HAVE ALL THE OPTIONS FOR A RELOCATION TO A SANCTUARY, INSTEAD OF ANOTHER ZOO, BEEN CONSIDERED FOR ELEPHANTS BILLY AND TINA?
On Friday 2nd May 2025, the Pro Elephant Network has sent a letter to the Director of the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, to the President and CEO and the Executive Vice President of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health regarding elephants Billy and Tina.
“The vision of the Pro Elephant Network (PREN) is a future in which all elephants can thrive in freedom and dignity in protected natural habitats as part of naturally functioning and evolving ecosystems.
Our mission is to stop the capture and exploitation of elephants by humans and to advocate for the release of captive-held elephants back into natural spaces. Where freedom and reintegration back into wild areas is not possible PREN seeks the best ethical solutions in the most natural surroundings possible. The acceptability and viability of these ethics and conditions are to be evaluated relative to what the individual elephant would be able to experience in the wild.
The Pro Elephant Network (PREN) is therefore deeply disappointed and dismayed by the decision, formally announced on the 22nd April 2025, to transfer Billy and Tina to the Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma. PREN joins a multitude of elephant experts and advocates calling for a more compassionate outcome for the last two remaining elephants living at the Los Angeles Zoo.
This decision, jointly taken by the Los Angeles Zoo and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, to transfer Billy and Tina to another zoo facility, is, in our joint expert opinion, ill-considered and illustrates a disregard for the wellbeing of Billy and Tina. PREN strongly believes that these elephants deserve to live in peace in a sanctuary after years of being on display in public whilst in solitary confinement and in captivity at a zoo.
There are a number of elephant specific sanctuaries such as the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, in the USA, the Global Sanctuary for Elephants in Brazil, or the Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary to name but a few, that could potentially offer Billy and Tina the opportunity to be introduced to other elephants of different ages and sexes. Have any options for sanctuary been considered for these elephants instead of another zoo facility?
In addition, Billy and Tina desperately require reprieve from constant public gaze, the aforementioned specialised elephant sanctuaries do not operate in a manner where public is integral to the footfall and viability of zoo economics. Elephants blossom in privacy and shrink under the constant public engagements, viewing and loss of private space which all has negative connotations on their health.
Billy is forty years old and Tina is fifty-nine years old, according to the content of a media release by Defense of Animals, “Billy and Tina are in grave distress, suffering from severe medical conditions including foot and joint disease and chronic arthritis, both elephants display profound zoochosis, a condition marked by repetitive behaviours such as swaying, bobbying, and pacing, which are clear signs of psychological trauma and brain damage.”
Whilst the newly constructed elephant facility at the Tulsa Zoo covers 17 acres it does not compare to the space and opportunity for purposeful rehabilitation of many elephant sanctuaries.
Billy and Tina require a vast amount of space to remain physically and psychologically healthy and their continued captivity in a zoo will undoubtedly cause further, immense emotional and physical suffering. PREN unquestionably supports the numerous public requests for the urgent reconsideration of the aforementioned decision, and strongly advocates for the release of Billy and Tina to sanctuary where their care and autonomy will be prioritized.
If the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens and Association of Zoos and Aquariumsmake the ground-breaking decision to release Billy and Tina into sanctuary, this decision based upon the best available science, will lauded by elephant experts from around the world. “
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