Elephant Bios

Tinkerbelle (b. ~1966, d. 4/24/05)

Born in India circa 1966, Tinkerbelle was taken from her family and home in the wild when she was approximately one year old. On September 23, 1968, she was brought to the San Francisco Zoo where she has lived for the past 36 years. 

When she arrived at the Zoo, she was paired with Penny, an Asian elephant who had already been there for 13 years. For most of the next 27 years, Tinkerbelle and Penny lived together in a cement enclosure that measured less than 1/2 an acre. Elephants in the wild travel tens of miles every day, so this severe confinement created critical and debilitating health problems for both Tinkerbelle and Penny. 

On October 1, 1988, Tinkerbelle was being treated for an abscess by a veterinary technician. Tinkerbelle became "angry" and did a "headstand" on the technician, breaking her pelvis. Zookeepers defended Tinkerbelle, then 22, saying that she had been beaten and chained 15-16 hours a day at the zoo. One keeper, Paul Hunter, said that Tinkerbelle's abscess was a result of being hit with an ankus, which is a sharp, hooked instrument animal handlers in zoos and circuses often use to “manage” elephants. 

In the 1990s, the Zoo converted to "protected" contact with elephants that no longer allowed elephant keepers to be in the same space with the elephants. Lack of contact between elephants and keepers helped to prevent them from harming one another. 

Tinkerbelle's longtime companion Penny died in 1995. Tinkerbelle lived alone after this for two years until Calle arrived from the Los Angeles Zoo in 1997. 

Tinkerbelle's medical records indicate that she suffered for years from various foot and joint problems, severe arthritis and chronic colic. As a result, caretakers regularly administered the Zoo's standard regimen of painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs. However, this treatment never dealt with the underlying causes of her health problems and only served to mask her symptoms for years. 

IDA and other animal protection groups had argued for years that Tinkerbelle’s ailments could be alleviated if she were transferred to a sanctuary where she would have access to space and freedom of movement. Our long campaigning effort finally paid off in May 2004, when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to send Tinkerbelle and Lulu to a sanctuary. The Board of Supervisors subsequently passed a resolution requiring that any San Francisco Zoo elephant exhibit provide a minimum of 15 acres of space in June 2004. This new standard greatly surpasses the amount of space given to elephants in any U.S. zoo, and effectively shut down the San Francisco Zoo’s elephant exhibit.

While it was decided that Tinkerbelle would be sent to the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sanctuary in the Sierra foothills of Northern California, Zoo officials delayed her transfer until November 2004. During this period of time, her health condition continued to deteriorate rapidly. When Tinkerbelle finally arrived at the sanctuary, she was already in a state of physical ruin. PAWS director Pat Derby personally provided round-the-clock care and companionship for Tinkerbelle. PAWS also thoroughly documented Tinkerbelle's poor condition and allowed zoo veterinary staff to consult in Tinkerbelle's care in coordination with PAWS’s own veterinarian. 

Sadly, by March 2005, it was undeniably clear that Tinkerbelle’s captivity-induced debilitation was too far advanced for her to ever recover. If the Zoo had transferred her to PAWS months earlier than it had, Tinkerbelle might have had a chance to survive. As it was, she was experiencing constant pain that would only get worse in time. PAWS therefore made the difficult decision to euthanize Tinkerbelle to spare her further agony. 

Those who loved Tinkerbelle can at least take solace knowing that she spent her final days in loving hands, that the San Francisco Zoo will never destroy the life of another elephant, and that she is finally free of suffering.