How to Experience Wildlife Responsibly When Traveling: 5 Tips

16.04.2024 - 21:59 / travelpulse.com / Mia Taylor

Brought to Japan as a six month old baby from Thailand, the elephant Miyako has spent 50 years living in cramped, solitary confinement at the Utsunomiya Zoo about one hour outside of Tokyo.

Unlike elephants in the wild who live in extended family groups and wander for miles on a daily basis, Miyako spends her days standing listlessly on a small concrete platform amid her own feces. And when she’s not exhibited on that platform for zoo visitors, Miyako is locked in small, dark indoor space.

This has been the sum of her existence since 1973, a time frame during which she has not had any interaction with other elephants, says Ulara Nakagawa, founder of the non-profit organization Elephants in Japan, which Nakagawa runs on her own with the goal of raising awareness about the plight of elephants like Miyako.

It’s a bleak and dismal life that’s earned Miyako the title from animal rights activists: “One of the loneliest elephants in the world.”

“Her story is really tragic,” says Nakagawa. “An elephant living a life of solitude is depriving them of one of their core needs - it’s not dissimilar to keeping a human in solitary confinement.”

Miyako’s experience is important on many levels. To begin with, it offers a look at the historic practice in Japan of keeping single elephants in zoos for a lifetime, while also confining them to enclosures that are grossly inadequate, explains the report “Solitary Elephants in Japan” written by Keith Lindsay, Ph.D., a Canadian-British biologist best known for his long-term study of elephants.

“These zoos are typical of an old-fashioned model, dating from a time when exotic animal collections were still seen as a source of entertainment for the public,” writes Lindsay in his report.

“They are all associated with amusement parks in urban or semi-urban settings and the animal exhibits, including the elephant enclosure, are simply display cases in a living museum," the report continues. "The enclosures all appear to have been designed and constructed in the 1950s, or earlier, at a time when zoo management was not at the progressive standard of the late 20th century.”

What’s more, these types of facilities typically have not been modified or updated since initial construction, says Lindsay. Not only are the enclosures outdated and inadequate, but as Lindsay goes on to explain in his report, a life of solitary confinement is a particularly cruel and unusual punishment for a sentient and highly social animal like an elephant.

"Elephants are among the most social animals on the planet and keeping them in isolation is contrary to their nature and welfare,” continues Lindsay. “We also know that elephants require large spaces, complex flexible environments, including pasture to graze, soft