Zoo Professionals from Around the World Call for Sending Alaska Zoo Elephant to the PAWS Sanctuary

Group cites importance of facility’s success in socializing elephants

Anchorage, Alaska—Zoo professionals from around the globe are weighing in on the controversy surrounding Maggie, a 27-year-old African elephant, urging the Alaska Zoo to immediately relocate her to the PAWS sanctuary in Northern California. The prestigious group hails from around the U.S. and as far away as England and Australia, representing many decades of experience working with elephants in positions such as zoo director, manager, keeper, curator and veterinarian.

In a letter to Alaska Zoo director Pat Lampi, the group said that PAWS represents the best chance for Maggie, who has spent years living by herself, to integrate with other elephants due to the “large amount of space afforded the elephants” which “can better facilitate introductions and subsequent social interaction” at the sanctuary.

“PAWS can give Maggie the time, space, and constant, 24-hour care that she needs for successful integration, which is critical for an elephant who has lived in isolation for so long,” the group stated.

By contrast, the largest zoo elephant exhibit is ten times smaller than PAWS’ African elephant habitat. Such intense confinement in zoos makes integration of unrelated elephants difficult and zoos frequency transfer out elephants who fail to integrate.

PAWS offers more than 70 acres of grassy, rolling hills for Maggie to roam in the company of other African elephants. The sanctuary has successfully integrated elephants from four major U.S. zoos – Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Milwaukee – into its elephant groups. The most recent example is Ruby, a lone African elephant from Los Angeles Zoo who had spent more than a year at another zoo where efforts to integrate her with other elephants had failed. At PAWS, in just over three months, Ruby has already successfully integrated into the existing elephant group.

Last month, the sanctuary offered to pay all expenses for moving Maggie to its facility, and celebrity Bob Barker has pledged to fund her lifelong care there. In addition, PAWS offered a $100,000 grant to the Alaska Zoo to improve conditions for other animals who live there.

“PAWS is the closest available facility to Maggie and it offers the very best of care and conditions for this long-suffering elephant,” said In Defense of Animals president Elliot M. Katz, DVM. “Four major zoos, all of them accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, have sent elephants to PAWS. What possible reason could Alaska Zoo have for rejecting PAWS’ most generous offer to provide Maggie with an excellent, lifelong home?”

A copy of the zoo professionals’ letter is available on request. For more information see www.helpelephantsinzoos.org. IDA is an international animal protection organization based in San Rafael, Calif.