Alaska Zoo

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Alaska Zoo
Date opened	1969[1]
Location	Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Land area	25 acres (62 hectares)[1]
Coordinates	61°07′24.32″N, 149°47′33.24″W
Number of Animals	100[1]
Number of Species	35 (as of 2006)[2]
Alaska Zoo Website

The Alaska Zoo is a zoo in Anchorage, Alaska located on 25 acres (62 ha) of the Anchorage Hillside. It is a popular attraction in Alaska, with nearly 200,000 visitors per year.^[1]

The zoo is currently home to nearly 100 birds and mammals^[1] of some 40 species. The main emphasis is on animals native to Alaska, but some "exotic" animals are featured as well, such as Amur tigers, Bactrian camels, yaks and a female African Elephant named Maggie.

In addition to viewing, the zoo specializes in education, research, wildlife conservation, and animal rehabilitation; many of the animals currently in the zoo were found orphaned or injured.

Contents 1 History 2 Alaska Zoo animals 2.1 Annabelle (1964–1997), an Asian elephant 2.2 Maggie (1983– ), an African elephant 2.2.1 Controversy 2.2.2 Current status 3 References 4 External links

[edit] History

In 1966, Anchorage grocer Jack Snyder won a contest offering a prize of "$3,000 or a baby elephant". He chose the elephant, a female Asian elephant named Annabelle. Annabelle was initially kept at the Diamond H Horse Ranch, located in the Hillside area of Anchorage and owned by Sammye Seawell, which had the only heated stalls available.^[1]

With Annabelle's increasing popularity, Seawell formed a non-profit corporation to build a place "where the public could visit animals and learn about them." It was incorporated on March 28, 1968 as the Alaska Children's Zoo,^[3] which opened in 1969 with Annabelle and other donated animals.^[1] The zoo was located on land adjacent to Seawell's ranch. The zoo's name was changed to Alaska Zoo in June 1980.^[3]

In 1983, a female African elephant named Maggie arrived at the Alaska Zoo as a companion for Annabelle.^[4]

The zoo attracted some attention, even outside Alaska, in 1994 when Binky, then one of the zoo's polar bears, injured several visitors who entered his enclosure, famously pacing with an Australian woman's shoe dangling from his mouth. (The current polar bear exhibit is human-proof.)

In 1997, Annabelle died, leaving her companion, Maggie alone.^[4] In 2004, in spite of mounting criticism, Alaska Zoo officials decided to keep Maggie in Alaska for at least three more years, rather than sending her to an elephant sanctuary in a warmer climate, where she could also socialize with other elephants.^[5]

[edit] Alaska Zoo animals

[edit] Annabelle (1964–1997), an Asian elephant

Annabelle, an Asian elephant, was born in India in 1964. In 1966, in a Chiffon Tissue contest sponsored by Crown Zellerbach, she was offered as an alternative prize between "$3,000 or a baby elephant." The prize-winner, Anchorage grocer Jack Snyder, chose the elephant. Annabelle was initially kept at the Diamond H Horse Ranch, located in the Hillside area of Anchorage and owned by Sammye Seawell, which had the only heated stalls available.^[1][6] Annabelle was one of the first animals when the zoo was founded as the Alaska Children's Zoo in 1969, along with several orphaned and injured animals in need of homes, including a black bear, seal, arctic fox, and petting zoo goats.^[6]

Annabelle died of complications of a foot infection^[6] on December 15, 1997.^[4]

[edit] Maggie (1983– ), an African elephant

Maggie, an African elephant, came to the Alaska Zoo in 1983 as a companion for Annabelle. Maggie originated in Zimbabwe, Africa, where her herd had been culled — selectively destroyed to reduce numbers — leaving her in need of a home.^[4]

With Annabelle's death on December 15, 1997, Maggie was left alone.^[4] Maggie was trained to play the harmonica and to hold a paintbrush with her trunk to paint watercolors on cardboard.^[5]

Maggie's activities on mild winter days included taking "frequent romps in the snow." To keep Maggie occupied, Maggie interacted with handlers on a daily basis, and had opportunities for foraging and browsing. Her exhibit included logs, barrels, and an "Enrichment Tree" designed by Delbert Cederberg of Allied Steel Construction, which had a street cleaner brush attachment for rubbing, arms for dangling objects like tires and stumps for Maggie to play with, and browse holders.^[7] As of September 2006, Maggie had not been on the treadmill while it was moving, but was comfortable standing on and moving across it.^[8]

[edit] Controversy

The Alaska Zoo has been heavily criticized by animal rights activists, elephant experts, and some Alaska residents for its 2004 decision to keep Maggie in Alaska, instead of moving her to an elephant sanctuary in a warmer climate, where she could also socialize with other elephants. At least two other zoos at the time, the Detroit Zoo and the San Francisco Zoo, facing similar criticism and internal debate, had chosen to close their elephant exhibits around that time and moved their elephants to sanctuaries.^[5]

Critics argued that Maggie's indoor barn and outside yard were too small, the Alaska climate too cold, and that Maggie's isolation from other elephants were cruel, since elephants, particularly female elephants, are social animals. Officials of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, which accredits zoos and aquariums in North America, noted that the Alaska Zoo had not sought accreditation from the organization, which recommended a minimum of three female elephants for an elephant exhibit in a zoo.^[5]

Zoo officials argued that the benefits of moving Maggie were outweighed by its risks. They said that Maggie had a history of getting along poorly with other elephants and that she was easily made anxious by change. They reported that she had been "miserable and unusually aggressive" when Annabelle was still alive. Rather than moving her to a sanctuary, zoo officials decided to expand her elephant house, doubling its size, and to build the world's first elephant treadmill, a $100,000 elephant exercise machine which they hoped would help keep her healthy and in shape. Zoo director Tex Edwards said the Alaska Zoo would evaluate in three years whether Maggie's quality of life had been improved by the treadmill and renovations to the elephant house renovations and whether she should be moved from Alaska.^[5]

[edit] Current status

On June 6th, the Alaska zoo board decided to send Maggie to a zoo or sanctuary in the lower 48 states.^{[citation needed]}

She is now at the PAWS sanctuary in California^[9].

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Alaska Zoo official site
• Wikimapia satellite view

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