Elephant Friends' Free Speech Endangered at L.A. Zoo
In Defense of Animals Sues L.A. Zoo for Abusing Activists’ Free Speech

Los Angeles, CA — On Wednesday, May 25, Los Angeles citizen Catherine Doyle and In Defense of Animals filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Zoo for violation of constitutional rights.

Mothers, like Doyle, schoolchildren, teachers, and concerned citizens have been frequent fixtures at the L.A. Zoo over the last two years to expose inadequacies of the current elephant exhibit and highlight the negative impact such shortcomings have on Gita, Ruby and Billy, the three remaining elephants at the Zoo. The Zoo’s response to the peaceful and legal educational efforts was a “free speech zone” instituted in April 2005, which denies activists all outreach and education opportunities—and their free speech at this city-run zoo—by forcing them to an area located in the parking lot directly east of the Zoo’s front entry plaza, away from zoo goers.

“As the nation learns that elephants are suffering in zoos because they lack the vast space needed to stay physically and psychologically healthy, the public supports granting these gentle giants, the world’s largest land mammals, the highest quality of life possible at a sanctuary,” says Catherine Doyle, the suit’s plaintiff. “The L.A. Zoo continues to thwart opportunities to do what is in the best interest of the elephants and is going to extreme measures to keep the public in the dark. Each day they delay the transfer to a sanctuary, the Zoo denies the elephants access to hundreds of acres on soft ground and rolling hills where they can begin to heal.”

L.A. Zoo cannot provide the large amount of acreage necessary for maintaining the physical and psychological health of the elephants who travel tens of miles a day in the wild. Elephants in zoos spend their time inactive, standing on concrete or hard compacted dirt which leads to extremely painful joint disorders, recurrent foot infections, and digestive and reproductive problems. The two leading causes of euthanasia in captive elephants are directly linked to lack of space and movement.

The current enclosure sizes for the elephants are pathetically and dangerously inadequate. Gita and Ruby are held in off-exhibit enclosures during a construction period projected to last at least two to three years. The compacted dirt and concrete off-exhibit enclosure gives each 10,000 pound girl roughly 5 percent of an acre, which is equivalent to 12 parking lot spaces. Billy, a 20-year-old Asian elephant, who already suffers from foot problems despite his youth, lives in an enclosure of approximately 1/4 acre.

Please visit SaveZooElephants.com for more information.