The Blog I'm Not Writing

It’s that time of the year again. As has become a tradition much maligned anticipated in our neighborhood, moiself  is hosting a different Partridge, every week, in my front yard’s pear tree.   [1]

Can you identify this week’s guest Partridge?

*   *   *

Department Of Questions With No Answers

Two almost identical exclamations, used to express disappointment/anger and/or disgust with a less-than-optimum situation.  Both involve euphemisms for feces; both can engender differing reactions from the exclamation over-hearers.

“Oh, crap!”
(responses include outright agreement, sympathetic clucks,
knowing nods, maybe a slight grimace)

“Oh, shit!”
(responses include silent disapproval, maybe a sympathetic nod, cringing, mouthing
anguage, please, or Don’t cuss in front of Grandma! )

Is it just the fact, due to the continuing evolution of acceptable usage, that the former expression has gained wide acceptance while the latter is considered crude (or even at the level of cursing)?

Just wondering.

*   *   *

Department Of Just As Important As Having Your Heart In The Right Place
Is Having Your Head In The Right Place

You’d have to put a gun to my head to force me to watch a SeaWorld orca show, an animal-act circus or other “entertainment” events which use (read: abuse and exploit) animals.  I do support the educational and conservation work done by AZA accredited zoos, aquariums, and animal rescue organizations.  MH and I are longtime Oregon Zoo members, and I think that our offsprings’ participation in the ZooTeens program  [2]  was partly responsible for nurturing their interests in science in general and biology in particular.

The Oregon Zoo Foundation is one of several charities to which MH and I regularly donate.  This week we received the foundation’s end-of-year update for donors, including the announcement that Rose-Tu, a member of the zoo’s family of Asian elephants, is pregnant.  This will be the first elephant born at the Oregon Zoo in ten years, and during those past ten years the zoo’s elephant habitat has undergone a massive expansion/makeover ( “Elephant Lands” ).   [3]

The announcement re Rose-Tu brought to mind the Free Packy Lady, ® whom I encountered outside the zoo, some 15+ years ago.  But first, some context.

The late great Asian elephant Packy (1962 – 2017) was a beloved, long-time resident of the Oregon Zoo.  Born at the Seattle Woodland Park zoo to wild-born parents, Packy had several claims to fame, including having been the first elephant born in the Western Hemisphere in 44 years, and growing up to be one of the tallest Asian elephants in the USA (and perhaps the world).  Packy was arguably the most famous zoo resident of his time (LIFE magazine did an 11-page article on him in their 5-11-62 issue) and was considered a “star” in and beyond the zoo and animal conservation worlds, as his birth and subsequent life were closely monitored and studied and had a huge impact on Asian elephant care and breeding programs worldwide.   [4]

I visited the zoo weekly when son K and daughter Belle were young; when they were in school, I’d occasionally visit on my own.  One day, during one of my solo visits, one of Packy’s keepers noticed me playing a game of “hide ‘n seek” with Packy.  It was a slow day; moiself  was the only visitor at the elephant habitat.  I’d noticed Packy watching me as I stood by the fence in an area where he was playing with a pile of greenery (you’re never too old to play with your food).  To test whether he was actually watching moiself,  I moved to a spot behind a structure where he couldn’t see me, then peeked out from the other side of the structure.  Packy began following my movements and anticipating where I would appear next…or at least, that’s what it seemed like to me.  Maybe I was just imagining his attention?  Packy’s keeper approached me, introduced himself, and confirmed that yes, Packy was in fact playing a game with me.  The keeper shared this fun fact:  Packy had a “fixation” on hats; specifically, on women wearing hats (I was wearing a red rain hat).  As in, in that keeper’s interpretation/opinion, Packy didn’t like certain kinds of hats, and if Packy had been able to get close enough to me he likely would have snatched the hat right off of my head.

Once again, I digress….

Today, the vast majority of US zoo elephants are native-born, via breeding programs monitored by the AZA [Association of Zoos and Aquariums] as part of their endangered species survival plan.  Some zoos obtain wild-born elephants who are “rescued” from captive tourist and/or work camps in Asia and/or Africa, or from the danger of being culled (read: executed) due to humans expanding into elephant territory.

But capturing wild elephants was the unfortunate standard practice for zoos, private wildlife “collections,” and circuses, up until the 1980s, when a combination of animal rights/conservation awareness and shrinking wild populations led to most countries outlawing the practice. 

Today’s zoos focus on conservation and education, and often host a population of rescued and endangered species who are cared for on site but not on display to zoo visitors, as part of species survival and repopulation programs.  Many if not all zoos have had their dark histories, but those who decry their continued existence don’t seem to understand the world all of us animals currently inhabit, which includes the sad fact that the only way some species may survive   [5]    is because of zoo care/breeding programs and educational efforts.  Human population is exploding; thus, the world for wild animals is shrinking – that ship has sailed when it comes to the idea that all animals should live in their native habitats, when those habitats are increasingly being invaded and altered (read: destroyed) by humans.

