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Article: The last menageries The departure of the elephants from London Zoo will mark a turning- point in the history of animals in captivity. Michael McCarthy reflects on centuries of tradition, and explains how the future will have to be very different
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- November 3, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2001 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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So. Farewell then, Dilberta, Mya and Layang-Layang. Cultural
change is a gradual process, and its meaning only rarely crystallised
by a single event, but there can be no doubt that such is the case
with London losing its elephants.
They are to go, the great beasts, from London Zoo, where for 170
uninterrupted years they and their predecessors have curled their
trunks and swished their tails and dropped their great dollops of
dung under the endlessly fascinated gaze of millions of visitors. The
Zoological Society of London announced last week that the three
remaining elephants on the cramped Regent's Park site are to move to
the zoo's sister establishment at Whipsnade in Bedfordshire, which ...