Friday, Aug 02, 2013
(Manila, Aug. 2, 2013) Mali the Elephant will be finally getting a respite from the pen that was her home for 33 years after Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and a safari park operator in Subic agreed to temporarily care for the pachyderm.
The Subic Bay Freeport is located some 110 kilometres northwest of the Philippine capital and the impending transfer of the elephant would be the first time she would be out of her pen after more than three decades. Mali had arrived to the Philippines as a juvenile donated by the Sri Lankan government during the 1970s. Elephants are not endemic to the country.
According to the Subic Times report, Estrada has agreed to the request by Zoobic Safari president Albert Yupangco to provide temporary care for Mali while the Manila Zoo is undergoing renovation.
Zoobic Safari operates that Zoocobia Fun Zoo at Clark Freeport as well as the Paradizoo Theme Park in Cavite, South of Manila.
Mali is expected to have a bigger space to roam at the Zoobic Safari’s 50-hectare theme park compared to the several hundred square metre enclosure she has at the Manila Zoo.
So far, no date has yet been set for the impending transfer of the elephant.
The Animal rights advocacy group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had spent years campaigning to transfer Mali to an animal sanctuary in Thailand where she would be well taken cared off and be together with animals of her kind.
According to PETA, Mali had been suffering from “Zoochois” a psychological disorder suffered by animals that had been confined for too long.
PETA had been lobbying for the transfer of Mali and better treatment in general of animals in the Philippines.
Last month, English musician Sir Paul McCartney added his voice to the clamour to transfer 36-year-old Asian pachyderm.
McCartney sent a letter to President Benigno Aquino III to make good of his earlier promise to do something about the pachyderm’s plight.
“I am writing to add my voice to the many others who are supporting the transfer of Mali…as soon as possible. Every single day that she remains in the zoo, Mali suffers,” he said.
kicker
Staff report
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