Bong Su is dead, broken by cramped and impoverished zoo conditions

Bong Su, Melbourne Zoo's beloved bull elephant, is dead. His death is a tragedy: zoo veterinarians euthanised him after an assessment that the pain he felt from "arthritis" could not be relieved. While this may be the case, Bong Su's pain was not natural. It was due to the conditions in which he was kept for many years at Melbourne Zoo. In reality, Bong Su should have been in his prime.

Captured from the wild in Malaysia, Bong Su and a female elephant, Mek Kapah, were shipped to Melbourne in 1977-78. They were young calves, no more than five years old.

For many years, Bong Su and Mek Kapah lived alone in what the zoo now calls its "heritage elephant exhibit", an old-fashioned, moated enclosure. During their time in the exhibit, both elephants developed severe behavioural problems involving repetitive "stereotypic" actions that are now understood to help relieve chronic stress. Mek Kapah swayed in one spot for years, actually wearing away the concrete under her front feet. Bong Su walked in small circles for hours at a time, putting particular strain on his front feet; video evidence showed Bong Su walked up to 15 kilometres a night in a tight circle, in his own waste, inside his barn. The constant torsion on his front feet resulted in chronic infections.

Confined in separate small barn-stalls for 16 hours out of 24 for many years, both elephants led impoverished lives. In the late 1990s, new expertise was brought in and a radical new approach was taken to relieve the stereotypic behaviour. The elephants were no longer confined on concrete floors at night. A weight-loss program was introduced for Mek Kapah. Exercise and training regimes were implemented for both elephants with the aim of stimulating and engaging them and building their confidence. In 2003 the elephants were moved to more spacious facilities. They evidently were invigorated by their new surroundings. Still, the situation was far from ideal.

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