Lulu was a special and fortunate elephant who, despite decades of confinement in a zoo, enjoyed almost 20 years of freedom in a California sanctuary before she died last month.

On April 9, 2024, the veterinary team at the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) ARK 2000 captive wildlife sanctuary, humanely euthanized Lulu. Due to her 34 years at the San Francisco Zoo, Lulu suffered from degenerative joint disease. Finally, the pain was too much for her to bear, so the decision was made to end her suffering. She died peacefully, knowing the joy of living in a spacious, serene sanctuary surrounded by loving elephant friends and caregivers.

At 58, Lulu was the oldest African elephant in North America. We are grateful to PAWS for giving Lulu 19 years to roam on the lush hills and dales of the sanctuary, where she enjoyed close friendships with the other elephants, especially Toka, who was rescued from the Toronto Zoo in 2013. Lulu was captured at two years old and transported across the world from her home in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) to the zoo in San Francisco. There, she endured years of bullying by Maybelle, an older traumatized elephant who died in 2004. However, the fortunes of the two remaining elephants, Tinkerbell and Lulu, soon changed for the better.

In Defense of Animals's founder, Dr. Elliot Katz, and his staff worked for five years to convince the San Francisco Zoo to release its elephants to sanctuary. Finally, with his persistent urging and support from other animal rights advocates and organizations, that goal was achieved. On November 28, 2004, Tinkerbell, the first elephant to be retired to PAWS, headed to her new home. On March 10, 2005, Lulu made her final move to the sanctuary. 

Sadly, Tinkerbell only lived for six months due to her many ailments. But Lulu, though at first afraid of the other elephants because of her difficult years with Maybelle, soon developed friendships and started joining them in climbing the hills, foraging on fresh grass, dusting, mud bathing, and all the things natural to elephants. PAWS reports that though Lulu was the smallest of the elephants at the sanctuary, she had the biggest transformation from a fearful and submissive elephant to one who displayed a playful, outgoing, and energetic spirit that was just waiting to come out.

We are glad we could play a part in providing Lulu with the life she deserved. In her memory, we fight to free all captive elephants from their restricted lives in zoos to sanctuaries where they can live as close to the wild, free elephants they were destined to be at birth.

To learn more about what’s wrong with elephants in zoos, check out our 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants and visit our Elephants campaign for the latest news and ways you can get involved.