BY CASSENDRA DOOLE
The Elephant Dances at the Dehiwala Zoological Gardens has
been the subject of much debate for quite some time. Some people are for it,
and have gone to great lengths, including protesting in front of the Zoological
Gardens in order to make sure the dances are not stopped, while others are
completely against it, claiming them to be atrocious, unnecessary and quite
frankly, grossly mean to the animals.
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| Few animals watching the Earth's most magnificent specimens being tortured. |
A zoo is defined as 'an establishment which maintains a
collection of wild animals, typically in a park or garden setting, for study,
conservation, or display to the public' according to the Oxford Dictionary. The
Dehiwala Zoological Gardens is one such place where a person of any and every
age group, could see for themselves, the rare and wild animals that have been
captured for this very same purpose.
However, some of the activities that take place in the
Zoological Gardens, activities such as the Elephant Dance, quite actually
defeat the purpose for what a zoo is really meant for. The reason Zoological
Gardens exist is so that humans could see wild animals in as close to their
Natural habitat as possible. Sixteen year old animal lover, Kethmie quite
clearly summed up the redundancy of the elephant dances when she was asked to
give her opinion on the said dances as an observer,
"A zoo is supposed to be a place where we can come and
see wild animals that we might never see otherwise. The whole purpose of this
is so that we can see them as closely to their natural habitats as possible,
and I'm pretty sure elephants of the wild do not carry boards that say
'Ayubowan' and climb on stools to make a spectacle of themselves."
The Dehiwala Zoo definitely has a large collection of
animals that a person might never ever have seen, if not for the zoo. According
to the Travel Brochure, which you can request from the counters or help desk,
"The National Zoological Gardens, popularly known as the Zoo, is a
beautifully landscaped 30 acres in which, a wide collection of mammals, birds,
reptiles and fish are meant to live in harmony with Nature." However, any
person will realize that while there is a variety of animals and birds, they
sadly are not living in harmony with nature.
Distressing state of affairs for the animals though...
Honestly speaking, the Dehiwala Zoological Gardens is quite
depressing to animal lovers. The cages are rusted and really small and it is
clear to any sightseer or tourist that the animals are completely frustrated
and in deep mental anguish. The image of the sloth bear just looking down
pathetically miserable, swaying its bent head from side to side, while rooted
to one and the same spot for well over a solid hour will no doubt scar you, and
you don't even have to be an animal lover for this image to strike you as
depressing.
However, this is absolutely nothing compared to what the
majestic Elephants go through.
"This Elephant has been with us ever since she was one
year old," a mahout who would prefer to be unnamed, told Ceylon Today,
patting the flank of a majestic elephant, "Frankly, yes. She is bathed and
fed and taken care of, but she has been tied to this very same post every time
with no freedom for movement whatsoever. Unless she dances to entertain the
audience, that is" One might argue (as some did) that a zoo is also a
place for entertainment and this provides the window of opportunity to proceed with
the Elephant Dances. Yes, as another mahout commented, "The elephant
dances are done for entertainment, and children enjoy it."
He was right too. Out of about 25 children who were asked to
give their opinion on the Elephant Dances, only six children were against it.
"It's funny and awesome to see the big elephants
walking around and holding their tails and performing tricks" one
enthusiastic ten year old boy said, while his brother a couple of years older
to him said "It's also a little sad to watch such big animals being forced
to do silly tricks just to entertain us, and it's necessary to prevent the
mahouts from stabbing them". However, what is the real purpose behind the
Elephant Dances if not to make more money? It is a completely sad sight to witness
an animal as majestic and grand as an elephant to be seen climbing on stools
and standing on one leg. The mahouts and the trainers are indeed noteworthy as
they spend copious amounts of time training these beasts, and it is not hard to
imagine that this is quite the daunting task. But why do it at all?
Both during the previous and the present governments, the
Elephant Dances were stopped for short periods of time, until a decision was
made to reinstate them last Friday. The excuse that was given by the authorities
and the Zoo Director was that the dances were actually good entertainment for
children, and is the star segment in what the zoo had to offer.
Jumbos – to dance or not to dance? That is the Question
So then, what needs to be looked at here is, not whether we
think the performances should be carried out or not, but to whether it is
cruelty towards animals for these performances to be carried out. The Elephant
Dances and performances are somewhat entertaining to a younger audience, seeing
these giant awkward beasts rolling clumsily on the floor and one on top of the
other as well as other tricks that for some unknown reason are quite similar to
ballet. However, to others, it might be cause for alarm and shock, to see such
beautiful magnificent creatures that pose no harm or threat to others, forced
to run around a paddock doing silly antics for no apparent cause, except to
entertain children and a crowd of thoughtless people.
As the times go by, humans have searched for various
distractions in the form of entertainment and they have often found
entertainment in giving pain to others. Circuses, Zoos etc. Have cropped up,
where animals are held captive, taught to perform and forced to look
unintelligent in front of an audience. What these humans forget, is that these
animals feel the same pain as well as mental anguish just like any human would,
and it is cruel to put them into such a situation like this.
If a person is a dancer or a comedian or a performer, they
have made the conscious deliberate decision to be so. However, these elephants
were never given the choice. (They never even lined up for an audition to take
part in the performance). They were simply taken forcefully, chained and
tortured into doing things that do not come naturally to them, under untold
duress, all for the sake of entertaining humans and proving man's ascendancy over these magnificent beasts. This abject cruelty to animals has got to stop.
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