Zoo claims spark inquiry call

A LEADING Australian zoo has been accused of trying to sweep animal cruelty claims under the carpet as the call went up for an investigation of its treatment practices.

The RSPCA and Victorian Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu today urged an inquiry into Melbourne Zoo after a report alleged an elephant had been stabbed by a trainer and other animals were held in conditions injurious to their health.

RSPCA President Dr Hugh Wirth said he had written to the animal welfare group's independent inspectorate asking it to carry out a public inquiry into the management of Zoos Victoria, which incorporates the Melbourne, Healesville and Werribee zoos.

Dr Wirth said the RSPCA should have been called in immediately following an allegation that a trainer had stabbed a female elephant a dozen times because he feared being injured when the elephant, named Dokkoon, was backing into him.

The Age newspaper reported the allegation today, along with claims that a silverback gorilla had been kept in isolation for 16 years and that two seals were going blind because of chlorine in their pool.

Mr Baillieu, a member of the Friends of The Zoo group, said he would be distressed if the claims of animal cruelty were true.

“I am appalled if this is what has happened, I've been a friend of the zoo, my family's been friends of the zoo for many years,” he said.

“Victorians would be distressed if animals in our zoo – and we've got a very good zoo – are being maltreated.

“I urge the Government to investigate this and make sure if it's happened it doesn't happen again and the animals in a much-loved zoo are protected, looked after and nurtured.”

Melbourne Zoo's acting chief executive Matt Vincent rejected all claims of mistreatment and said the staff had been devastated by the allegations.

Mr Vincent said today that Zoos Victoria maintained the highest standard of animal welfare at its three properties and would never compromise animal care or safety.

He said the zoo had carried out its own investigations into the claims and rejected them.

He said the investigation involving the elephant in May last year showed the keeper had been at serious risk of injury.

“The keeper was found to have taken appropriate action – the elephant was not injured,” he said.

“In relation into an independent investigation into Zoos Victoria, we have nothing to hide. Our animals are on display 365 days a year.”

Mr Vincent said the seals were being treated for temporary minor ailments that had been complicated by the water filter, but he said they were not going blind and were expected to make full recoveries.

“In my 18-year career in zoos I have never seen any evidence of cruelty or neglect,” Mr Vincent said.
“All the staff have been saddened by these allegations about the health and welfare of the animals because their commitment to the animals is internationally renown.”

Separately, a zoo employee said that elephant keeper Pat Flora had “prodded” Dokkoon, rather than stabbed the animal, with an instrument that he was using to clean its feet.

She also said Rigo the silverback had been in a breeding program for the last six to nine months and was currently in an enclosure with two female gorillas.

But Dr Wirth said the zoo was trying to sweep the cruelty allegations under the carpet and the zoo's own investigations amounted to no more than “an in-house rap over the knuckles with a feather duster”.

“The zoo puts the dollar before animal welfare, regardless of what they say,” Dr Wirth said.

“The RSPCA has had reason to be involved with the zoo in the past and those issues have all been swept under the carpet – and here's another example.

“The animal world has been looking at the performances of the Melbourne Zoo and (Sydney's) Taronga Zoo in particular, and we are seeing things developing that gives us a feeling that mismanagement is going on,” Dr Wirth said.