“Pachyderm” to Philadelphia Zoogoers: Be an Elefriend

Demonstrators to Highlight Inadequacy of Zoo’s Elephant Exhibit

Philadelphia, PA - In the wake of the May death of Wankie the elephant at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, the ninth elephant to die at a U.S. zoo in a year, members of In Defense of Animals (IDA), joined by an “elephant” will greet visitors to Philadelphia Zoo with information on how elephants suffer on display in zoos: 

When: Saturday, June 25, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Where: Public sidewalk at entrance of Philadelphia Zoo, 34th Street and Girard Ave.

Earlier this year IDA included Philadelphia Zoo on its list of the Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants, in acknowledgement of the inadequacy of its 1940s-era elephant exhibit. While Philadelphia Zoo – the oldest zoo in the nation, is planning to replace the elephant exhibit with a $20 million enclosure, at 2.5-acres the exhibit is still woefully insufficient. Elephants, the world’s largest land mammals, are designed for almost constant movement, and wild elephant herds can easily travel tens of miles a day on soft soil and varied terrain. 

Philadelphia Zoo, like most urban zoos, is incapable of providing the vast acreage necessary to accommodate elephants’ need to move over varied natural surfaces, which is essential for proper foot, joint and digestive health. Elephants in zoos spend their time inactive in tiny enclosures, standing on concrete or hard compacted dirt which leads to extremely painful degenerative joint disorders and recurrent foot infections, as well as digestive and reproductive problems. Because of these conditions, elephants in zoos are dying at half their natural lifespan 60 to 70 years. 

IDA President Elliot Katz, DVM states, “It is increasingly evident that elephants are suffering in urban zoos because they lack the vast space needed to stay physically and psychologically healthy. It’s a farce that Philadelphia Zoo is throwing $20 million at an elephant exhibit that will still be miles short of acceptable.”

Recognizing elephants’ need for vast acreage, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted in 2004 on a 15-acre minimum space requirement for any new San Francisco Zoo elephant enclosure. As elephants continue to suffer captivity-induced problems, many zoos now realize that these animals’ needs are greater than they can provide for, and some are starting to question whether elephants should be put on exhibit at all.

Please visit SaveZooElephants.com for more information.