Date
March 14, 2006
Contact
Catherine Doyle
(323) 301-5730
In Defense of Animals IDA is an international, California-based animal advocacy organization dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by defending their rights, welfare and habitats.
131 Camino Alto
Mill Valley
CA 94941
Statement by In Defense of Animals on Proposed L.A. Zoo Elephant Exhibit
L.A. Zoo's proposed $40 million elephant exhibit expansion is a waste of taxpayer money and, at only three acres, falls woefully short of providing an environment that will meet the mental, physical and social needs of elephants who in the wild have home ranges of 120 square miles and walk tens of miles a day.
This costly proposal comes at a time when Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has acknowledged that the City of Los Angeles faces a $270 million budget deficit and has called for city departments to rein in spending.
Prior to his election, Mayor Villaraigosa had promised to transfer the elephants out of L.A. Zoo, saying, "Well, as mayor of the City of Los Angeles, I'm certainly going to work toward that goal... I think we need to move the elephants out."
Elephants at L.A. Zoo suffer from a variety of captivity-induced problems. According to zoo medical records, Gita has painful arthritis and has long suffered chronic foot infections that now have invaded the bone, causing it literally to rot away. Ruby is overweight and displays neurotic behaviors such as repetitive swaying, a sign of stress. Billy's incessant head bobbing places pressure on his feet which has resulted in large nail cracks that can lead to infection. Of the three elephants, only Billy is on display.
Elephants are free-ranging creatures who have biologically evolved for almost constant motion, which serves to maintain health and well-being. Small zoo enclosures prevent adequate exercise and force elephants to stand on unyielding surfaces such as concrete and compacted earth for years on end. Such conditions lead to obesity, lack of physical fitness, joint disease, reproductive disorders, and chronic foot infections. Elephants in American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) accredited zoos are dying at about half their natural lifespan of 70 years, with foot disease and arthritis the leading cause of euthanasia.
The L.A. Zoo's plan is out of step with evolving standards for captive elephants. Nine zoos in the United States have closed their elephant exhibits, most recently in Chicago, San Francisco and Detroit. The prestigious Bronx Zoo in New York announced it will phase out its elephant exhibit and focus resources on conservation of elephants in the wild. More zoos are expected to follow this trend, including Philadelphia Zoo and Santa Barbara Zoo (Calif.). Recognizing the need to provide drastically more space for elephants, Pittsburgh Zoo and National Zoo in Washington, DC, plan to create 100-200 acre preserves.
Elected officials have taken action to provide increased space for elephants. California State Assemblyman Lloyd Levine recently introduced legislation that would create a minimum space requirement of five acres for elephants in captivity. The City of San Francisco established an ordinance in 2004 that requires a minimum of 15 acres to display elephants, and the City of Chicago has an ordinance pending that would require a minimum of five acres indoors and five acres outdoors per elephant.
Viewed in this context, the L.A. Zoo's proposal to expend forty million tax dollars on a new elephant exhibit that will be outdated by the time its doors open is a giant boondoggle and colossal waste of pubic funds.