Why did the Bronx Zoo get rid of elephants?

In 2006, the Bronx Zoo announced no further elephants would be acquired, a measure taken by other zoos after calls from the public and animal experts stated that elephants do not belong in captivity thus affecting their natural behaviors as social creatures.



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Fortunately, the two elephants in the Bronx Zoo are still alive, but Happy and Patty have been deprived of everything that makes life worth living for members of their species. Along with my colleagues at the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), I am Happy's lawyer.

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The Bronx Zoo—which acquired Happy in 1977 and trained her, along with other elephants, to perform tricks, which she did in costume as recently as the 1980s—said in 2006 that it intends to close its elephant exhibit after the pachyderms there now die.

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Broadly, some elephant experts say urban zoos simply don't have the space that African elephants, who roam extensive distances in the wild to forage for hundreds of pounds of vegetation each day, need for a normal life.

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The zoo lost its status in 2012 after Toronto City Hall decided to move three African elephants to a Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in California against the recommendation of the zoo staff and management who wanted the animals to go to an accredited facility.

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However, due to a lack of funding and pressures from animal rights activists, it was decided that the elephants needed to be moved to new locations after all. The zoo retracted its decision to improve the enclosures in 2006, and it was apparent that the elephant exhibit would be closed for good.

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It wasn't natural for Winky and Wanda to endure the frigid Michigan winters at the zoo. Despite the zoo's best efforts, both elephants suffered from arthritis. They needed freedom. In 2005, after over a decade of living at the zoo, The Detroit Zoo let Winky and Wanda go.

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Elephants at zoos enjoy interacting with visitors, according to a new study. Research by Harper Adams and Nottingham Trent universities found that the animals' positive behaviours such as social activity increased around visitors, while indicators of boredom decreased.

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Elephants suffer in captivity. Elephants in the wild have one of the largest home ranges, often walking up to 40 miles each day. In captivity, whether it's a circus, zoo, or other commercial venue, captivity can not nearly replicate their natural environment.

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Bronx Zoo Gets a Female Yapock, 'Rarest Animal of the Americas'; Captured by Natives in Jungle of Costa Rica -- She Likes Night Life, so Visitors May Find Her Asleep Today. New York Times subscribers* enjoy full access to TimesMachine—view over 150 years of New York Times journalism, as it originally appeared.

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The Bronx Zoo features two elephants, Happy and Patty, who live separately along an acre each.

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Bronx Zoo operator apologizes for racist display of African man in 1906. Ota Benga, a Central African man, was put on display in the monkey house in 1906 before Black ministers brought the disgraceful incident to an end, the zoo operator said.

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On a gray day in mid-June, at the edge of a leafy enclosure in the Bronx Zoo's Wild Asia habitat, an elephant named Happy stood very still, gazing over the fence. There were a few logs scattered around, some grass and shrubs, and a concrete-lined pool.

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You can have a unique experience with an elephant at 72 AZA-accredited zoos. Visit any of these AZA-accredited zoos today to learn more about elephants, how the zoo is contributing to conservation and what you can do to help.

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Say goodbye to Nashville's elephants, at least temporarily. The Nashville Zoo is relocating three elephants in order to renovate and build a new facility for its African expansion. We place the highest priority on the well-being of each animal in our care, zoo president Rick Schwartz said in a media release.

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After a couple of notable deaths, the San Francisco Zoo removed the last of its elephants in 2005. The city's Board of Supervisors mandated the zoo couldn't get another pachyderm unless it was provided with 15 acres of roaming space.

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