Science Center rethinking elephant-in-a-bubble stunt
Santa Ana's Discovery Science Center had arranged for an artist to surround an elephant with a giant soap bubble. After getting complaints, a spokesman now says its '50-50 whether we'll go ahead.'
The Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana is weighing whether to cancel a controversial stunt planned for Tuesday in which an artist hopes to envelop an Asian elephant in a giant soap bubble, which critics have assailed as cruel and frivolous.
Anticipating protests, the center has called on the Santa Ana Police Department to provide security should the event be held.
The center began reconsidering the event, part of its annual Bubblefest, after they received more than a thousand e-mails opposing it -- many with identical language-- and numerous calls from animal advocates vowing to protest, said Leslie Perovich, vice president of marketing for the center.
The animal-rights group In Defense of Animals and Bob Barker, the former host of "The Price is Right," were among those who objected to the show.
"Right now it's probably 50-50 whether we'll go ahead and do it or cancel," Perovich said. The science center's staff is meeting today and announce its decision by mid-afternoon.
Bubble artist Fan Yang hopes to set a record for the largest living land mammal in a bubble by surrounding the 8,800-pound pachyderm in a giant soapy orb for five to 10 seconds.
The general manager of the city of Los Angeles' Department of Animal Services, Ed Boks, has objected to the stunt, saying that placing the elephant in a bubble is "cruelty in the worst possible form."
Others, including In Defense of Animals, objected to it as an exploitative sideshow with little scientific or educational value. They say the show is inappropriate for a scientific institution.
The center has maintained that placing the elephant in a bubble does not amount to abuse.
As for the stunt's relation to science, the act of "putting the elephant in the bubble was never about teaching science," Perovich said. Instead, the center saw the record attempt as a chance to "teach about elephants and endangered species" and "the science behind the bubbles," she said.
Another concern that will factor into the center's decision is safety, Perovich said.
The elephant will be under the supervision of two trainers but will not separated from the audience by anything except the platform upon which it will stand.
That has the science center concerned about what might happen if the center is besieged by protesters.
"First and foremost we want our guests to be safe," Perovich said. "We wouldn't want to have unruly protesters."
tony.barboza@latimes.com
