Opinion

A long wait

By
Published July 13, 2016 at 4:00 pm

She came from the grasslands. At the age of three, she was taken from her mother and sent to the Philippines as a gift from the people of Sri Lanka. She was the first and only of her kind in the country.

Forty years later, and there she still is, pacing the same concrete pen she was placed in in 1977. Maali, the lone Asian elephant in Manila Zoo, has since been called “the world’s loneliest elephant.”

It’s been several years since Maali’s story broke out and animal welfare activists the world over began fighting for her freedom. Elephant sanctuaries in other countries offered to house her, but, according to a 2012 article by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, officials from the Manila City government and Manila Zoo feared that she wouldn’t be able to handle the trip because of her age and history in captivity. In 2013, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada announced plans to “modernize the Manila Zoo.” Two more elephants from Sri Lanka were expected to be brought in to serve as Maali’s companions as soon as improvements were made to the enclosure. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), however, reportedly wrote to the Sri Lankan government to block the donation of elephants, perhaps to prevent others from suffering the same fate as Maali.  The hype that surrounded the plight of Maali began to fade soon afterwards, perhaps because most people expected things to change.

Last May, Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the Manila City government was set to spend Php 1.5 billion to rehabilitate the 56-year-old zoo. Nothing more was said of the subject until early last December, when When In Manila featured a viral Facebook post written by YouTuber Lloyd Cadena criticizing Manila Zoo, and the article sparked interest in the issue once again.

I used to avoid passing by Manila Zoo precisely because of everything I would read and hear about it. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to handle what I would see and, just recently, I realized that my fears were valid. The Manila Zoo is a depressing place.

Families and couples threw peanuts at monkeys, despite there being signs telling them not to. Children banged their fists on the glass protecting the snakes and reptiles, and, more often than not, the animals would be hidden from view, probably seeking refuge from the incessant screaming of their visitors. Several people even found their way into the animal enclosures—this being possible because no zoo keepers were in sight.

To allow such a naturally social creature to live alone in captivity for as long as Maali has had to is heartless. To continue to allow visitors to pelt the animals with whatever snacks they have in their pockets is inhumane. To let the issue of the future of Maali and Manila Zoo go unresolved for this long is nothing but cruel.

In the same article announcing Estrada’s Php 1.5 B plans for Manila Zoo, it is explained that this is the first time that a Manila City mayor has proposed to truly improve the zoo. My heart aches for all the animals imprisoned in Manila Zoo. I only hope that the change that is so desperately needed at the zoo will come within Maali’s lifetime, so that she may be able to live out the rest of her life the way that she deserves.


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  • Please look in to your hearts and let this poor animal free.let her spend her remaining years feeling soil and grass under her feet. And to know she is not alone.please please do the right thing.

  • Unbelievably inhumane to hold a social animal such as Mali in isolation and under horrible conditions only to entertain some people. Stop with the cruelty and show compassion. Release her into a sanctuary where she can spend the rest of her life with her own species, free.

    How can you love with yourselves keeping such a magnificent animal in captivity?

  • No matter how many petitions I and countless others have signed, pleas to Estrada and the President to free Mali have fallen on deaf ears. Pride keeps them from sending her to a sanctuary. Mr. Estrada promised that if he were elected Mayer he would set her free, but of course he reneged on his word. I will keep fighting the good fight and will never lose hope. My thoughts are with her and all the animals kept in that horrific zoo. He says that instead of freeing Mali, he will improve the zoo and send in another elephant to keep her company. Isn’t that lovely?? another elephant ripped from it’s family to live a life not meant for an elephant. Hopefully people will keep sending letters and signing petitions. One can only hope that with enough outcry, the right measures will be taken to meant the wrongs that have been done.

  • This is heartbreaking! How can people be so cruel? Please free her! She Deserves To Live A Life! One Of Happiness For The Rest Of Her Days! You Have Taken So Much From Her Already!

  • You are hateful poeple and animal abusers…the world knows this about you. Do you feel no shame?

  • Do you not care Mr President. 40 years in prison. What did she do wrong?
    Please show some compassion.

  • You are EVIL people who clearly hate animals to leave this animal in this condition. I will never visit the Phillipines until she is free. Show the world you care.

  • IT’S CRUEL TO LET HER ‘ALONE ALONE’ FOR 40 40 YEARS. ELEPHANTS ARE NATURAL SOCIAL CREATURE. PLEASE SEND HER TO SANCTUARY.

  • Elephants are social animals as you must know…………..and to keep this animal alone for so long is extreme animal cruelty! If you have any regard for this poor lonely creature please let her go to a sanctuary where she can live out the rest of her life knowing at least some happiness……………..which she certainly doesn’t enjoy now…………………………..

  • Something needs to be done for Mali. Its like being on death row. Poor poor girl its just heartbreaking

  • Please stop all this suffering of these poor animals,they need they freedom ! many thanks
    Bella

  • Stop treating her like an animal, she is a social creature. She needs to be with her own kind to survive!!!!!!! Do the right thing!!!!

    Caren Severson

  • Very sad. Mali has feelings too!! Cruel and rotten humans who have given Mali a terrible life!!

  • Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing to set her free from her concrete cell. Makes me sad and so very angry to see her suffering still. Will never visit this zoo or country! Free her!!

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