In Defense of Animals recently released its annual “10 Worst Zoos for Elephants” list, which raises awareness about the often-fatal harms committed against elephants in North American zoos — and general zoo animal welfare.
These are the worst zoos in America for elephants. This list will also answer the question: are elephants happy in zoos?
“The zoos featured on this list demonstrate how public display facilities can cause elephant suffering, regardless of space, ‘enrichment,’ or financial investment,” explained Marilyn Kroplick M.D., the organization’s president.
In compiling the list, investigators observe elephants engaging in behaviors that are indicative of chronic stress and suffering, suggesting that artificial environments inhibit pachyderms from satisfying their social, physical, and psychological needs.
Here’s the complete list that shows the lack of animal welfare in zoos for elephants:
10. Rosamond Gifford Zoo – Syracuse, NY
One elephant, Mali, gave birth to her calf, Ajay, at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in January 2019. Unfortunately, based on the zoo’s past actions, it seems likely that Mali and Ajay will be separated. In the early 2000s, Mali gave birth to another calf named Chuck, and the zoo broke them up three years later.
Elephants are extremely social and empathetic creatures, and a bond between a mother and baby is strong. Removing a mother’s child can lead to devastating social and health issues for both parties and shows that the welfare of animals in zoos is not taken seriously.
9. San Diego Zoo Global – San Diego, CA
Another of the worst American zoos for elephants, San Diego Zoo Global operates and is affiliated with various zoos, including the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, Ariz., which has been featured on this list in the past. It provides further evidence that when discussing if elephants are happy in zoos, the answer is no.
Last year, the company separated four males who had formed a strong “brotherhood” bond and punished an elephant for never fathering offspring by relocating him.
While male elephants in the wild typically leave their herds during their teenage years, this is a gradual process, not a sudden breaking-up of families like at San Diego Zoo Global. This disregard for zoo animal welfare is all too common
8. Utah’s Hogle Zoo – Salt Lake City, Utah
Christie, an African elephant cruelly ripped away from her mother in the wild at a young age, has a 10-year-old calf, Zuri. Since their companion’s death in 2015, the duo has remained unaccompanied in their exhibit at Utah’s Hogle Zoo.
In this case, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is failing to enforce its required minimum of three compatible elephants per enclosure, making this zoo one of the worst in the United States for elephants.
7. Edmonton Valley Zoo – Alberta, Canada
For years, the Edmonton Valley Zoo has refused to re-home Lucy, an ailing Asian elephant living in solitary confinement, to a sanctuary. As more evidence of the quality of animal welfare in zoos, Lucy endures harsh Canadian winters, which stoop to a bone-chilling range of between 14 to -31 degrees Fahrenheit.
Can elephants really be happy in zoos with these conditions? Below-freezing temperatures and the zoo’s frequent use of bullhooks to control Lucy only add to her ever-diminishing health.
6. Natural Bridge Zoo – Natural Bridge, VA
At the Natural Bridge Zoo, Asha, an African elephant, recently received a new name, Beautiful. Her reality at the zoo, however, stands in stark contrast to her new moniker.
Places like this demonstrate a disregard for zoo animal welfare. For nearly 20 years, the Natural Bridge Zoo has kept her in solitary confinement. She spends summers forced to provide rides to thousands of people at the mercy of a bullhook. During the winter, she’s relegated to the confines of a cramped, bare enclosure. Natural Bridge Zoo has long been regarded as one of the worst zoos in America.
5. Louisville Zoo – Louisville, KY
The absence of basic welfare for animals in zoos can also be seen in the story of Mikki, a 35-year-old African elephant who recently gave birth to a calf, Fitz, after seven years of failed artificial insemination attempts. Her other calf, Scotty, died in 2010 from colic at three years old.
In 2016, Mikki was subjected to six traumatic artificial insemination procedures, which often entail chaining a female elephant’s legs down and forcibly invading her 13-foot-long reproductive tract against her will.
Fitz and Mikki, who are both African elephants, share an enclosure with an Asian elephant, Punch. This unnatural social arrangement is unhealthy for everyone involved, especially Fitz, who is a baby and should be raised according to a vital, species-appropriate kinship structure.
4. Oregon Zoo – Portland, OR
This is the Oregon Zoo’s tenth appearance on the “Worst Zoos for Elephants” list, evidence of a complete lack of animal welfare improvement in zoos.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents show that a 26-year-old Asian elephant named Chendra was pregnant during the summer, but that she was later diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) and miscarried. The zoo forced Chendra to breed despite having been exposed to other elephants with TB in the past, and her dangerous pregnancy probably resulted from a desire for increased revenues and zoo attendance. This makes Oregon Zoo one of the worst American zoos.
