KUALA LUMPUR: A top veterinarian at the Philippines' Manila Zoo on Tuesday argued that the 38-year-old elephant will not be sent into the wild or given “retirement.” The announcement comes despite widespread calls from animal rights groups for Vishwali, or Mali for short, to be given reprieve after suffering from an assortment of health issues. “Vishwamali or ‘Mali' is healthy. Her cracked nails and overgrown cuticles could be treated as soon as she allows us to give her pedicure," said John Chua, caretaker of Mali at the Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden. “We are waiting for the arrival of a book that will help us persuade Mali to have a pedicure," said Chua. Chua added that Mali's foot condition has not given her an infection, as feared earlier by Mel Richardson, a veterinarian from Paradise, California who “visually" evaluated Mali's health at the Manila Zoo end of May this year. With regard to suggestions that Mali should join her kind for a retreat and rehabilitation in an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, Chua said, “We don't have money for her transportation." “Mali is better off here at the Manila Zoo. She won't survive in a sanctuary or the wild," insisted Donald Manalastas, chief veterinarian of the Manila Zoo. “The Manila Zoo has been her home since she was given to us after her parents became victims of poaching in Sri Lanka," said Manalastas, adding that Mali had exceeded an elephant's life expectancy of 35 years. Last year, a local group of veterinarians from an Animal Welfare Committee composed of doctors and representatives from the Bureau of Animal Industry, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, and different animal welfare groups checked on Mali and certified that she was in good physical and mental condition, Manalastas said. “She is happy with us. We are doing our best to make Mali's living condition good," said Manalastas, who referred to the 2,000 area for the elephant, now with more earth and less concrete surface.
