Blogging About Critters Since 2007

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Underage Elephant Sex in Australia

Wow, there's quite a few articles out there about the underage elephant pregnancy in Sidney Australia. There's a story in Environmental Grafitti, the Washington Post, BBC News, and the Times Online.

Little elephant does seem awfully young, but then I'm not an expert....

Sydney's Taronga Zoo has been reprimanded by animal rights activists for letting an Asian elephant fall pregnant even though she is only nine years old.

The zoo, famed for its views over Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, proudly announced today that Thong Dee was five months into a 22-month pregnancy and should become the first captive elephant in Australia to give birth. It even released ultrasound images to confirm what it called an "historic event".

But Erica Martin, who heads the Asia Pacific office of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said that allowing such a young elephant to get pregnant was the equivalent of allowing your 12-year-old daughter to become pregnant”.


Photo by Paul84.

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