Elephant who Gored Six Flags Vallejo Trainer Dead at 27

In Defense of Animals Slams Amusement Park, Zoo Trade Group for Elephant's Hellish Life of Pain and Suffering

San Rafael, Calif.—In Defense of Animals (IDA) today released veterinary records detailing the horrendous suffering of Misha, a Six Flags Discovery Kingdom elephant who was euthanized at Hogle Park Zoo in Utah Tuesday. Misha lived for years in Vallejo, before goring her trainer in June 2003 and being shipped to Utah two years later. She was only 27 years old.

"This poor elephant's life was filled with trauma and pain," said IDA president Elliot Katz, DVM. "It's unconscionable that Six Flags and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) allow elephants to be kept in deplorable and completely unsuitable conditions, like an amusement park, that cause needless suffering and the premature deaths of elephants."

IDA obtained the elephant's medical records from the City of Vallejo, which "owned" her, under the California Public Records Act. These records document that Misha was:IDA obtained the elephant's medical records from the City of Vallejo, which "owned" her, under the California Public Records Act. These records document that Misha was:

  • Captured from South Africa as an infant of 1 year. She was likely orphaned in a cull, where she would have witnessed her entire family slaughtered.
  • Repeatedly beaten up and injured by other elephants at Six Flags.
  • Repeatedly artificially inseminated with an invasive surgical procedure that caused painful infections. Her artificially- conceived baby died in March 2003, just a few hours after birth.
  • Kept in isolation for 2 years after goring a trainer with her tusk.
  • Allowed to suffer from a massive infection in her jaw that lasted for at least 4.5 years. The gaping wound was still infected when she was shipped to Utah.

At age 27, Misha is the seventh elephant to die in an AZA-accredited facility this year. Of 63 elephants who died in AZA facilities since 2000, more than half never lived to age 40. Elephants have a natural life span of 60-70 years; free-ranging African elephants are documented to give birth well into their 50s and even 60s.

"Nine Six Flags elephants have died at the park since 1995," Katz said. "It's time to get the surviving Six Flags' elephants out of this unsuitable and inhumane environment without delay."

The AZA accredits Six Flags despite the fact that it is an amusement park, which gives elephant rides and forces elephants to perform in circus-style shows.

IDA has posted Misha's medical records at http://helpelephants.com/records/six_flags/misha.pdf. A full report on Six Flags' horrendous elephant care record is at http://www.savezooelephants.org/records/six_flags/report_070628.pdf