MEDIA RELEASE: Pressure Mounts to Free Billy & Tina Following Oakland Zoo Sending its Last Elephant to Sanctuary
OAKLAND, Calif. (July 10, 2024) — In Defense of Animals is thrilled to welcome news that Oakland Zoo will relocate its last elephant, Osh, to a sanctuary this fall and then close its elephant exhibit. It becomes the 41st zoo in the U.S. to close or pledge to close its elephant exhibit. The move follows years of campaigning by In Defense of Animals to raise awareness of how elephants suffer in zoo captivity, and puts mounting pressure on the Los Angeles Zoo to free Billy and Tina.
An Oakland Zoo representative told ABC7 News, “At this point, we have decided that the space that we have just really does not allow for their full social complexity.”
In Defense of Animals has campaigned for decades to end the captivity of elephants in zoos and welcomed the news as a turning point for elephants.
“Zoos are at a turning point, with many leading zoos evolving with modern values and prioritizing animal welfare over captivity. Oakland Zoo’s bold decision sets a powerful precedent for zoos nationwide,” said Courtney Scott, Elephant Specialist at In Defense of Animals. “We commend Oakland Zoo for its dedication and urge the Los Angeles Zoo to follow suit by retiring its long-suffering elephants, Billy and Tina, to a sanctuary.”
Oakland Zoo will repurpose the enclosure and join five other major California zoos that stopped displaying elephants, including Sacramento Zoo, Santa Barbara Zoo, Monterey Zoo, San Francisco Zoo, and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo.
An Oakland Zoo representative told ABC 7 News it has no plans to bring another elephant to the zoo. “We don't think that that's the right choice to make right now. And maybe there'll be a future situation where there's a large elephant space. But at this point, you know, this space is not enough for the elephants’ social complexity that we think is necessary. And that's why we feel like the elephant sanctuary here is going to give him you know, that the space and the social complexity and the flexibility of their facility so that he'll have choices.”
While Osh is being given more choices and space, elephants in the Los Angeles Zoo have little of either.
Despite years of high profile efforts to free Billy, he remains trapped and suffering at the Los Angeles Zoo. Photo: Los Angeles for Animals
Billy, an Asian elephant, has been the focus of a 20-year campaign by In Defense of Animals and many elephant activists and celebrities to #FreeBilly. Captured from Malaysia at just four years old, Billy has endured over three decades of captivity. Despite his early playful and mischievous nature as a youngster, Billy has suffered from years of an impoverished life at the zoo and shows signs of severe stress. Day in and out, Billy sways, bobs and paces across his puny one-acre yard, which is a sign of brain damage caused by his impoverished conditions.
The Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sanctuary in Northern California has offered to take Billy, and can give him 15 acres of soft earth, trees, and lakes, providing an ideal environment for Billy to heal and live freely. The other option is to send Billy to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee where Osh is headed soon.
Activists hope Oakland Zoo’s move will help free Tina as well as Billy from the Los Angeles Zoo. Photo: Katherine Jergens
Tina at 58 needs to go to sanctuary now. Shewas torn from her home and family in Asia at just one year old. She spent over 30 years as a circus elephant, beaten to perform tricks. She along with her circus mate Jewel were confiscated by the USDA in 2009 and relocated to the San Diego Zoo. In 2010, Tina, along with Jewel, landed at the Los Angeles Zoo. Shaunzi and Jewel, Tina’s companions at the Los Angeles Zoo are now both deceased, leaving Tina alone and grieving for her loss.
Elephants are highly social and solitary confinement is especially cruel to them. It is time for the Los Angeles Zoo to recognize this fact as the Oakland Zoo has, and retire Tina to a spacious and quiet sanctuary, where she can begin to enjoy meeting new friends and heal from her zoo-related ailments of arthritis, joint disease, and advanced zoochotic behavior that has increased since she lost her two companions.
Elephants are deeply unsuited to captivity. Zoos cannot provide even 1 percent of their smallest natural range in the largest enclosures. Elephants in captivity suffer from physical and mental distress, and die faster than they can reproduce. Over time, elephants develop chronic painful diseases such as arthritis, joint and foot disease. Expanding enclosures is not the solution; as zoos simply use the added space to bring in more elephants to breed.
True elephant sanctuaries do not breed, as they know that would just result in more elephants living their entire lives in captivity. Only reputable sanctuaries offer the space and environment elephants need. And most importantly, in sanctuary, elephants, often for the first time in their life, experience autonomy, the freedom to choose how they spend their days.
Los Angeles Zoo currently holds the worst zoo ranking for 2023 on In Defense of Animals’ annual 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants list, which highlights the urgency of retiring elephants like Billy and Tina. Supporters of In Defense of Animals’ campaign to end elephant captivity include Bill Maher, Sarah Silverman, Jorja Fox, Moby, Harley Quinn-Smith, and Ricky Gervais.
“We call on the Los Angeles Zoo to retire Billy and Tina to a sanctuary. When it comes to animals in captivity, a wave of compassion is sweeping California. It’s far better to ride that wave than be swept up in the undertow,” added Scott.
CONTACT:
Courtney Scott, courtney@idausa.org, 503-288-6142
IMAGES & VIDEO of elephants and the advocacy campaign are available on request.
In Defense of Animals is an international animal rescue and protection organization with over 250,000 supporters and a 40-year history of defending animals, the environment, and their guardians through education and campaigns, as well as hands-on rescue facilities in India, South Korea, rural Mississippi, and California. www.idausa.org/elephants
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