Elephant-Free Zoos
With the recognition that zoos cannot adequately provide for the complex needs of elephants, several zoos have closed their elephant exhibits, setting a positive precedent worldwide| United States | ||
| Zoo | Year | Elephant Disposition |
| Detroit Zoo (Michigan) | 2004 | Citing problems with keeping elephants in captivity, announced its decision to close its elephant exhibit and send two female Asian elephants—Winky, age 51, and Wanda, age 46—to a sanctuary. |
| San Francisco Zoo (California) | 2004 | Announced its decision to close its elephant exhibit and send Tinkerbelle, a 37-year-old Asian, and Lulu, a 38-year-old African, to other facilities. |
| Chehaw Wild Animal Park (Georgia) | 2004 | Retired Tange and Zula, both 30-year-old Africans, to The Elephant Sanctuary because the elephants “deserve to live out their remaining years in the very best captive environment possible.” |
| Henry Vilas Zoo (Wisconsin) | 2000 | Retired Winkie, a 34-year-old Asian, to The Elephant Sanctuary; transferred Penny, a 21-year-old African, to Riverbanks Zoo, North Carolina. |
| Louisiana Purchase Gardens
and Zoo (Louisiana) |
1999 | Retired Shirley, a 51-year-old Asian, to The Elephant Sanctuary because “It was in Shirley's best interests to retire her to a place that was more suitable.” |
| Mesker Park Zoo (Indiana) | 1999 | Retired Bunny, a 46-year-old Asian, to The Elephant Sanctuary. |
| Frank Buck Zoo (Texas) | 1998 | Transferred Sissy, a 20-year-old Asian, to the Houston Zoo, then to El Paso Zoo, and finally to The Elephant Sanctuary. |
| Sacramento Zoo (California) | 1991 | Sent lone elephant Winky to the Detroit Zoo because the zoo’s elephant enclosure was considered “totally inadequate.” |
| International | ||
| Zoo | Year | Elephant Disposition |
| Dudley Zoo (United Kingdom) | 2003 | Transferred African elephants Flossie and Flora to Planet Sauvage in Nantes, France. (Dudley Zoo had admitted for some years that its enclosure was not appropriate, and fundraising to build a new enclosure was unsuccessful, so the zoo finally decided to find a new home for the elephants and have no plans to have more elephants in the future.) |
| Longleat Safari Park (United Kingdom) | 2003 | Closed the elephant exhibit at its 350-acre Wiltshire site and relocated five African elephants to the Zoo Parc de Beauval in France. |
| Bristol Zoo (United Kingdom) | 2002 | Euthanized the lone 42-year-old female elephant, Wendy, after years of suffering from arthritis. (She had been kept alone in a tiny enclosure since 1986. Bristol Zoo elected not to replace her.) |
| London Zoo (United Kingdom) | 2001 | Permanently relocated three female Asian elephants (Mya, Layang-Layang, and Dilberta) to Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, closing the zoo’s 170-year-old elephant exhibit. (London Zoo’s enclosure had been heavily criticized for years and a keeper was killed in October 2001.) |
| Edinburgh Zoo (United Kingdom) | 1988 | No longer keeps elephants because of fears that captivity may cause harm to the animals. |