“Zoos serve as vital conservation facilities supporting the most endangered
species.  Indeed, zoos have built a successful track record with breeding and
reintroduction programs aimed at repopulating extinct animals.
Far too many species are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss, hunting,
and ecological threats. As scientists warn we are in a “Sixth Mass Extinction,”
the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species estimates there are over 42,100 species
‘threatened with extinction.’ By maintaining populations of these endangered
species, zoos can provide a safety net against the specter of extinction in the wild.”
( Center for the Environment &Welfare,
“The Benefits of Zoos for Conservation and Education “)

Still, the mere existence of any kind of zoo/wildlife park/reserve is controversial to some people.  There are animal rights groups, e.g., Free Oregon Zoo Elephants, which work to stop all zoo breeding programs and advocate shipping existing zoo elephants to sanctuaries to live out the remainder of their lives “…in peace and freedom.”   [6]

So…yes…the Free Packy Lady.  I encountered her when she was demonstrating outside of the zoo’s main entrance, one afternoon when I’d come to visit daughter Belle during her zoo volunteer shift.  I couldn’t tell, from the hand-written sign FPL held (which read “FREE PACKY”), if FPL was associated with a group or was there on her own, but she had a friendly face and I was in a curious mood.  I approached her, introduced myself, and asked if she would tell me why, as her sign indicated, she was advocating for Packy to be “free,” and what that term (“free”) meant to her?

FPL:
“It means Packy will be freed from life at the zoo.”

Moiself:
  “Okay.  So, freed *from* the zoo means…what?  Where would he live?”

FPL:
“There’s an elephant sanctuary in California (she probably meant this one),
and one in Tennessee.”

Moiself:
  “Oh, that would be The Hohenwald Sanctuary.”  [7]

FPL (gushing, eyes brightening):
“You know about the Howenwald sanctuary!?”

Moiself:
“I read their newsletter cover to cover.
I’ve been a monthly donor   [8]  for several years….”

Obviously thinking me to be a kindred spirit in the cause of elephant liberation, FPL began to dig into a large satchel she carried that was crammed with papers and pamphlets.

FPL:
“There’s a list of people you can call, to ask them to support the movement
to free Packy, and the other….”

Moiself (cutting her off, as politely as possible):
“Thank you, but I’m not going to do that.  Elephants are highly social creatures,
forming deep interpersonal bonds….”

FPL’s visage dulled.  I’m not sure how to describe it; it’s as if that translucent eyelid that some birds and reptiles have (a nictitating membrane ) lowered across her eyes.

Moiself:
  “…I think that removing Packy from his family
would be cruel and, I believe, misguided.  What do you think about alternative….”

FPL abruptly turned away from me and headed for a family with two toddler daughters who were approaching the zoo entry booth.

I rarely engage with petitioners and/or demonstrators, outside the zoo or elsewhere. In my experience their mentality is that of religious solicitors: they are there to proselytize, and don’t really want to engage you in actual give-and-take conversation.  Although I did engage another, free-Packy-the-elephant demonstrator ® at the zoo, a month or so later, again by the zoo entrance as I was leaving.  This demonstrator was there with a group, but stepped aside from the group to engage in an affable discussion with me.  We bonded over our mutual, lifelong interest in and love of elephants, and both acknowledged that the real danger facing Asian and African elephants is habitat destruction.  We had a good ten minute chat, and parted with a handshake as she agreed with my supposition that time and money might be better spent investing in ways to stop human elephant poaching and habitat encroaching rather than to work to “free” a USA-born elephant from the only home and family he has ever known.

*   *   *

Freethinkers’ Thought Of The Week     [9]

“A sharp distinction between humans and ‘animals’ is essential if we are to bend them to our will, make them work for us, wear them, eat them — without any disquieting tinges of guilt or regret. It is unseemly of us, who often behave so unfeelingly toward other animals, to contend that only humans can suffer. The behavior of other animals renders such pretensions specious.  They are just too much like us.”
– Carl Sagan

*   *   *

May you strive to *not* talk shit in front of Granny;
May you appreciate the rareness that is a genuine conversation with a demonstrator;
May you realize it’s never too late to develop a lifelong love of elephants;
…and may the hijinks ensue.

Thanks for stopping by.  Au Vendredi!

*   *   *

[1] Specifically, in the pear tree daughter Belle purchased and (with the help of MH) planted many years ago.

[2] Now defunct; it has morphed into ZAP, Zoo Apprenticeship Program.

[3] )….which they now realize will need modifications to ensure that a baby elephant will not be able to, say, squeeze under or between structures that would safely contain a juvenile or adult elephant.  Thus – surprise! – the announcement included a solicitation for donations for the retrofitting/improvements.

[4] “Twenty-eight calves have been born at the zoo since 1962, and the facility has become a leader in understanding the care, enrichment, and captive breeding of Asian elephants.”  (Oregon Encyclopedia: Packy the elephant. )

[5] Tacoma’s Pt Defiance Zoo is part of the Red Wolf Recovery program.  Red wolves are the most endangered mammal in the USA (less than 20 survive in the wild) and will only be repopulated due to the success of captive recovery programs.   Three species of rhino (black, Javan, and Sumatran) are critically endangered; the Oregon Zoo participates in the AZA’s breeding program for Black Rhinos, as the species is being decimated by poaching and habitat destruction.

[6] Packy was euthanized in 2017 due to a recurrence of drug-resistant tuberculosis.

[7] Now simply known as The Elephant Sanctuary.

[8] Still am.

[9] “free-think-er n. A person who forms opinions about religion on the basis of reason, independently of tradition, authority, or established belief. Freethinkers include atheists, agnostics and rationalists.  No one can be a freethinker who demands conformity to a bible, creed, or messiah. To the freethinker, revelation and faith are invalid, and orthodoxy is no guarantee of truth.”  Definition courtesy of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, ffrf.org