Not since the day 46 years ago when Bunny the Elephant, then a three year old baby, was cruelly snatched from her mother and brought to reside in our city and lead a lonely existence henceforth, has there been more hope for this magnificent and tragic animal. And even more hope for us to avoid a shameful legacy.
Elephants are extremely social animals. Chronologically, their life is much like ours. They are born small with a great attachment to their mother. They remain small until the age of 12 then mature and grow into their great size. They usually live to their sixties. So, in human terms, Bunny is middle-aged.
For the 33 years between her 1954 arrival in Evansville until 1987 Bunny never saw another elephant. For a brief period of years from 1987 until 1990 elephants came and went. And not a single day has gone by that she wasn't loved and well taken care of by her human handlers.
Experts say a bare minimum of 5 elephants is necessary to create a semblance of the social order and it would cost the Evansville Zoo somewhere between 6 to 12 million dollars .
Of the 224 Asian elephants in the United States as few as eight lead solitary lives. And experts say their lives are shortened in this kind of environment.
If her purpose on earth was to entertain us like a trick pony doing poodle-tricks, then she's served her purpose well...for a half century.
So now, later than sooner, we are presented options to remedy a situation we should all feel a bit uncomfortable about.
One - We can send her to a Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary where she would have many acres to roam and other Asian elephants to consort. Two - We can send her to a Texas facility almost exactly like she is in now except with another elephant who also is alone. Three - We can do nothing.
If she does go to one of these facilities we must ensure that she adjusts .....or she comes back.
Or, more honorably, we could earmark $12 million of the $30 million proposed expansion to make the Evansville Zoo an acceptable place for Bunny to live. The odds of this happening are zilch.
The people of Evansville have done many great things, but frankly, our treatment of Bunny is not one of them.
No matter the financial cost or emotional inconvenience, we must look to do what is right for Bunny, and not particularly us. Anything less would be shameful.
Move Bunny to Tennessee.
