Import permits granted

With Asian elephant numbers as low as 34,000 across 13 countries, and the species listed as critically endangered, in June 2005, the Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell granted import permits to Taronga Zoo in Sydney and Melbourne Zoo for eight elephants to establish a breeding program aimed at preserving the species.

It was already a controversial decision, with animal rights groups calling for the permits to be denied, and a growing international understanding of the needs of looking after elephants, questioning whether zoos could ever be equipped to provide a safe, beneficial and healthy environment.

However, Senator Campbell said the effort was important to saving the endangered elephant population.

"This decision will see these elephants come to Australia," he said. "They will form a part of a really important international effort to save the world's Asian elephants."

Legal action

The first obstacle in the import of the elephants came just weeks after permission was granted to the zoos. Three animal welfare groups - the International Fund for Animal Welfare, RSPCA Australia and Humane Society International - launched legal action before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal against the minister's decision.

They alleged that there was no conservation benefit to the import, the zoos were not equipped to meet the needs of the elephants, and their import would potentially be detrimental to the survival and recovery of the species.

"A captive breeding program in zoos simply won't work. This proposed import seems more about increasing visitor numbers than animal welfare or conservation," RSPCA Australia President Hugh Wirth said.

But the Chief Executive of Zoos Victoria, Laura Mumaw, said that was not the case.

"We are passionate and absolutely committed and dedicated to the welfare of each and every individual animal we have and expect to have," she said.

The Tribunal heard arguments in October of 2005, and in December approved the importation of the elephants on the condition that the zoos satisfy questions raised about the facilities the elephants will be kept in.

Taronga Zoo director Guy Cooper welcomed that decision

"This will enable us now to start the planning process to ensure that we are getting ready to move the elephants from Thailand to bring them here for the very critical conservation breeding program," he said.

Nicola Beynon from the Humane Society said the tribunal did not completely dismiss their arguments.

"They've said that they do have outstanding concerns that go to the laws, that go to the animal welfare needs of the elephants and we need to see whether the zoos will be able to meet those outstanding concerns," she said.

Further hearings in January and February saw the zoos receive approval for the imports, but with additional conditions on the care of the elephants, including closed circuit TV monitoring of the elephants 24 hours a day, regular reporting, changes to flooring and facilities at Taronga Zoo and the creation of contingency plans if the conditions could not be met.

A spokeswoman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Rebecca Brand, said they were pleased with the conditions imposed by the tribunal.

"We were right to run this appeal, the tribunal has decided that the welfare conditions and the enclosures at Taronga and Melbourne Zoo were not up to standard," she said.

"Yes, the animals will be coming, but we have vastly improved their welfare as a result of this case."

Protests in Thailand

After clearing the legal challenges to bring the elephants to Australia, the zoos had hoped in June to move the animals from their quarantine pens in the Thai countryside to Bangkok airport for their journey to Australia.

But Thai animal-rights protesters swarmed around the trucks transporting the elephants on June 6, causing the zoos to cancel the transfer and return the elephants to the quarantine camp where they had lived for the past 20 months.

Soraida Salwala, from Thailand's Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation, said it was wrong to take the elephants out of their natural habitat and send them outside of Thailand.

"I don't want to send our national symbols to any other country, whether be it Australia or other destination in the world, no. No more," she said.

The Environment Minister, Ian Campbell, said it was the protesters who were violating the elephant's rights, when they stranded them in traffic for several hours.

"These people who say they care for the welfare of animals have in fact disturbed the animals," he said.

The protesters called for the Thai government to conduct DNA tests on the elephants, alleging they were captured in the wild and not born in captivity, which would violate the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species.

The Thai National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department had earlier provided information stating that the elephants were born in captivity, and refused to carry out the tests.

Taronga Zoo's Guy Cooper said he was disappointed with the delay, but remained committed to bringing the elephants to Australia.

"They are coming to a very reputable breeding program in Australia," he said.

"These animals are not taken from the wild. And we love them. We've worked with them for something like two years already."

Breeding process

More than a month later, the elephants were successfully transported to Bangkok airport, despite efforts by protesters to again disrupt the journey.

From there they boarded a Russian-made Antonov cargo plane, bound for another three months of quarantine on Australia's Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

However, the opposition to the plan was not over, with opponents raising concerns over the effectiveness of breeding in captivity.

The RSPCA is spearheading a push to have the elephants returned to Thailand, claiming the poor history of breeding in captivity has been well-documented, with only 400 reported births in captivity from 117 zoos.

Spokeswoman Jane Speechley says the process of artificial insemination, designed to counteract that difficulty, is extremely invasive and the first test of the procedure at Perth Zoo has failed.

"We've never had an Asian elephant born in Australia," she said.

"We don't believe there's going to be a benefit, and therefore we think it's a wasted effort that's going to cause these animals unnecessary suffering."

For their part, the zoos remain confident of the success of their breeding program, and Guy Cooper says they will use the three-month period in quarantine to get background information on the elephants to start efforts as soon as possible.

"The only reason that zoos in Australia have not yet produced a calf is simply because up until now we've never tried," he said.

The eight elephants are expected to arrive in Melbourne and Sydney in November.

This story utilises excerpts from interviews with ABC TV's 7.30 Report, ABC Radio's AM program and ABC Radio National's Breakfast Program