Date
June 19, 2006
Contact
Suzanne Roy
919-732-8983
Kristie Phelps
757-423-009
In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner Blvd
San Rafael
CA 94901
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.
IDA Calls on Milwaukee Zoo to Transfer Ailing Elephant to a Sanctuary
Milwaukee, Wis.—In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal protection organization, today called on Milwaukee Zoo Director Charles Wickenhauser to transfer Lucy, a 46-year-old elephant who suffered a life-threatening fall on Friday, and her companion Brittany, to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.
Zoo medical records indicate that Lucy has arthritis and has been on ibuprofen off and on for years. Records also reveal that Lucy has foot problems due to spending the winter months on persistently wet concrete floors. Inadequate zoo conditions, such as lack of space for exercise and floors of hard, unyielding surfaces like concrete and compacted dirt, contribute to foot and joint disease, which is the leading cause of suffering and premature death for elephants in zoos.
“Years of being confined in a small zoo enclosure and standing on hard concrete floors have taken their toll on Lucy’s joints and feet,” said IDA President Elliot M. Katz, DVM, in a letter to Wickenhauser. “As a veterinarian, I urge you to make the appropriate medical decision to send Lucy to a sanctuary where she can have freedom of movement on a natural substrate that will allow her to improve . . .”
“The Milwaukee Zoo is doing a disservice to its education mission by falsely claiming that Lucy is an elderly elephant,” said. Katz admonished. “A natural lifespan for an elephant is 60-70 years, and Lucy is a middle-aged elephant who should not be suffering from these painful and preventable disorders.”
Lucy’s accident comes at a time when zoos are under intense scrutiny over the poor condition of their elephants. Recently, the San Francisco and Detroit zoos closed their elephant exhibits and moved their elephants to a natural habitat sanctuary in California. The Bronx Zoo announced this year that it will phase out its elephant exhibit and concentrate instead on funding programs that conserve elephants in their natural habitats in range countries.
Elephants naturally walk tens of miles each day on natural surfaces, which serve to maintain foot and joint health. Wild elephants do not suffer from arthritis and foot disease.
Although protected from dangers like poaching and famine that cut short the lives of wild elephants, elephants in zoos are dying at about half their natural lifespan. Since 2000, more than half the elephants who died in American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA)-accredited zoos did not live to age 40.
For more information see www.helpelephants.com.