Zoo Industry Challenged to Stop Elephant Suffering

Elephant Lovers to Protest at Association of Zoos and Aquariums Annual Meeting in Philly

Philadelphia, Pa.—As zoo officials from across North America converge in Philadelphia Monday at the annual Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) convention, animal advocates will be present to demand better conditions for elephants, among the most high-profile yet ill-treated species in zoos. On Monday morning, members of In Defense of Animals (IDA) and Friends of the Philly Zoo Elephants will demonstrate outside the AZA’s convention, with signs and street theatre illustrating the suffering that earth’s largest land mammals endure under current zoo conditions.

What: Leafleting and street theatre
Where: AZA Annual Convention, Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, 1201 Market Street
When: Monday, September 17, 2007, 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

“Elephants are suffering in zoos and it’s just not right,” said IDA president Elliot Katz, DVM. “Today we call upon zoos to provide elephants with the space and natural conditions they need. If zoos can’t meet the needs of elephants, then they should not have elephants at all.”

Elephants naturally live in extensive, tightly-knit family groups with mothers and daughters staying together for life. (Males generally leave the herd in their teens.) In the wild, elephants can walk ten or more miles a day. By contrast, AZA standards allow zoos to cram two 7,000-10,000 pound elephants into an outdoor enclosure the size of a tennis court and an indoor space the size of a handball court. AZA does not prohibit the use of chains, bullhooks, and electric shock in the handling of elephants and authorizes zoos to separate elephant calves as young as three from their mothers, IDA said.

Lack of space and unnatural conditions cause elephants to develop a range of psychological and physical problems. Over 60 percent of elephants in zoos have foot disease and nearly half have arthritis; these painful conditions constitute the leading cause of euthanasia. Elephants in zoos also experience high rates of infertility and premature death. Of the 56 elephants who died in AZA-accredited facilities since 2000, fewer than half reached their 40th birthday; in contrast, an elephant’s natural lifespan is 60-70 years.

IDA scoffed at the notion that exhibiting elephants in zoos is important to conservation, noting that it is at least 50 times more expensive to maintain elephants in zoos than it is to protect equivalent numbers in the wild. IDA also noted that U.S. zoos are spending in excess of $200 million on token elephant exhibit expansions of a few acres or less – still woefully inadequate for this huge and far-ranging species.

For more information see www.helpelephantsinzoos.org.