LA Zoo Bids Farewell to Last Elephant Amid Growing Humane Concerns

After years of discussion, two elephants will soon be hitting the road to move from Los Angeles, Calif., to a new home in Tulsa, Okla. This week, the LA Local looked into why saying goodbye to the elephants is a good thing.

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“They are designed for movement,” explained Courtney Scott. In Defense of Animals . “If they don’t move, they suffer enormously, physically and mentally. Their brains are... very highly evolved and complex.”

Just this month, Audacy reported Regarding how elephants in San Diego responded to an earthquake, they created what is typically observed as an "alert circle" in their natural habitat.

At the Los Angeles Zoo, one of the two elephants preparing to relocate to the East Coast is Billy, a 40-year-old male Asian elephant that joined the zoo when he was just a 4-year-old calf.

“At the time, the Government of Malaysia was capturing and relocating wild elephants that were causing extensive damage to palm oil and rubber plantations due to their habitat being severely fragmented by agricultural activities,” mentioned the Los Angeles Zoo numerous elephants that were moved ended up in different areas of habitat; however, due to limited spaces in appropriate habitats, many younger elephants were instead directed to zoos to prevent their culling alongside elephant groups deemed troublesome.

According to Scott, Billy has also been displaying behavior natural for elephants in the wild – foraging. However, it hasn’t been working out great for him.

“ Billy has been seen doing that, doing that many times, just trying to reach as far as he can over the wall because foraging on plants is not only nutritious for them, it’s an exercise and something that is innate to their life. It’s part of who they are,” Scott said. “So, you’re denying them these natural behaviors. In addition to not being able to roam, not being able to choose their mates.”

LA Local host Jonathan Serviss also noted that two other elephants who were living at the zoo died over the past two years, increasing calls for the remaining elephants to be moved. Jewel, 61, died in 2023 and Shaunzi, 53, died last year and the zoo said they died due to age-related health issues, not their enclosure.

In a press release, the Los Angeles Zoo said that the decision to move Billy and 59-year-old Tina was made in consultation with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and its Elephant Species Survival Plan (SSP) and Taxon Advisory Group (TAG). It also said the Tulsa Zoo has recently expanded their elephant program and facilities, currently home to five Asian elephants, to include a 17-acre elephant complex that includes a 36,650-sqft state-of-the-art elephant barn and also incorporates a 10-plus acre wooded elephant preserve.

“The smallest home range of an elephant is 2,447 acres,” said Scott. “That the smallest. So, what you’re dealing with in a zoo is around one or even under 1% of their smallest home-range.”

A number of critics argue against housing elephants in zoos altogether because of the confined spaces available. Serviss questioned if it’s worthwhile to keep them in zoos when considering the advantages like generating conservation funding.

“ The reality is that zoos make only a negligible contribution to wildlife conservation, contributing less than 7% towards such efforts according to Scott.

Serviss said the LA Local reached out to the LA Zoo to ask why they finally gave up the fight to keep their elephants this year, but that they declined to make anyone available.

They did offer an explanation stating, and I quote: 'In order for the Los Angeles Zoo to continue its elephant program, they would need to introduce more elephants.'

Creating a larger social herd at the L.A. Zoo is currently not a viable option due to the limited availability of Asian elephants.’”

Additionally, Serviss brought up the nearly $1 billion city budget shortfall. In its release, the zoo said that discussions about the social herd at the zoo have been underway for some time and are not related to the city budget.

“Moving them to Tulsa, another AZA-accredited zoo with an excellent elephant program, will allow Billy and Tina to continue receiving exceptional care with opportunities to integrate with a larger herd,” said the Zoo. It also said it plans to continue supporting conservation programs and that “the Elephants of Asia exhibit will be reimagined for other suitable species and programming.”

So far, there is no official date set for then Billy and Tina are expected to move.

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