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Post by Mel Mel on Sept 11, 2007 2:28:12 GMT
SEATTLE: On a sunny summer day, Chai the elephant browses on grass and branches in the one-acre (0.4-hectare) elephant exhibit at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo. Children lean over the metal barriers, trying to reach the charismatic creature.
In the nearby elephant barn, Watoto stretches her trunk to a net filled with vegetation and munches on her lunch before wandering back to the outdoor exhibit. Teenagers watch her, mimicking the movements of her trunk.
Zoos showcase such scenes as evidence of the healthy and happy experience of their elephants. Animals rights groups dismiss such enclosures as woefully small and harmful to the health of creatures they say are meant to roam vast wildernesses.
Across the United States, some zoos are bowing to pressure from animal rights groups and shipping their elephants to sanctuaries, while others build larger enclosures to ward off criticism about the animals' living conditions....continued... www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/26/america/NA-FEA-GEN-US-Elephant-Fight.php?page=1
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