Lucky elephants Mikki and Punch are headed for new happy lives at a sanctuary. This is a victory that’s been a long time coming for In Defense of Animals to finally free these two elephants. 

For decades Mikki and Punch lived in a tiny enclosure at the Louisville Zoo. Mikki, an African elephant, suffered the loss of two of her offspring, 3-year-old Scotty, who perished from colic, and 3-year-old Fitz, who died from elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus (EEHV). After Scotty died in 2010, Mikki endured seven years of failed, highly invasive artificial insemination attempts until she finally got pregnant and gave birth to Fitz in 2019.

The zoo now explains that it cannot properly care for its two "geriatric" elephants, and its Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) accreditation requires that it houses at least three elephants. 54-year-old Mikki is indeed old for a zoo elephant. However, in Africa, elephants live into their 60s. 

Punch, an Asian elephant, would be in her prime at 39 years old if she had been allowed to remain in her home country in Asia. But these elephants were captured in the wild as youngsters and forced to live in captivity in a crowded, noisy city zoo. We are grateful they are packing up for their new peaceful and quiet 3,000-acre home, The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee in 2025.

We are delighted to have played a part in getting them to their new lives of freedom, where they can roam multiple acres of lush fields, forage on grass and trees, and take a refreshing dip in natural, air-cooled ponds. Besides gathering thousands of signatures from compassionate In Defense of Animals supporters on our alert, we also featured the Louisville Zoo three times, in 2017, 2018, and 2019 on our annual list of 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants. The zoo plans to repurpose the elephant exhibit as a new home for its rhinos, giving them more room. It is doubtful that the zoo will ever keep elephants in the future due to the high price tag. Per the zoo, "A state-of-the-art elephant habitat is estimated to cost over $100 million." When Zoo Knoxville sends its last elephant, Tonka, to the sanctuary at the conclusion of phasing out its elephant exhibit, Louisville Zoo will be the 36th zoo to close its elephant exhibit. We congratulate the Louisville Zoo for making the compassionate and wise choice, and we strongly urge the zoo to stay out of the elephant business and shutter its elephant exhibit for all time.

Learn more about what we do for elephants and simple ways you can help. Donations are always needed and appreciated to further our work.