Never Forgetting:
Elephants and Ethics

Conference to Book

Human history, economy, culture, and religion are intertwined with the lives of elephants. Humans have long benefited from the world’s largest land mammals, in labor and transport, warfare, religion, trade, and entertainment.

But human-elephant interactions have often been disadvantageous for the elephants. Today elephant species are near the brink of extinction.

How must human-elephant relations be adjusted and balanced to benefit both elephants and humans?

How can this balance be expressed in terms of practicable ethical standards for human treatment of elephants?

The papers delivered at “Never Forgetting: Elephants and Ethics” a conference held at the National Zoo’s Conservation and Research Center in March, 2003, critically examine pressing ethical issues regarding human treatment of elephants.

At “Never Forgetting,” natural scientists and social scientists joined their peers in the humanities to consider past, present, and future ethical standards and practices for human treatment and management of wild, domestic, and captive elephants. Panels addressed human-elephant conflicts over land and resources, management of domestic and captive elephants, and elephant welfare in zoos and circuses.

This ongoing project emphasizes practical implementation and positive impacts on elephant-related policy, species conservation, and management practices. The facilitated conference discussions allowed the diverse audience members—united in their concern for elephant welfare—to discuss their different views with panelists in an open dialogue. These important audience contributions, recorded on paper, were included in the subsequent workshop sessions where panelists focused on building consensus about areas of agreement, areas of controversy, and future research and action steps.

The papers and the outcomes of these discussions will be available to the public in the forthcoming Johns Hopkins University Press book, tentatively titled Elephants and Ethics, to appear in 2008.

“Never Forgetting: Elephants and Ethics” is supported by the National Zoological Park-Conservation and Research Center, The American Zoo and Aquarium Association, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The organizers, Christen Wemmer and Catherine Christen, are grateful to these organizations for logistical support and advice, and are very grateful to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for funding the project.

Conference Program

Day 1

Conference Opening

WELCOME
Chris Wemmer & Catherine Christen (Smithsonian Institution National Zoological Park-Conservation and Research Center, Front Royal, VA)

WELCOMING REMARKS
Lucy Spelman, Director (Smithsonian Institution, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC)

DEDICATION
This conference was dedicated to the memory of Dr. V. Krishnamurthy. moremore

LETTER OF GREETING
Cynthia Moss (Amboseli Elephant Research Project, Kenya; read by Joyce Poole, Amboseli National Park.)

Panel 1: OVERVIEW OF ELEPHANT PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE

Elephants in Time and Space: Evolution and Ecology
Raman Sukumar (Indian Institute for Science, Bangalore)

Personhood, Memory and Elephant Management
Gary Varner (Philosophy Department, Texas A&M University)

Elephant Sociability and Complexity: The Scientific Evidence Joyce Poole (Amboseli National Park, Kenya)

Identifying and Evaluating Pain, Distress, and Suffering in Elephants
Janine Brown (Smithsonian Institution National Zoological Park-Conservation and Research Center, Front Royal, VA), Jacob Cheeran (College of Veterinary & Animal Science, Kerala, India), Nadja Wielebnowski (Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield Zoo, IL)

From Elephas horribilis to Elephas sentiens: Elephants, the Enlightenment, and the Problem of Captivity
Nigel Rothfels (College of Letters and Science, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)

Panel Discussion: Elephant Philosophy and Science
Lorig Charkoudian and Lisa Johnson Peet (Facilitators)

Panel 2: ELEPHANTS AND PEOPLE IN NATURE: THE ETHICS OF CONFLICTS AND ACCOMMODATIONS

People-Elephant Conflicts in Asia: A Synthesis
Jayantha Jayewardene (Colombo, Sri Lanka)

Regaining Lost Interdependence between People and Elephants: Developing Ethical and Sustainable Community Solutions in Sri Lanka.
Lalith Seneviratne and Greg Rossel (Colombo, Sri Lanka)

People-Elephant Conflicts in Africa: Who has the Right of Way?
Winnie Kiiru (Born Free Foundation, Nairobi, Kenya)

Playing Elephant God: Ethics and Managing Wild Elephant Populations for Long Term Survival in Kruger National Park, South Africa
Richard Fayrer-Hosken (University of Georgia, School of Veterinary Medicine); Ian Whyte (Kruger National Park, South Africa)

The Ethics of Global Enforcement: Zimbabwe and the Ivory Trade
Rosaleen Duffy (Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Lancaster, England)

Tourism, Trophy Hunting and Meat: Management and Sport
Rebecca Hardin (Department of Anthropology and School of Environment, McGill University, Quebec, Canada), Richard Ruggiero (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C.)

Panel Discussion: Elephants and People in Nature
Lorig Charkoudian and Lisa Johnson Peet (Facilitators)


Day 2

Panel 3: ELEPHANTS IN THE SERVICE OF PEOPLE: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND ETHICAL RELATIVITY

Part I: Management and Care of Elephants

Beasts of Burden: Historical Overview of Capture, Training and Management of Asian Elephants
D.K. Lahiri-Choudhury (Calcutta, India)

Contemporary Asian Systems of Management and Care of Domestic Elephants
Richard Lair (Chieng Mai, Thailand) (unable to attend but is contributing his paper to the book)

Carrots and Sticks: Rank, Hierarchy, Domination and Impact of Training Modalities on the Relationships between Captive Elephants and People
John Lehnhardt (Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Orlando, FL) and Marie Galloway (Smithsonian Institution, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC)

Panel Discussion: Management and Care of Elephants
Lorig Charkoudian and Lisa Johnson Peet (Facilitators)

Part II: Elephants and Circuses

Canvas to Concrete: A History of Elephants and the Circus-Zoo Relationship
Michael Kreger (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC)

Why Circuses are Unsuited for Elephants
Lori Alward (Department of Philosophy and Environmental Studies, Pace University, NY)

View From the Big Top: Why Elephants Belong in Circuses
Dennis Schmitt (Agriculture Department, Southwest Missouri State University)

Captive Elephant Commerce and Trade
Jane Garrison (Virginia, USA)

Panel Discussion: Elephants and Circuses
Lorig Charkoudian and Lisa Johnson Peet (Facilitators)

Part III: Elephants and Zoos

Some Zoos Don't Deserve Elephants
David Hancocks (Melbourne, Australia)

Elephant Captive Management and Care—Role and Ethical Basis of Zoos as Stewards of Captive Elephants
Michael Hutchins (American Zoo and Aquarium Association, Bethesda, MD), Michael Keele (Oregon Zoo, Portland, OR), Brandie Smith (American Zoo and Aquarium Association, Bethesda, MD)

Can We Assess the Needs of Elephants in Zoos?
Jill Mellen (Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Orlando, FL), Joseph Barber (Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Orlando, FL), Gary Miller (Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Orlando, FL)

Panel Discussion: Elephants and Zoos
Lorig Charkoudian and Lisa Johnson Peet (Facilitators)

CONCLUDING REMARKS
Chris Wemmer & Catherine Christen (Smithsonian Institution National Zoological Park-Conservation and Research Center, Front Royal, VA)

Page Controls