Six Flags Urged to Close Animal Exhibits in Wake of Marine World Elephant Goring
Elephant Attacks Known to be Caused By Brutal Treatment

Vallejo, CA The goring of a trainer by Misha, a 23-year old African elephant at Six Flags Marine World has one Bay Area animal protection organization calling on the amusement park giant to close its animal exhibits. In Defense of Animals (IDA) said today that the aberrant behavior exhibited by Misha, who was taken from her family in the wild when she was a 1-2 year old baby, demonstrates clearly both the dangers and inherent cruelty of holding elephants captive in an unnatural environment.

"Elephants are gentle creatures. But in captivity keepers and handlers use violence and intimidation to dominate them and even these gentle animals have their limits and that's when they rebel," said Deniz Bolbol, IDA elephant specialist.

Marine World is known to use "negative reinforcement as well as systematic corporal punishment in the daily management of elephants," according to elephant expert Carol Buckley, of The Elephant Sanctuary, who wrote to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in opposition to Six Flags plans to import two baby Asian elephants from India in 2002. The park relinquished its permits after IDA and a coalition of animal protection organizations filed a federal lawsuit to oppose the import.

Marine World uses bullhooks to control elephants. A bullhook, also known as an ankus, is a weapon resembling a fireplace poker, which is used to "hook" the elephants in their most sensitive areas. The park is also known to chain elephants for prolonged periods. Marine World offers elephant rides against the recommendation of its industry association, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association.

Six Flags has an abysmal record of elephant care, with six deaths in six years:

• 1998 and 1999: Six Flags euthanized two elephants suffering from arthritis and other captivity-induced health problems.
  
  
• November 2000: Kala, a 2-year old male elephant died less than six months after being shipped to Marine World from the Dickerson Park Zoo in Missouri. Elephant advocates warned the park against separating Kala from his mother at such an early age. (In the wild, elephants nurse for five years, and the males do not leave their mothers until they are 10 or 15 years old.)
  
  
• November 2002: Tika, a 24-year old African elephant was euthanized due to massive internal infection after carrying a dead, full-term fetus in her womb for several weeks.
  
  
• October 2002: Tika's full-term calf died in utero. Tika had been artificially inseminated.
  
  
• March of 2003: Misha gave birth to a stillborn calf. Misha had also been artificially inseminated.