Keeping Elephants in Zoos Should be Banned, Says Leading Wildlife Charity
A new report by advocacy organization Born Free draws attention to the “horrific suffering” of elephants held captive in zoos across the United States and Europe.
Photo: Moving Animals
Campaigners are calling for a ban on zoos keeping elephants, on the grounds that keeping captivity is causing “horrific suffering”.
The new report, Elephants in Zoos: A Legacy of Shame, by international wildlife charity Born Free, raises concerns around low birth rates and high infant mortality, with 40 percent of infant elephants in zoos dying before the age of five.
It notes that this, combined with the shrinking genetic diversity of elephants in zoos, is driving demand for the capture of wild elephants.
Now, the charity is calling on zoos to phase out captive elephants from their exhibits.
Will Travers OBE, the co-founder and executive president of Born Free says that the report provides “an avalanche of data and analysis that provides cast iron proof that we have failed to deliver a life worth living for elephants in zoos.”
Angela Grimes, CEO of Born Free USA adds that the "keeping of any wild animal in captivity denies them the ability to live their lives in freedom, with others of their own kind, and to thrive in their natural habitat.
“Elephants are a prime example of how captivity causes direct and lasting harm.
“Holding these majestic animals in zoos as 'exhibits' for public entertainment does not support elephant conservation or welfare. It is time for U.S. zoos to commit to ending elephant captivity by phasing out their exhibits for good."
Over the last 40 years, the number of elephants held captive in zoos has increased, mainly through the import of captured wild elephants.
299 elephants were kept in 67 different zoos across North America as of 2021. Meanwhile, in Europe there were 580 elephants in 149 zoos.
Elephants have close family ties and socially complex relationships within their herds. In the wild, they roam across vast areas exceeding 10,000 square kilometres, and they can live up to the age of 70.
In zoos, however, these animals are confined in small enclosures often not much bigger than a football field, and in groups of no more than three. In North America, at least twelve elephants are kept in complete isolation.
As a result of these poor conditions, captive elephants suffer from psychological problems, says Born Free. Most elephants in North American and European zoos demonstrate abnormal stereotypic behaviors, such as rocking, swaying, and head bobbing, as a consequence of long-term mental distress.
"It will take time, we all acknowledge that. For animals still in zoos, we need to create large, spacious enclosures in a sanctuary environment,” says Travers.
"We need to stop attempting to breed them. We should bring no more elephants from the wild.
"Over a period of probably decades, that will see the end of keeping elephants in zoos."
Landmark Legal Case for Elephants in Zoos
Animal advocates are also fighting to protect elephants kept in captivity using the legal system. In 2018, an organization called Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) brought a petition for writ of habeas corpus on behalf of an elephant called Happy. Habeas corpus is a common law right that protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment. In Happy’s case, the NhRP are seeking recognition of her fundamental right to bodily liberty and transfer to an elephant sanctuary.
Credit: NhRP
Happy currently lives by herself in a small enclosure at the Bronx Zoo in the U.S. She has been there since 1977, following her capture from the wild.
Last spring, the New York court of appeals, the highest court in the state of New York, agreed to hear Happy’s case.
This week, on 18 May, the court will finally hear what has been called “the most important animal-rights case of the 21st Century”. This will be the first time in history that the highest court of any English-speaking jurisdiction will hear a habeas corpus case brought on behalf of someone other than a human being and challenges the idea of elephants as “things,” all while striving to free Happy to a sanctuary.
Join the Fight for Happy the Elephant
The NhRP is encouraging people to join them on May 18 for a pre-hearing rally at noon outside the courthouse in Albany, where you can show your support for Happy’s right to liberty and hear remarks from the NhRP’s founder and president Steven Wise and featured guests.
You can also head inside the courthouse to watch at 2pm as New York’s highest court considers the legal issue of nonhuman animal rights for the first time. A livestream of the Court hearing will also be projected in Academy Park, which is right next to the courthouse. Afterwards, the NhRP’s attorneys will return to Academy Park to give post-hearing remarks. Learn more and RSVP for this event here.
If you can’t make it to Albany, you can watch Court’s livestream of the arguments online here.
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