3. Bronx Zoo – Bronx, NY
In 2006, the Bronx Zoo promised to end its elephant program, after concerns about zoo animal welfare and the elephants’ overall happiness in zoos. But 12 years later, it continues to house elephants. A 48-year-old Asian elephant named Maxine recently passed away due to a progressive illness.
The Bronx Zoo is a veteran on the “Worst Zoos for Elephants” list. Last year, it ranked number one due to its mistreatment of Happy, an elephant who suffered in isolation with Maxine for 13 years.
Much like with Utah’s Hogle Zoo, the AZA is failing to enforce its three-elephant minimum per enclosure policy at the Bronx Zoo.
2. Zoo Miami – Miami, FL
There is also cause for concern over zoo animal welfare when you look at the four elephants who have died at Zoo Miami since 2012, earning the establishment one of the worst track records in North America for elephant deaths. Additionally, the zoo struggles with aggressive behaviors between its elephant residents, which tend to lead to life-threatening injuries, making this American zoo one of the worst for elephants.
An African elephant named Cita passed away in February 2019 following an encounter with another elephant, Peggy. Cita suffered for at least 14 hours before she finally succumbed to her injuries. It was the fourth time Peggy had attacked Cita, according to records obtained by In Defense of Animals, making this an easily preventable death. With all this horror, it’s clear that elephants are not happy in zoos.
1. Pittsburgh Zoo – Pittsburgh, PA
When discussing a lack of animal welfare in zoos, particularly for elephants, the Pittsburgh Zoo tops the list, courtesy of its “unbroken pattern of negligence” toward its pachyderm residents. The zoo’s sheltering is inadequate, and investigations carried out by In Defense of Animals show that the zoo separated three closely-bonded elephants who had spent around 25 years together.
As recently as December of 2019, investigators witnessed distressed elephants pacing around their small enclosure for hours on end. These elephants are accompanied by dogs, despite a previous USDA citation regarding the propensity for canines to act aggressively toward elephants and cause them “undue stress.” Again, this shows the shortcomings of zoo animal welfare.
Like elephants at other cold-weather zoos, those at the Pittsburgh Zoo endure winters on concrete floors, which are known to cause painful leg and foot disease. This happens at some of the other worst zoos in America. Last year, the zoo separated an African elephant, Thandi, from her beloved companions, sending her to Ontario solely for breeding purposes.
These incidents show only some of the Pittsburgh Zoo’s laundry list of offenses against elephants and a disregard for the welfare of animals in zoos.
As we’ve seen, elephants are not happy in zoos. To learn more and get involved in bettering the lives of zoo animals, visit In Defense of Animals’ website for more information.
https://waterfallmagazine.com
Thankfulness to my father who informed me on the topic
of this blog, this weblog is truly remarkable.
How are they getting away with cruelty of separating calves and hitting them with Bullhooks??!! All zoos are bad. If they could all go to sanctuaries.
INDIA IS ONE OF THE MOST SMELLY, DISGUSTING UNCIVILIZED SHITHOLES. INDANS ARE STUPID USELESS RACE. THEY ARE USELESS ON THIS PLANET
India didn’t make it to this list so your idiotic comment is useless??? It’s US and Canada
Oh, the shame of being in this list.
This is all deplorable. Why does this exist?
Please show these helpless animals compassion, you are there voice., you are all they have. We should know better because we are human beings. Please treat them how you would like others to treat your love ones..These animals do have feelings , they feel pain when pain is inflicted on them.When we know better we should do better
Thank You for your compassion on these helpless animals.They need you to step up and do the right thing
Please show these helpless animals compassion, you are there voice., you are all they have. We should know better because we are human beings. Please treat them how you would like others to treat your love ones..These animals do have feelings , they feel pain when pain is inflicted on them.When we know better we should do better
Thank You for your compassion on these helpless animals.They need you to step up and do the right thing
Please help these helpless animals,we need to show these animals compassion because we are better than that.we should treat animals how we would like to be treated.We are there voices.Think about if your love one was treated in this cruel manner .I ask you how would you feel?
Thank You for your compassion on these helpless animals
Heart-breaking and very sad.
There should be no zoos. Animals belong free in their own environment or at least in a sanctuary…NOT IN Zoos. Zoos are cruel even if that is hidden by those who go to zoos.
The Elephants need to be relocated to accredited sanctuaries, of which there are several here in the United States. They do not belong in Zoos being exploited for profit.
Just one of those days I can’t continue to read the whole list of abused elephants. Just wanna ask what is being done to make life better for these beautiful beasts and is there anything I can do? Thanks for the truth!!
