Toronto Zoo loses its accreditation and Rob Ford loses his cool
We’ve been following the saga of the Toronto Zoo’s efforts to relocate its trio of elephant dames for months, but things just got serious (even more serious than Bob Barker’s offer of a private aircraft). The Association of Zoos and Aquariums has taken away the zoo’s accreditation, apparently because city council voted to send Iringa, Thika and Toka to a California sanctuary not recognized by that illustrious body. Without the AZA’s stamp of approval, the zoo can’t take part in species survival programs. Plus, exchange programs with accredited zoos must be assessed on a case-by-case basis (don’t worry, though—the giant panda visit is still a go). Rob Ford took the opportunity to deliver some political jabs, unleashing what sounded like several weeks of pent-up anger at council, whose vote to send the elephants to the sanctuary had overturned recommendations by zoo staff. “Council sometimes thinks they know better, and this is a perfect example of when they don’t know better,” he told reporters. No prizes for divining what other examples he may be thinking of. [Globe and Mail]
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/style/rob-ford-toronto-zoo-elephants/&title=Toronto Zoo loses its accreditation and Rob Ford loses his cool&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/elephant.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_132636" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="Thika, Iringa or Toka—we still haven’t figured out how to tell them apart (Image: Phil Marion)"][/caption]
We've been following the saga of the Toronto Zoo’s efforts to relocate its trio of elephant dames for months, but things just got serious (even more serious than Bob Barker’s offer of a private aircraft). The Association of Zoos and Aquariums has taken away the zoo’s accreditation, apparently because city council voted to send Iringa, Thika and Toka to a California sanctuary not recognized by that illustrious body. Without the AZA’s stamp of approval, the zoo can’t take part in species survival programs. Plus, exchange programs with accredited zoos must be assessed on a case-by-case basis (don’t worry, though—the giant panda visit is still a go). Rob Ford took the opportunity to deliver some political jabs, unleashing what sounded like several weeks of pent-up anger at council, whose vote to send the elephants to the sanctuary had overturned recommendations by zoo staff. “Council sometimes thinks they know better, and this is a perfect example of when they don’t know better,” he told reporters. No prizes for divining what other examples he may be thinking of. [Globe and Mail]){kind=link}
Isn’t Rob Ford the one that wanted to cut the zoo’s budget and even put it up for sale? Now all of a sudden he’s become its most vocal supporter. Sorry Rob, can’t have it both ways. Or maybe ‘you’ can, if it means some more votes for you. Always a Campaigner.
Yeah, you should always listen to the bureaucrats! Unless they tell you your subway dream is dumb, then you fire them.
This apparent fault of the committee is one that Ford suffers from to a great extent, in my opinion.
Are the elephants better off? Maybe the accreditation board should consider the outcome and discern whether or not the animals are better off before engaging in tit for tat politics. The zoo was having problems with losing elephants. Did any accredited facilities step forward and offer assistance and/or relocation. If the elephants are in a climate that better suits their needs or have the room they need to move, then who cares about politics? Politics, it seems, don’t have much of a chance at betterment these days.