Baby elephants, with their big eyes and endearing behavior, capture the hearts of zoo-goers everywhere. To keep the supply of popular ticket-boosting babies coming, many zoos participate in the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Species Protection Plan. The profit motive behind the push to breed babies is cloaked in a feel-good conservation message. As zoos pump out more babies, it's important to ask what the cost to the elephants is.

Just in the US alone, the Oregon Zoo, Saint Louis Zoo, Tucson Reid Park Zoo, Houston Zoo, and Toledo Zoo recently added baby elephants to their exhibits. At  Columbus Zoo in Ohio, 2 new babies are due in the summer and fall of 2025 and at Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas, 5  are expected in the spring and fall of 2025. However, on March 14, 2025, Simunye gave birth to a stillborn, named Malaika, who was to be the first baby born at the Sedgwick County Zoo  in 54 years. Simunye is one of the stolen 18 elephants taken in the dead of night from Swaziland and transported to three zoos in the US.

Packy's Story: A Cautionary Tale 

63 years ago, the birth of one elephant illustrates the unforeseen and tragic consequences of breeding in zoos. In 1962, visitors worldwide poured into the Oregon Zoo to see the first elephant born in North America in 44 years. With Packy's birth, a star was born, followed by a buying bonanza. Packy mugs, t-shirts, books, and souvenir trinkets sold like hotcakes. Ticket sales tripled. 

Fast forward 47 years later, Packy is practically ignored as he paces alone inside his steel-barred cell or outside in his minuscule ¼ acre yard. At age 52, when Packy contracted Tuberculosis, he was quarantined and nearly invisible to the public. Six of the 7 babies he had sired during his life died. 

A month shy of his 55th birthday, the zoo killed Packy as he was no longer useful to the zoo's breeding program and was taking up valuable resources. When zoogoers “ooh” and “aah” over new baby elephants, we urge them to take a moment to think about Packy's decades of suffering and the callous decision to unnecessarily end his life.

Where Do The Conservation Dollars Go?

The zoo industry admits zoos spend anywhere from 1 to 7% of profits on conservation efforts in the wild. Most funds are funneled into zoo maintenance, exhibit upgrades, and marketing efforts—not fieldwork, habitat protection, or anti-poaching initiatives. If zoos were truly invested in conservation, they would be working to restore natural habitats, lobbying for stronger wildlife protections, and supporting ethical sanctuaries where animals can live without being gawked at for profit.

Ethical Solutions

Conservation organizations have been working diligently for years to protect elephants in the wild. Thanks to their efforts, elephant populations in some areas in Asia and Africa have rebounded. The future of elephant conservation depends on shifting our focus from imprisoning them in captivity to genuine efforts that ensure these majestic animals continue to thrive in the wild.

Learn more about life in the wild and solutions here.