Thai Monks to Conduct Blessing at Memorial for Elephant at National Zoo 

Washington, D.C.— Elephant lovers and Buddhist monks will gather Saturday at the National Zoo for a memorial to Toni, the Asian elephant who died prematurely this week after suffering from severe arthritis for many years. 

WHAT: MEMORIAL FOR TONI/BLESSING BY BUDDHIST MONKS FROM WAT THAI CENTER IN SILVER SPRING, MD.
WHEN: SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2006, 2:00 P.M.
WHERE: NATIONAL ZOO – FRONT GATE ON CONNECTICUT AVENUE

Born in Thailand, Toni was captured from her family and shipped to America when she was just seven months old. She spent the next four decades of her life in zoos, first in Pennsylvania and for the last 17 years at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

“We are honored that the Wat Thai monks will join us in remembering Toni, not as a zoo exhibit, but as an individual with a history, a family and a homeland,” said Suzanne Roy of In Defense of Animals, a co-sponsor of the event. “She suffered immensely in the zoo, and her premature death will not be in vain.” 

Toni’s plight is a centerpiece in the national debate about the ability of zoos to provide for the vast spatial and social needs of elephants, Earth’s largest land mammal. After visiting Toni on January 4, Dr. Joyce Poole, research director of the Amboseli Elephant Research Project and one of the world’s leading experts on elephants, wrote, “In all my 30 years of observing wild elephants, I have never seen an elephant as crippled as Toni. She symbolizes the dismal consequences of long-term lack of space and movement. . . . it is simply not possible to meet an elephant’s physical, social and emotional needs in a few acres (and Toni has less than this).”

Toni was the second elephant to die in recent years from zoo-induced health problems at the National Zoo. In 2000, Nancy was euthanized after suffering for years from serious foot infections, caused by lack of exercise and standing on hard surfaces like concrete and compacted earth. 

“This should never happen again to another elephant at the zoo,” said Amy Mayers of Friends of Toni, which is organizing the event along with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). “If the National Zoo can’t meet the needs of elephants, then it shouldn’t have elephants at all.” 

For more information see www.helpelephants.com.