Judge to LA Zoo: Hold the Elephants
For years we’ve asked Los Angeles Zoo officials to follow the lead of more than a dozen progressive U.S. zoos and close down its elephant display for good. Despite overwhelming public outcry over the cruelty and the cost to taxpayers involved in keeping elephants in captivity, the zoo has pushed full speed ahead to build a cage to confine more elephants to a cramped space where they will be denied everything that is natural and important to them … but there has been a reprieve. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing any new elephants from being taken to the zoo for at least a month while arguments in a pending lawsuit about the issue are heard.
Considering that elephants in the wild can walk up to 30 miles a day, the Los Angeles Zoo’s planned 3.5-acre space, which would be subdivided into four cramped yards, is an embarrassment to the city, and it will continue to deny elephants adequate room to roam. Lack of exercise and long hours standing on hard surfaces are major contributors to foot infections and arthritis, the leading causes of death among captive elephants.
Don’t wait. Urge the Los Angeles Zoo to abandon plans to bring in more elephants— and ask that Billy, the solitary male elephant at the zoo, be sent to a sanctuary. Suggest that the newly constructed elephant exhibit be used for other species already at the zoo who could benefit from additional space.
Written by Jennifer O’Connor
