After outcry over the latest deaths of two L.A. Zoo elephants, the Los Angeles Metropolis Council desires to know why they have been euthanized.
The council unanimously voted Wednesday to ask the zoo for a research that may study the components that led to the deaths of the 2 Asian elephants — Jewel and Shaunzi — and element whether or not enhancements should be made in how the zoo cares for its remaining elephants.
The movement was launched by Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield and Eunisses Hernandez after the zoo’s determination to euthanize 53-year-old Shaunzi in January. Jewel was euthanized in January 2023 on the age of 61.
“It’s not a whodunit. It’s not like they’re doing an post-mortem to search out the killer. We all know they have been euthanized as a result of they have been having critical medical points,” Blumenfield stated. “A part of the report is to search out out: What have been these points? Is that this one thing that was instantly associated to captivity?”
Max Pulsinelli, a spokesperson for the L.A. Zoo, stated in an electronic mail the zoo was “glad to offer this data to the Council as requested.”
Zoo officers have stated that elephants on the zoo obtain the best degree of care and that the choice to euthanize every elephant was made solely after they’d exhausted each different possibility. The choice to euthanize Jewel was made as a result of her “high quality of life was persevering with to say no,” whereas Shaunzi was euthanized after contemplating components together with “her age [and] previous medical historical past [and] her incapacity to proper herself with supportive efforts to boost her,” the zoo has stated.
The deaths have sparked outrage amongst animal rights teams, who say captivity dramatically will increase the possibilities of elephants having a number of medical points that may result in a untimely loss of life.
“An elephant is the biggest land mammal on Earth,” stated Courtney Scott, an elephant marketing consultant for In Protection of Animals. “They’ll’t even start to thrive and even be remotely wholesome in a couple of acres.”
Scott stated that lately dozens of zoos have closed their elephant displays, together with the Santa Barbara Zoo.
The deaths left the L.A. Zoo with simply two remaining Asian elephants: Tina, who’s been on the facility since 2010, and Billy, who has been there since 1989.
Courtney Fern, director of governmental relations with Nonhuman Rights Undertaking, an animal advocacy group, stated she needed to see the zoo transfer Billy and Tina to an animal sanctuary, which she known as “the one type of captivity that may come near assembly their wants.” In 2022, a council panel that focuses on animal welfare advisable Billy be moved to a sanctuary, given “irregular” habits. Activists have pointed to repetitive head bobbing and swaying.
Asian elephants have a lifespan of 60 to 70 years within the wild, in response to the Worldwide Fund for Animal Welfare. They’re thought of endangered, with fewer than 50,000 remaining.
