Center for Elephant Conservation
Encyclopedia
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, opened in 1995. The CEC is solely sponsored by Feld Entertainment, the holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
which owns Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.
Role and location
The CEC is the largest Asian elephantAsian Elephant
The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....
gene pool
Gene pool
In population genetics, a gene pool is the complete set of unique alleles in a species or population.- Description :A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can survive bouts of intense selection...
outside of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
since traditional zoos usually have, on average, only a handful of elephants. Parent company Feld Entertainment publicizes the facility as a gathering place for researchers of elephant behavior and conservation
Conservation biology
Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction...
. The center loans both elephants and semen
Semen
Semen is an organic fluid, also known as seminal fluid, that may contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize female ova...
to zoos and cooperative breeding programs around the world. Between the traveling circuses and the center, the herd consists of more than 70 elephants. When the center opened, it was home to 27 elephants, including four studs
Insemination
Insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into the uterus of a mammal or the oviduct of an oviparous animal for the objective of impregnating a female for reproduction...
and six babies. As of 2010, there were a claimed 23 births at the center, most recently a female the staff has named April.
Although the facility is a largely undisturbed natural habitat in which some elephants are permitted to graze and stroll, many of the elephants at the facility are kept confined and chained in cement barns. Photos of the facility and staff training newborn elephants became public after the death of a former Conservation Center employee, Sam Haddock. Outsiders are divided on what the center means for elephants, calling it, alternately, “a stark, sterile-looking place, with … little evident enrichment,” “wonderful,” “the leading elephant-breeder in the Americas,” and “elephant puppy mill.”
Health record
In 1999, the center failed a USDA inspection under the Animal Welfare Act due to its restraint policy. At least one case of TB was noted at this time.An action over these issues was stated in a local court against the Center in June 2000. The action was brought by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing cruelty towards animals...
, the Animal Protection Institute
Animal Protection Institute
The Animal Protection Institute was a national, nonprofit animal advocacy organization based in Sacramento, California that in 2007, as part of its affiliation with the Born Free Foundation, was renamed Born Free USA. Founded in 1968, API's mission was to advocate for the protection of animals...
, the Animal Welfare Institute
Animal Welfare Institute
The Animal Welfare Institute is a non-profit charitable organization founded in 1951 with the goal of reducing pain and fear inflicted on animals by humans...
, the Fund for Animals, and Tom Rider, a former employee of Ringling Bros. In late 2009 the suit was dismissed by the courts because it was ruled that the plaintiffs, ASPCA et al., as private citizens, were not allowed to bring suit against Feld Entertainment under the Endangered Species Act because 'uninjured' by the acts in question. Although citizens' right to file suit under the act is stipulated in the act, the court did not allow it. The court did not rule on the merits of the case, nor the video footage documenting severe hooking of elephants on Ringling show units. Various legal scholars have disputed the legal rigor of this ruling. Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey publicists claim victory and have focused their defense on questioning the motives of whistle-blower Tom Rider and his relationship to animal welfare groups.
In 2003 and 2004, Conservation Center publicists announced that the Center had been given a clean bill of health by USDA inspectors
In 2006, the Center was quarantined for a case of TB. Only one animal in the herd appears to have been affected.
Ringling Brothers asserts retired circus elephants living at the center have an average lifespan of up to 70 years, although the oldest elephants to die at the facility Ringling lists as 55 and 62 years of age. A number of juvenile elephants have also died in Ringling possession, although not at the facility but while on tour with a Ringling Brothers show. It is likely elephants at Ringling's Florida Center may live longer than captive elephants in zoos, who live an average of 42 years, although not as long as wild elephants who, if protected from poaching, can typically live up to 65 or 70 years.
Individual elephants
- Asia is the star elephant of the Red Tour.
- April, (born April 3, 2010).
- Barack, (born January 19, 2009) is a product of the Center's artificial insemination program.
- Hindi, (born November 9, 2008).
- Mable (born April 6, 2006) is the most recent birth at the center (as of October 2006). Mable is a rare second-generation offspring as both her mother, Shirley, and her father, Romeo, were also born at the Center in the mid-1990s. Mable's name was picked based on a national naming contest, and is named after Mable Ringling, the wife of one the founders of Ringling Brother's Circus.
- Irvin (born June 2005), named after Irvin Feld, who bought the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1967 and restored it to profitability. Irvin's parents are Alana and Charlie.
- Aree (born April 2005)
- P.T. (born May 2002)
- Asha (born March 2002)
- Rudy (born January 2002)
- Gunther (born November 2001)
- Sara (born April 2001)