４３歳のゾウ、比動物園で死ぬ　「独房」との非難も保護区への移送なく

【マニラＡＦＰ＝時事】フィリピンの首都マニラにある動物園で長年飼育されてきたゾウ「マリ」が死んだと、市長が２９日、明らかにした。マリをめぐっては、保護区への移送を求める声が世界各地の動物愛護活動家から上がっていたが、実現していなかった。（写真はゾウの「マリ」。フィリピンのマニラ動物園で）
　マニラ動物園のマリは推定４３歳だった。市長によると、生後１１か月の時にスリランカからマニラにやって来たという。１９９０年にもう１頭のゾウが死んで以来、同園最後のゾウとなっていた。
　園の人気者だったとはいえ、活動家はマリが何十年もコンクリートの「独房」に入れられていると非難していた。
　園の獣医師は報道陣に対し、検視でマリが膵臓（すいぞう）がんだったことが分かったと明かした。世話が不適切だったのではないかとの臆測も出ていたが、「われわれは家族だった」と述べてこれを否定した。
　ソーシャルメディアでは、マリの死を嘆き、保護区への移送を拒否した園と当局を批判する投稿が相次いだ。
　動物愛護団体「動物の倫理的扱いを求める人々の会」は２００５年にマリの移送を求める運動を開始。英歌手モリッシーさんや野生動物保護活動家のジェーン・グドール博士、ノーベル文学賞受賞者のＪ・Ｍ・クッツェー氏のほか、地元のキリスト教司祭らがマリをタイの保護区へ移送するよう求める嘆願書に署名し、比政府に送っていた。
　市長は、マリは飼育期間が長過ぎたため「外では生きていけなかった」との見解を示し、移送に応じなかった市の決定を擁護。今後、マリの骨格標本を園内の博物館に展示する予定だと述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/11/30-15:12）

An elderly elephant has died in a Philippine zoo, an official said Wednesday, after a failed global campaign to relocate her to an animal sanctuary.
Mali had been a popular attraction at Manila Zoo, where animal rights activists say she was kept for decades in solitary confinement in a concrete enclosure.
Before her death on Tuesday, the approximately 43-year-old elephant won the support of Catholic bishops, a global pop star and a Nobel laureate -- all of whom pushed for her transfer on the grounds she had been mistreated.
Mali was our prized possession and was the star attraction here at the Manila Zoo, Manila City Mayor Honey Lacuna told a news conference at the facility.
It saddens me because she was part of our lives, she said, recalling how her parents took her to the zoo when she was a child.
Mali, who was brought from Sri Lanka to Manila when she was 11 months old, was the last surviving elephant at the zoo after her companion Shiva died in 1990, Lacuna said.
An autopsy found that Mali had pancreatic cancer, zoo veterinarian Heinrich Domingo told reporters, rejecting accusations she had been neglected.
We were her family, he said.
Social media users expressed sadness over Mali's death, while also criticising the zoo and government officials for refusing to send her to an animal sanctuary.
No more small enclosure for you. Run free Mali, Lemuel Bueno posted on Facebook.
Another user said, they killed her long before her physical death.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) accused the zoo and the government of ignoring Mali's clearly painful foot problems and sentencing her to decades of torturous solitary confinement.
Mali the elephant died the same way she had lived for nearly 50 years: alone in a concrete pen at the Manila Zoo, the group said.
PETA began campaigning for Mali to be removed from the zoo in 2005, drawing support from British pop star Morrissey, animal welfare campaigner Jane Goodall, Nobel laureate in literature J.M. Coetzee and local bishops.
They signed letters to the Philippine government appealing for the elephant to be transferred to a Thailand sanctuary.
Lacuna defended the decision to keep Mali at Manila Zoo, saying she would not have been able to survive outside after so long in captivity.
She said the government would take Sri Lankan officials up on an offer to replace Mali when she died.
Mali's skeleton would eventually be displayed at the zoo museum, Lacuna said.