ACTIVISTS TO L.A. ZOO COMMISSIONERS: SEND ELEPHANTS TO SANCTUARY NOW
Likelihood of Another Elephant Death Looms, Says Animal-Protection Group

Los Angeles, CA - Local animal advocates and concerned citizens will join IDA at tomorrow’s Board of Zoo Commissioners meeting to highlight elephants' need for expansive space and to ask for the immediate transfer of the three elephants at the L.A. Zoo to a sanctuary. The Board, a group responsible for overseeing the publicly-owned zoo on behalf of the city of L.A., will hear concerns for the life of 46-year-old Asian elephant Gita, whose medical records indicate she suffers from chronic foot problems and arthritis—the two leading causes of euthanasia in captive elephants in the U.S. The seriousness of her physical condition makes her transfer—along with the zoo’s other elephants—to a sanctuary urgent and necessary:

When: Tuesday, January 18th, 10 a.m.
Where: Los Angeles Zoo, Grand Room in the Education Center 5333 Zoo Drive in Griffith Park; at the junction of the Golden State (I-5) and Ventura (134) freeways

Tara was the most recent premature elephant death at the zoo, where the average age of death for elephants is 22 years. Unlike elephants in the wild who can live up to 70 years of age, Tara died in December at just 39-years-old. She suffered from aggressive arthritis prior to her death, existing on a high-dose cocktail of pain killing and anti-inflammatory drugs. 

The L.A. Zoo's spate of eleven elephant deaths since 1975 reinforces the fact that this zoo, like most urban zoos, is incapable of providing the vast acreage necessary to accommodate elephants’ need to move over varied terrains, which is essential for their physical well-being. 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. As the world’s largest land mammal, elephants are designed for almost constant movement, and wild elephant herds easily travel tens of miles a day on soft soil and varied terrains. Yet, American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) standards allow an elephant to be held in an enclosure of 1,800 square feet —the equivalent of six parking spaces. 

“Access to soft ground and varied terrain at a sanctuary can actually improve serious foot problems and the effects of decades spent in cramped zoo exhibits,” says Les Schobert, former L.A. Zoo curator. “The L.A. Zoo must follow the lead of Detroit and San Francisco zoos and transfer Gita, Ruby, and Billy to sanctuaries where they can enjoy relative freedom on hundreds of acres in a naturalistic habitat.”

As the national debate continues over the ethics of keeping elephants in zoos, the city of San Francisco recently became the first U.S. city to mandate space requirements for elephants at its city-owned zoo. The precedent-setting regulations call for a minimum of fifteen acres for elephants, which far exceeds the acreage currently devoted to elephants at any zoo and greatly surpasses the nominal standards set by the AZA

Please visit savezooelephants.com for more information.