Five years ago Members of the Pro Elephant Network (PREN) wrote a letter of concern to the Mayor of Yerevan and the Director of the Yerevan zoo about elephant Bunka, the sole elephant held in captivity at the Yerevan zoo. This urgent letter was motivated by the work of leading animal advocacy groups including Friends of Bunka of the freeBunka campaign and the Born Free Foundation.
Bunka was separated from his mother, Malka, in 2014 when he was transferred to Yerevan zoo as a replacement for another elephant. He has lived in solitary confinement for over a decade.
The undersigned members of PREN have alerted stakeholders to Bunka’s rapidly deteriorating physical and mental health.
Observers from Friends of Bunka who visited him at the Yerevan zoo in early June 2026 have documented him on video pacing endlessly in small circles inside his dark indoor barn. This behavior indicates severe psychological distress caused by his isolation and poor living conditions.
There is global support for the transfer of Bunka, Armenia’s only captive elephant, to a genuine sanctuary.
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