Maggie—Alaska Zoo

Victory for Maggie! The Alaska Zoo has announced that it will send Maggie, a 27-year-old African elephant, to the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sanctuary in California. This is fantastic news for Maggie! Maggie was captured in Zimbabwe in 1981 during a cull—a killing operation intended to reduce the population of wild elephants. She probably watched as her entire family was slaughtered. She has lived at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage since 1983 and has been alone at the zoo since 1997, when her only companion, Annabelle, an Asian elephant, died. Anchorage, like most northern cities, is far too cold for an elephant, so Maggie has spent much of each year confined to a small concrete enclosure indoors. Earlier this year, Maggie collapsed twice and needed assistance in standing—a sure sign that inadequate conditions were affecting her health. Maggie is still very young; she could live to be 70. PETA and concerned citizens around the world have been urging the zoo for years to send Maggie to a sanctuary. Maggie is going to PAWS' 2,300-acre sanctuary, a world-class facility that will provide her with the opportunity to roam through natural habitat, play in a lake, forage on fresh vegetation, and enjoy a healthy and enriching life in the company of other elephants. Not only will Maggie's social needs be addressed, the sanctuary environment has proved to be therapeutic to ailing elephants. The zoo plans to finalize the agreement with PAWS within two weeks. If all goes according to plan, Maggie will be headed to the sanctuary before winter. What You Can Do Please thank the Alaska Zoo for taking Maggie's best interests to heart and making the compassionate decision to send her to the PAWS sanctuary: Dick Thwaites, President Board of Directors The Alaska Zoo 4731 O'Malley Rd. Anchorage, AK 99507 907-346-2133 907-346-2673 (fax) directors@alaskazoo.org Pat Lampi, Director The Alaska Zoo 4731 O'Malley Rd. Anchorage, AK 99507 907-346-2133 907-346-2673 (fax) plampi@alaskazoo.org

Update: June 2007

The Alaska Zoo's Board of Directors has finally decided to move Maggie, the zoo's solitary African elephant, to a warmer location where she can interact with other elephants!

At the Alaska Zoo, Maggie is kept in a small exhibit with a concrete enclosure, where she is often confined for a substantial period of time each year because of the unsuitable Arctic climate. Despite the zoo's controversial construction of a treadmill, which Maggie never used, Maggie's health has continued to deteriorate. On two recent occasions, she required emergency assistance to get back on her feet. For years, PETA and other groups have been pleading with the zoo to send Maggie to a sanctuary where she could get healthy exercise, enjoy a warmer climate, and have companions of her own species.

Update: January 2005

The controversy over the Alaska Zoo's decision to keep Maggie and build her a treadmill, rather than act in her best interest by retiring her to a sanctuary, was recently reported in a lengthy New York Times article, bringing international attention to Maggie’s plight.

According to Detroit Zoo Director Ron Kagan, who recently won an extended battle to retire the zoo’s two aging and arthritic elephants to a sanctuary, “A lone elephant is clearly not a good thing. The fact that she’s without elephant companionship—we shouldn’t fool ourselves that somehow humans are the equivalent.”

Commenting on the concept of a treadmill for Maggie, a representative of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) stated, “I guess it’s an interesting concept. But I'm not sure what the message is—for visitors to come up and see an elephant on a treadmill and somehow make a connection with nature? That’s a tough one for me.”

According to AZA statistics, African elephants in captivity live to an average age of 33—decades short of their expected lifespan in the wild. Given these odds, Maggie has less than 10 years left if she stays in Alaska. Yet, at a sanctuary, Maggie would likely enjoy more than 40 years, roaming freely on hundreds of acres alongside other elephants in a far more suitable climate.

Click here to read the New York Times article.

Update: November 2004

PETA is urging the USDA to investigate recently identified wounds around Maggie’s face and head to ensure that she is receiving appropriate veterinary care for her injuries, that her environment is free of hazards that may hurt her, and that the Alaska Zoo is complying with the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), which states that facilities should be maintained in good repair to protect animals from injury.

A video taken on October 24, 2004, shows three circular wounds above Maggie’s right eye, a laceration on her forehead, and several raw open wounds on both sides of her face near her eyes.

PETA fears that the laceration may have been caused by a bullhook—since the Alaska Zoo still manages Maggie using the circus-style free-contact method—and is asking the USDA to ensure that the zoo is complying with the sections of the AWA that prohibit the use of physical abuse to train or work an animal and handling methods that cause physical harm and discomfort.

Click here to view PETA’s news release and letter to the USDA.

View the video of Maggie’s wounds.

Maggie, a 24-year-old elephant, is believed to be the only female African elephant still living in solitary confinement in a North American zoo.

As an impressionable baby, Maggie witnessed the horrifying slaughter of her entire family in a cull in South Africa, only to be shipped overseas to the Alaska Zoo—an environment devoid of everything she had known, including nurturing family members, space, and warmth. To compound Maggie’s misery, the unsuitable Arctic climate requires her to be confined indoors to a barren concrete room for the majority of the year with nothing to keep her mind stimulated, nowhere to go, and no other elephants to communicate with.

Maggie’s sole companion at the zoo, an Asian elephant named Annabelle, died prematurely in 1997 at the age of 33 from a foot infection—the primary cause of death among captive elephants. Female elephants are highly social, and in the wild, they live with their families for their entire lives. Since Annabelle’s death, Maggie has been living alone, in the same conditions that led to Annabelle’s demise.

Maggie’s plight has been the subject of controversy for years, prompting the Alaska Zoo to consider other options for her. Unfortunately, the zoo recently announced its decision to keep Maggie in Alaska rather than acting in her best interests by retiring her to a sanctuary, effectively neglecting to address one of her most inherent needs—the companionship of other elephants. Instead, the zoo has promised to develop a treadmill for Maggie, of which there is no current design or proven record of success. One thing will never change for Maggie if she remains at the Alaska Zoo—her solitary status.

Numerous elephants with troubled pasts related to decades of mistreatment in captivity have been successfully integrated with other elephants at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee and the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in California. These elephants now lead enriched lives with free access to hundreds of acres and have developed deep bonds with their new elephant companions. Maggie would be no exception.

In addition, the Alaska Zoo practices an outdated, circus-style form of elephant management that consists of dominance and the imposition of fear, both of which are established with the barbaric use of bullhooks. Sanctuaries never use the beatings, bullhooks, and chains that are routinely used on elephants who are handled using the circus-training system.

Maggie desperately needs to be transferred to either The Elephant Sanctuary or PAWS, where she would have her choice of companions and ample room to roam in a suitable climate.