Woodland Park Zoo Transfers Ownership of Elephants Before New City Council Can Send Them to a Sanctuary
For Immediate Release
Bamboo suffering from foot problems
Seattle, WA (November 18, 2015) – This week, Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) announced that it transferred ownership of elephants, Bamboo and Chai, to the Oklahoma City Zoo and Sri to the St. Louis Zoo.
The timing of WPZ’s decision, in advance of a new city council taking office, raises questions about the true motivation behind this sudden and unannounced move. WPZ’s claim that transferring ownership is standard industry practice contradicts the zoo’s own track record. Sri has been on loan from WPZ to St. Louis Zoo since 2002. WPZ has never transferred ownership until now.
In this past election, Seattle likely voted in an elephant-friendly City Council. This majority could pass an ordinance, previously introduced by Councilmember Sawant that would order the WPZ-owned elephants to be retired to an accredited sanctuary. WPZ rushed the elephants out of town before it could be voted on.
Chai
It is disingenuous for WPZ to say that the transfer of ownership “does not mean we will stop caring about them.” The zoo’s own actions indicate otherwise. Instead of retiring Bamboo and Chai to a sanctuary, WPZ condemned them to a life sentence in a tiny yard and a barren barn cell in a freezing climate. Before that, WPZ unceremoniously dumped Sri at the St. Louis Zoo where she is one of 10 elephants on 2 acres enduring the same impoverished conditions as Bamboo and Chai. Sadly, these 3 elephants are at the mercy of Woodland Park Zoo which has ignored science, the majority of Seattle citizens, the Seattle City Council, and most gravely the physical and psychological health of these animals.
“It’s not enough that Woodland Park Zoo has stubbornly and willfully denied Bamboo, Chai, and Sri the opportunity to live out their golden years in open space immersed in nature – which only a sanctuary can provide,” said Alyne Fortgang, Co-founder of Friends. “Now in yet another cowardly and suspicious move, the zoo has taken away the people’s voice in determining a humane quality of life for our elephants.”
Seattle citizens are able to find comfort in the closure of Woodland Park Zoo’s elephant exhibit earlier this year. “Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants celebrates that we will never again bear witness to elephants suffering in Seattle,” says Fortgang.
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