Chester Zoo convicted At Chester Crown Court today (29th November) Chester Zoo was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £50,000 after admitting breaching health and safety laws in the zoo's elephant house leading up to the death of a keeper in 2001. Richard Hughes suffered a fractured skull after being struck on the head by 30-year-old female elephant Kumara in February 2001. He died nine days later in hospital. Shortly after the accident the zoo admitted Kumara had previously attacked another keeper twice. The prosecution had claimed that there was an "unreasonable risk of injury" generated by the zoo because there were no written protocols on the handling and training of elephants. Chester Zoo later euthanised Kumara because of illness. The conviction was welcomed by CAPS, who attended today's hearing. CAPS have now called for a wider debate on the ethics of keeping elephants in captivity and about the zoo industry in general. A spokesperson for CAPS said: "Richard Hughes' death was a tragedy, but this incident can not be forgotten now that the court case is over. We have to take this opportunity to open the debate widely about the captivity of elephants and other animals in zoos." Four elephant keepers have been killed in British zoos since 1990 and in that same time at least 65 people have been killed and over 130 injured by elephants worldwide. It is clear that elephants, one of the most social animals on earth, live a miserable life in captivity. Lack of exercise, poor diet and brutal handling and training all combine to produce physical and behavioural problems in many elephants kept in zoos and circuses. It is actually a surprise that more people have not been killed given that elephants are the only large dangerous animals that zoo keepers routinely have hands-on contact with. Two years ago the RSPCA released the most comprehensive study into the welfare of elephants in European zoos. This led the RSPCA to call for the phase-out of keeping elephants in zoos, commenting: "elephants die young in European zoos, having suffered from deficient enclosures, poor diet, illness, inappropriate social groupings, and rough treatment at the hands of their keepers." According to the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the African Elephant Specialist Group and others, captive breeding does not make a significant contribution to elephant conservation. Real conservation comes from protecting animals' natural habitats, yet British zoos continue to breed elephants, with three being born this year. Elephants remain a big 'crowd-puller' in zoos. In November 2004 there were 81 elephants in 13 UK zoos.
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