zoo, it’s a real stretch for anyone to suggest that visitors will learn anything meaningful about how animals really behave or leave the zoo with a newfound mission to save wild animals. Most people go to the zoo to pass their time or to occupy their kids, or [...]