How dare you publish this list without understanding the background of the group that published this or even knowing anything about the zoo itself.
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is an amazing zoo that does everything it should to take good care of its animals and elephant family. The IDA would absolutely have had issues with the zoo decades ago. I remember it as a kid, but it is no longer the same zoo, and I’m willing to bet that NO one from IDA has ever been to visit.
I am an animal lover, and push for animal rights legislation, as well as high penalties and severe jail time for those that abuse animals, but the IDA is over the top as is PETA.
I’ve funded Lady Freethinker in the past, and signed numerous petitions, but I think I’ll direct my efforts elsewhere.
What can we do to help with this Top 10 list of horrible places for elephants? They all need to be freed to sanctuaries.
What good is it releasing the names of the zoos if you don’t have any petitions out there to sign the people are an outrage we want to sign petition so the releasing of the names of the zoos that’s only half the battle where are the petitions put the petitions out we need petitions petitions petitions come on guys get with it
Nice going you disgusting zoos, you are a disgrace when your policies are so cruel and inhumane, You all have no heart or love when you separate companions,which is the only love they ever feel, from each other, SHAME ON YOU
Bronx Zoo is on TV,Animal Planet. I,m very sad that they are on this list, was going to fly there for a week.especially for animals. Very dissappointed.
Don’t waste your time Pauline I grew up in the Bronx it’s a dirty filthy dump and the Bronx Zoo is a dirty filthy dump
Bronx Zoo is on TV,Animal Planet. I,m very sad that they are on this list, was going to fly there for a week.especially for animals. Very dissappointed.
Please move forward with support and strength to help animals
It is time that a civilised society like the United States increased legislation towards the wellbeing of animals kept in captivity. There must surely be a case for closing these zoos in favour of specialist sanctuaries where these animals’ needs are met. AND, most importantly, if no-one went to these zoos, they would be forced to close! Monetary gain is everything to these people.
I am horrified by the information posted regarding the elephants especially the bronz zoo. I cannot say how upset this has me.
Put humans in a zoo and beat and starve them to death. Humans are vermins and cancer on this planet. I want DEPOPULATION of 80% of these parasites!!!!!!!
WE NEED TO BAN ALL ZOOS. LEAVE ANIMALS ALONE!!!!!
NEED TO BE CLOSED DOWN!
Not only did you repeat false claims, you got them wrong and made them worse. Here is the Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s response to our placement on IDA’s “10 Worse Zoos for Elephants” list for 2020:
A fanatical “animal rights” organization called In Defense of Animals has once again targeted 10 of America’s top zoos for its annual list of “10 Worst Zoos for Elephants.”
While the Rosamond Gifford Zoo is not surprised to be among those targeted – and we are in good company with several excellent zoos — we are shocked at the level of misinformation and outright lies contained in the IDA “report.”
While the IDA claims are so absurd as to be laughable, we feel we must respond to them on behalf of our 8-member Asian elephant herd, our devoted elephant care team and our many supporters who actually experience and appreciate the loving attention given to the elephants in our care.
IDA claims that Rosamond Gifford Zoo “uses elephants for breeding purposes, separates elephants who have been together for many years and keeps elephants confined indoors during cold winter months.”
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is one of only 30 zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums to participate in its Species Survival Plan for Asian elephants and one of only 11 that have surpassed all the requirements to be a breeding facility. The goal of Species Survival Plans is to maintain a genetically diverse and healthy population of an endangered species in human care to prevent the species from going extinct before we can solve the threats that are decimating the wild populations.
Asian elephants are listed on the IUCN red list as critically endangered – there are only about 30,000 remaining in the wild due to human encroachment and deforestation of their habitats, poaching for their ivory and human-elephant conflict that results when elephants invade farmers’ crops seeking food.
AZA zoos are required to be actively engaged in conservation of threatened and endangered species both in the wild and in our care, and our zoo donates tens of thousands of dollars to conservation projects on the ground in Thailand, India and Africa aimed at curbing poaching and other threats.
At the same time, we have invested millions of dollars, countless hours and many years of study to create a habitat for the elephants in our care that caters to their natural behaviors and herd structure and provides them with constant health care, enrichment, interaction and nutrition, as well as a deep bond with the human caregivers who feel privileged to serve them.
Our elephant herd’s night house is a 12,000-square foot barn with heated floors and piles of sand to protect their feet. Their “exhibit” is a nearly 7-acre preserve that we expanded in size and complexity again last year. In 2015 we added a 50,000-gallon watering hole that mimics the home base of elephant family groups in the wild. Our elephant herd enjoys access to the outdoors in all but the most inclement weather, and they love to play in snow while our team carefully monitors them to ensure they don’t get “cold feet” or ears, for that matter.
