IDA Demands Public Release of Medical Records for Birmingham Zoo Elephant

Group Calls for Full Disclosure of Mona’s Health Status, Echoes Call to Shut Down Elephant Exhibit

San Rafael, California—International animal protection organization In Defense of Animals (IDA) is calling on the Birmingham Zoo to publicly release the veterinary records and autopsy report for Mona, the elephant who was euthanized on Thursday. The group also echoed the call by Alabama Wildlife Advocates to close the Zoo’s elephant exhibit due to inadequate conditions.

“The public deserves to know the nature and true extent of Mona’s condition,” wrote IDA president Elliot M. Katz, a veterinarian, in a letter sent today to Birmingham Zoo Director Bill Foster. “If Mona’s medical records and necropsy report uphold your claim that she was healthy until her death, you should have no objection to publicly releasing these important records.”

Katz added that since Birmingham Zoo receives a large amount of city and county funding, Mona’s records should be made available to the public.

Mona was euthanized after a second incident in which she was found lying down and unable to rise. At the zoo, Mona was confined to a small outdoor yard and even smaller indoor area, where she was regularly seen repeatedly walking in circles. Recent video shows Mona walking stiffly, often a sign of arthritis in elephants, and she was reported to have worn her foot pads thin. Her former elephant companion Susie was treated for arthritis prior to her death.

Katz stated that zoo conditions, particularly lack of space and unnatural surfaces, cause elephants to develop foot disease and arthritis, painful conditions that are the leading cause of euthanasia for elephants in zoos. A 2006 IDA survey of medical records for elephants in 35 U.S. zoos found that 63 percent of elephants suffered from foot disease and 42 percent suffered from arthritis.

Mona is the eleventh elephant to die at an Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited zoo since January 2006 and the third elephant to die at a U.S. zoo this month. Eight of those elephants are known to have suffered from foot and/or joint disease.

“I urge you to permanently close the zoo’s elephant exhibit,” stated Katz, “as it has neither the space nor the natural conditions needed to meet the vast physical, psychological and social needs of this highly complex and far-ranging species.”

View a copy of the letter. For more information, please visit www.helpelephants.com.