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Elephant breeding efforts failing despite big moves by Japan zoos

14 Comments
By Mayuka Ueda and Rinsho Saito

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14 Comments
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Have they tried taking them to dinner and a movie first?

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Japanese zoos are so depressing.

-1 ( +10 / -11 )

African elephants will live on, as Japanese "Inkans"!

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

Somehow, some names don't seem suitable for "rough-tempered" bull elephants. Daisuke and Taro seem like two of them.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Bred in captivity, live in captivity, then die in captivity. Humans are the scourge of the planet.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

My guess is probably because elephants shouldn’t be kept in zoos and Japanese zoo enclosures are horrifically small by western standards.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Japan has a patchy record on ivory trading, with the nation still allowing it domestically

Which means that the efforts of zoos are being more than negated by this support for the commerce of ivory, that gives poachers an incentive to keep killing. What is the rationale to keep domestic trading of ivory in Japan? It should be obvious that it is impossible to guarantee the ivory is not coming from freshly killed elephants, specially when is traded online.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Japanese zoos tend to be pretty inhospitable for the animals, especially for large ones such as elephants.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Are there any Safari parks in Japan that provide a real natural environment for Elephants, perhaps such areas would fare better for breeding, were they to exist ?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Zoo's are an outdated relic from the Victorian ages (and before), We should be replacing them with Real sensual VR experiences. Sight, Smell, Sound and Touch just imagine what could be achieved there... and I'm not referring to Zuckerberg's failure - Meta, but something that would be specifically built to be close to the environment of the Animals we want to see... you could quite literally then take such an environmental experience and use it for any purpose - imagine being able to be a participating actor within a Real scene of Jurassic Park ? This, is not something impossible to achieve, but, would be far more practically useful, than Zuckerberg's dismal Nintendo Land experience. He's tried to do too much all at once, and predictably failed. Instead, he should have focused upon one single thing, and got that right first - ces't la vie....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

JTC - Are there any Safari parks in Japan that provide a real natural environment for Elephants, perhaps such areas would fare better for breeding, were they to exist ? 

Zoo's are an outdated relic from the Victorian ages (and before), We should be replacing them with Real sensual VR experiences. 

Your first comment about safari parks is right on. They are a much better way to let humans observe animals in a habitat that is much more hospitable to the animals than traditional zoos, especially Japanese zoos. Unfortunately, they require huge tracts of flatland, which are not abundant in Japan.

Your second suggestion about virtual reality is a swing and a miss. VR simply doesn't compare with the real thing. Maybe someday in the distant future, when Star Trek-like Holodecks are a thing. But, now? Nope.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@garypen - yes, I agree with you on the second count - one does have to set high goals for the future, as without Imagination, how can we get there.

As to the 1st goal, I can think of some wide areas in Japan, that could be put to good use as a Safari park... the problem is $. Fukushima being one such area.... it's already run wild in a short space of time.

We also have a number of contested islands that are sitting idle - converting to Managed Natured Reserves could be something that is considered rather than building runways for Military aircraft, and letting Elephants roam free - would that really be a bad thing in some areas ?

What about encouraging usage of Elephants as an Environmentally friendly way of assisting various forms of construction work, with of course, similar rights to humans when it comes to their treatment. Have a bit of creative imagination, and see where that may go.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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