Los Angeles Zoo
Ask Mayor Villaraigosa to Nix Plans for New Elephant Exhibit
On Saturday, June 10, 2006, another elephant died at the Los Angeles Zoo. Like most captive elephants, 48-year-old Gita suffered from painful and crippling foot and joint problems directly related to the grossly inadequate living conditions found in zoos. Gita endured years of pain from arthritis and bone disease, and last October the zoo even resorted to amputating two-thirds of one of Gita’s toes in an effort to cure a bacterial infection in her foot.
Gita’s final days could have been spent in a comfortable and contented retirement at an elephant sanctuary, with hundreds of acres of natural habitat to roam, ponds to bathe in, fresh vegetation and the opportunity to forage, and the company of many other elephants. Instead, the zoo’s selfish actions ensured that Gita died in the same miserable environment that she was forced to endure her entire life. Unbelievably, the Los Angeles City Council recently approved the construction of a new $40 million elephant exhibit at the zoo. The exhibit will provide absolutely no benefit to elephants and, thus, will be a monumental waste of tens of millions of dollars.
Contact Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa. Tell him that elephants have suffered for decades at the Los Angeles Zoo, and urge him to retire the remaining elephants at the zoo to a sanctuary:
The Honorable Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Mayor
200 N. Spring St., Rm. 303
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-978-0750 (fax)
mayor@lacity.org |
Update—December 2004: Sadly, yet another elephant has died prematurely in a zoo. Tara, a 44-year-old African elephant who had been at the Los Angeles Zoo since 1966, died on December 12, 2004. Tara reportedly died of heart failure yet had been plagued by arthritis resulting from lack of exercise and decades of standing on hard surfaces. Tara’s death leaves Ruby as the sole African elephant at the zoo.
The Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is just a short drive away, and it would be in Ruby’s best interests for her to be retired to the sanctuary. For almost two years, Ruby’s life has been filled with turmoil: a long trip to Tennessee, months of isolation from a failed integration at the Knoxville Zoo, a long trip back to California, and now the loss of Tara.
Please ask Los Angeles Zoo Director John Lewis to retire Ruby to PAWS and to phase out the zoo’s elephant exhibit altogether:
John Lewis, Director
Los Angeles Zoo
5333 Zoo Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90027-1498
323-644-4200
323-662-9786 (fax)
jlewis@zoo.lacity.org
Update—November 2004: Once again, the stubborn zoo industry subjected Ruby to a stressful cross-country move by secretly shipping her from the Knoxville Zoo to the Los Angeles Zoo, robbing her of an idyllic retirement at The Elephant Sanctuary, which was just a short drive from Knoxville. This recent move places her in another precarious situation and can be summed up in one word: pointless. At the Los Angeles Zoo, Ruby’s future remains uncertain, as the zoo lacks adequate space for her and has stated that as an African elephant, Ruby does not fit in with its Asian elephant program. Another move to a different zoo, which could be imminent, would only lead to the same problems that plagued Ruby at the Knoxville Zoo and cause her continued, undeserved hardship.
Update—July 19, 2004: Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn ordered the Los Angeles Zoo to retrieve Ruby from the Knoxville Zoo, but returning Ruby to the zoo is not the answer, as it lacks adequate space for her. The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee is a short drive away from Ruby’s current location, and it can provide Ruby with the companionship of her own species and hundreds of acres to roam.
See our action alert for details on how to contact the mayor to ask that he retire Ruby to the sanctuary, instead.
In May 2003, amid a storm of controversy, Ruby, an aging female African elephant, was separated from her longtime companion, Gita, and moved from the Los Angeles Zoo in California to the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee, more than 2,200 miles away.
Activists have been closely monitoring Ruby in Knoxville and report that she is not doing well. Since the move, she has primarily been segregated from the other four elephants. Despite the zoo’s claims, attempts to introduce Ruby to the other four elephants have failed, reducing Ruby’s existence to one of loneliness, boredom, and deprivation. In addition, Ruby exhibits extreme stereotypic behavior (swaying), which indicates that she is in severe physical and psychological distress. In the past, the Knoxville Zoo cruelly kept a timid elephant named Ellie alone for five years because they were never able to integrate her into the rest of the herd.
Female elephants are highly social and should never be kept in solitary confinement. Ruby desperately needs to be transferred to The Elephant Sanctuary, where she would have her choice of companions and ample room to roam. Although Ruby is now in Tennessee, Los Angeles officially owns her. Pleas to both the Los Angeles Zoo and Knoxville Zoo to retire Ruby to The Elephant Sanctuary, a short drive away from Knoxville, have fallen on deaf ears.
On April 30, 2003, in response to a taxpayer lawsuit, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George Wu gave the Knoxville Zoo six months to provide a progress report on its attempts to integrate Ruby with the facility’s four other elephants. The lawsuit, filed on May 1, 2003, was originally intended to prevent Ruby from being transferred to the Knoxville Zoo, yet as a temporary restraining order was awaiting ruling by a federal court judge, Los Angeles Zoo officials shipped Ruby out in the middle of the night on May 25 in an apparent attempt to skirt a legal challenge to Ruby’s transfer.
What You Can Do
Contact the directors of the Knoxville Zoo and the Los Angeles Zoo and let them know that you are disturbed that Ruby is all alone and suffering in conditions that fail to meet her most basic needs. Urge the zoo directors to work together and make arrangements to release Ruby to the sanctuary where she can live her remaining years in peace and dignity. See the “Help End Ruby’s Suffering” action alert for details.
Mr. Jim Vlna, Director
The Knoxville Zoo
3500 Knoxville Zoo Dr.
Knoxville, TN 37914.
865-637-5331
865 637-1943 (fax)
jvlna@knoxville-zoo.org
Mr. John Lewis, Director
Los Angeles Zoo
5333, Zoo Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90027-1498.
323-644-4261
323-662-9786 (fax)
jlewis@zoo.lacity.org
