The Bronx Zoo was named the No. 2 “worst” zoo for elephants as animal activists say its famed trunked resident “Happy” is one pouty pachyderm that ought to be launched to a sanctuary.
The zoo’s alleged “cruel confinement” of Glad and the zoo’s different Asian elephant Patty led to the undesirable rating from the animal rights group In Protection of Animals — with solely the Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens faring worse on the record.
The No. 1 “worst” LA zoo “epitomizes the tragic phenomenon of ‘aging out,’ where older elephants become burdens to the zoo as their physical and mental health deteriorates rapidly and they lose their breeding value,” the group stated.
On the Bronx Zoo, Glad and Patty are stored in enclosures 1000’s of instances smaller than their pure vary, which may end up in power stress, arthritis, mind injury, foot illness and early demise, a rep from In Protection of Animals stated.
“Happy’s actions speak volumes: she can no longer mentally cope with her environment,” Courtney Scott, the group’s elephant marketing consultant, stated in a press release. “Both Happy and Patty are in desperate need of a stimulating, natural environment with ample space to roam — somewhere they can experience the social and cognitive enrichment they have been denied for so long.”
Scott famous 15,000 animal activists have signed a petition urging the zoo to ship the elephant pair to a sanctuary “where they can finally find the peace, space, and sense of belonging they deserve.”
A spokesperson for the Bronx Zoo didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Whereas the Bronx Zoo vowed to close down its elephant exhibit in 2006 as soon as a number of of its elephants died, Patty and Glad proceed to be held on the zoo till additional discover regardless of neighbor Maxine’s demise in 2018, the group stated.
The zoo additionally allegedly violates the Affiliation of Zoos & Aquariums normal of care, the activist group stated, which mandates elephants stay in social teams of at the least three.
“This year marks the 11th time the Bronx Zoo has appeared on the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants list, highlighting its failure to honor its promise,” the group stated. “Instead, these two highly social senior elephants are forced to ‘age out’ in solitude, confined to separate barren enclosures, suffering through New York’s freezing winters.”
Animal rights group Nonhuman Rights Venture even took the Bronx Zoo to courtroom in an unsuccessful bid to get Glad might be categorized as an individual in a courtroom of regulation.
The New York Courtroom of Appeals dominated in 2022 that Glad isn’t a “person” and tossed the lawsuit.
Glad, who has been a resident of the zoo for the reason that Nineteen Seventies, disappeared from public view for practically two months over the summer time, based on the Nonhuman Rights Venture – and when she reappeared, she was noticed with obvious “significant” injury to her ft.
The zoo, nonetheless, contended Glad was in tip-top form and that activists aren’t as well-versed in her wants because the zoo’s care group.
There are “no serious issues” with Glad’s ft, the rep informed The Put up on the time, and any nail cracks are managed with routine pedicures.
Animal activists, then again, aren’t as satisfied that correct care is being delivered.
“Zoos drain the life out of elephants, then deny them a comfortable retirement,” stated Dr. Marilyn Kroplick, the group’s president.
Kroplick devoted 2024’s rating to Tonka, a 46-year-old African elephant at Zoo Knoxville that was euthanized for power ache final Could.
“Tonka’s premature death and missed freedom is a grim warning for Bronx Zoo, and for Happy and Patty,” Kroplick stated. “It’s time for zoos to stop aging out elephants in misery and instead start moving out older animals to real sanctuaries where they can finally enjoy some peace and freedom before they die.”
Right here’s the group’s full “worst” record for 2024:
- Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens, California
- Bronx Zoo, New York
- Edmonton Valley Zoo, Canada
- Cameron Park Zoo, Waco, Texas
- Two Tails Ranch, Williston, Florida
- Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Topeka Zoo & Conservation Middle, Kansas
- Little Rock Zoo, Arkansas
- Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Backyard, Ohio
- Phoenix Zoo, Arizona
