Manila Zoo can’t be home to baby elephant

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 being in large groups, and are by nature always on the move. These are but some of the basic necessities other than food that elephants need to be able to live, both of which Manila Zoo cannot provide.

A small goldfish needs at least a one-square meter aquarium to swim around in; elephants need a big space to roam around.

Sri Lanka may think that it is giving an orphaned elephant a new home, but what it is really doing is subjecting an innocent animal to a lifetime of misery and depriving him/her the life of comfort he/she is supposed to have. As a person who used to frequent zoos when I was a kid because I do love to learn about animals, I have come to realize that what zoos teach— not educate—people is that animals should be caged and laughed at. Because, really, how much can you learn from a brief encounter with someone behind bars?

—IRENE FRANCES CHIA