On January 15, a baby elephant was born behind bars at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. The Zoo has launched an online naming contest for the infant, opening up an opportunity to give the Zoo feedback regarding its captive elephants and cruel breeding program.

The Rosamond Gifford Zoo has landed on our Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants list four times, due in part to the Zoo’s callous practice of separating mothers from infants and breaking apart elephant bonds. The newborn’s parents, Doc and Mali, are victims of these injustices. In 2012, the Zoo was blasted for sending away a male elephant named Indy who’d lived at the zoo for 27 years and sired many offspring. Indy was replaced by Doc, who came from the notoriously brutal Barnum and Bailey Circus.

In 2014, the Zoo separated Mali from her six-year-old, Chuck, sending him to a drive-thru attraction in Canada. Though the two were later reunited, the separation was undoubtedly traumatic and raises serious concerns for the future of Mali’s newest baby.

While the Zoo revels in a likely attendance boost due to the newborn calf, we encourage people to fill out the online form to suggest names and to emphasize the cruelty that elephants at this facility experience. Below is a suggestion, but feel free to get creative! Please be sure to be respectful as In Defense of Animals does not condone the use of disrespectful language. 

Name Suggestion: Prisoner

Meaning of name: Your facility has a history of heartlessly separating mothers and calves who are bred to suffer in captivity as prisoners. I hope you send the newborn, his parents, and all of your elephants, to an accredited sanctuary so they may live out the rest of their lives in relative peace.