California often is the most populous state, however it’s going to quickly be dropping one very large resident.
After 20 years residing within the Oakland Zoo, the park’s final remaining African elephant, Osh, might be relocated to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee later this 12 months, the zoo introduced in a press launch.
There may be hope that after Osh, a male, arrives on the sanctuary, the 30-year-old pachyderm will reunite with Donna, the zoo’s final remaining feminine African elephant that was relocated there final 12 months.
The choice to maneuver Osh was made after session with the Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums’ African Elephant Taxon Advisory Group, the zoo stated. It was determined that transferring Osh to the sanctuary was greatest for his well-being and would offer him with extra social alternatives.
The zoo estimates it’s going to take about 40 hours to move the 15,000-pound, 11-foot-2-inch-tall elephant to his new dwelling about 60 miles southwest of Nashville later this 12 months.
Animal activists are claiming victory with the zoo’s announcement and the elephant exhibit’s closure, saying it helps arguments that protecting elephants in captivity causes the animals to endure and die prematurely.
Former residents Lisa, M’Dunda and Donna on the Oakland Zoo.
(Steven L. Gotz/ Oakland Zoo)
Final 12 months, In Protection of Animals, an animal safety group, recognized the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens because the worst zoo for elephants within the U.S. The zoo has a 6.65-acre elephant exhibit housing its two Asian bull elephants, Billy and Tina, who’ve been there since 1989 and 2010, respectively.
“Attributable to his constrained, unnatural existence in a puny-sized exhibit, Billy’s physique and thoughts additional declines every passing 12 months,” In Protection of Animals wrote on its web site.
In Could, the L.A. Metropolis Council requested the zoo to look at the way it cares for its elephants and determine any modifications wanted after two of its Asian elephants, Jewel and Shaunzi, needed to be euthanized inside a 12 months.
L.A. Zoo officers stated that their elephants obtain the best degree of care and that euthanization is barely executed after they’ve already exhausted each different possibility.
They determined to euthanize Jewel, 61, as a result of her “high quality of life was persevering with to say no,” whereas Shaunzi, 53, was euthanized due to “her age [and] previous medical historical past [and] her lack of ability to proper herself with supportive efforts to lift her,” zoo officers stated.
An L.A. Zoo spokesperson stated in a Wednesday assertion that the choice to euthanize the elephants “was based mostly on poor prognosis and acute decline in well being stemming from age-related medical situations.”
Since 1991, dozens of zoos have closed their elephant reveals, together with the San Francisco Zoo, Santa Barbara Zoo, Sacramento Zoo and Monterey Zoo.