We do not separate elephants that have close relationships – to the contrary, we have a three-generation family group composed of mother Mali, father Doc, grandma (Mali’s mother) Targa, Mali and Doc’s son Batu, who turns 5 on May 12, and his baby brother Ajay, who turned 1 year old on January 15.
We also have the “aunties,” Romani and Kirina, a mother-daughter pair as is typical in the wild, and matriarch Siri, age 52, our elderly elephant who was the zoo’s sole elephant for many years and enjoys a close relationship with her human caregivers.
As part of building its “10 Worst” list, IDA filed a Freedom of Information Act request for all husbandry and health care records for our entire herd over the past year, and we complied – yet all they could come up with to discredit us are untruths and misinformation – including the false claim that we plan to send Doc to another zoo.
Doc did not come to us “as part of a breeding partnership with the notoriously cruel Ringling Brothers Circus,” as stated in the IDA “report.” Doc came to us as part of the movement to free circus elephants from a life of work and place them in better situations – such as at an accredited zoo with a large preserve and the ability to participate in the Species Survival Plan for Asian elephants.
When Doc came to us, he was not socialized with a typical family group, but he soon changed. Now he is a different elephant – he loves playing with anything he can get his trunk on, he is a great father and – unlike many bull elephants – he is very close to his family. Doc’s transformation is a testament to the great care and environment at our zoo. Watching him and his young sons interact is a joy that amazes our staff and visitors alike.
Contrary to what the IDA “investigator” supposedly “overheard,” Doc is not going anywhere. Spreading a lie such as this just goes to show that this group will not stop at anything to discredit any zoos that has elephants.
The video that they show – with extremely biased commentary that “He wants to escape” – does not depict Doc. It shows one of our females, Romani, using her trunk to explore, as all elephants do.
The focus on Doc’s swaying is another misrepresentation of what is really going on. Those who know Doc are aware that he sways with anticipation, not stress, when he senses something exciting such as the approach of a keeper, a family member or a bale of hay.
Lacking any recent problems to cite, IDA reaches back to 2001, when Targa had a miscarriage as the beginning of “a tragic family history.” The number of fallacies in this portion is truly astounding, but suffice it to say that Targa and her daughter Mali went to Canada while our zoo constructed a bigger, better elephant facility and returned here when it was completed. Mali did have a baby, Chuck, who remained with her for 6 years. Often after that age, a young male will go off and join a bachelor group where he can play, roughhouse and learn to be a typical bull elephant until he is ready to mate. Elephant daughters, on the other hand, stay with their moms for life, as Mali has stayed with Targa and Kirina has stayed with Romani.
Mali’s son Batu, soon to be age 5, eventually will also be ready to leave his family and, we anticipate, join a bachelor group at another zoo as would be typical in the wild. The claim that male elephants are sent “from zoo to zoo” for breeding is also false, and we would ask that IDA provide proof of this and ALL of its unfounded claims aimed at disparaging our zoo and tarnishing our reputation.
Far from being a problem zoo, the Rosamond Gifford Zoo is highly respected by scientists and researchers who have included us in many studies that are helping Asian elephants in the wild. Our zoo participates in research that has led to treatments for elephant herpes, the biggest killer of wild elephants, as well as studies of elephant communication, intellect and herd dynamics. We are currently participating in a study that will shed light on what characteristics of elephants may lead to elephant-human conflict on the ground in their native countries.
The rash, irresponsible claims made by IDA and the lengths they stoop to bolster their agenda actually show that we are doing a fine job with our elephant program. After all their digging, we are certain that if there were any real evidence to the contrary, they would have found it.
What places of horrors these zoos are. 😡😠🤬🐘🐘🐘🐘
Zoos cannot possibly provide for the social and familial needs of elephants, nor do these exhibits
teach the public anything important about the lives of elephants. Therefore they are failures and should send all the elephants to sanctuaries
and opt for documentary films to be run all day in screening rooms as a better way to expose the public to elephants.
I wish upon a star that the Human Race will learn to love and respect all animals. There are times I am so ashamed to be of the human race. We are Mother Nature’s and the wildlife’s worst enemy.
No large mammal belongs in a zoo. Zoos are basically prisons for them. Elephants, rhinos, tigers…all need wild spaces. If people really cared about other species they would never frequent zoos nor marine parks.
UNFATHOMABLE & HEARTBREAKING
Such sad reading!
I’m ashamed to be a human being.
horreur