Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants

Closing the elephant exhibit at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium is within sight but what about the two elephants living there?

Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium (PDZA) is holding a public comment meeting to discuss their 10-year plan which includes closing their tiny elephant exhibit – but not until poor Hanako and Suki die.

WHY WAIT for them to die? Why force them to continue to live in this physically and psychologically harmful environment?

Please come to ask (or write) that the humane decision be made. Ask for Hanako and Suki to be retired to an elephant sanctuary.

When: THIS Monday, April 25^th from 4:30 – 6pm. Come anytime!

Location:
Metro Parks Headquarters Board Room
4702 South 19^th Street
Tacoma, WA

If you can’t come: Please e-mail the zoo at:  strategicplan@pdza.org

Or snail mail: Attention Strategic Plan, 5400 North Pearl St. Tacoma, WA 98407
You can also join their facebook page and leave comments supporting the end to the elephant exhibit. https://www.facebook.com/PtDefianceZoo

To be most effective, be polite and thoughtful.

The Ballard Tribune had a nice write-up about the battle to get the WPZ elephants out of their cramped zoo enclosure, and into the 2700-acre Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee:

In close quarters: local activists continue to demand more space for the Woodland Park Zoo elephants

Also check out the response to this article from The Elephant Sanctuary’s CEO

Here is an excerpt from the article:

One of the main complaints against WPZ is that the three elephants endure solitary confinement and a lack of social experience.

With roughly one acre of yard space outside, these elephants have four pens to roam in and their heated indoor barn is divided into four separate holding areas, according to the zoo’s website.

Iain Douglas-Hamilton once wrote in a National Geographic article that elephants travel for three things: sex, sustenance and safety.

“We have all of that here – the elephant’s travel is resource-based and we are always looking for ways to enhance that,” said WPZ’s elephant curator, Bruce Upchurch. “What we have now is enough. We have quality space, it’s just the amount that’s the issue.”

Alyne Fortgang, co-founder of the Friends of the Woodland Park Zoo Elephants, doesn’t agree.

“After years of having people take pictures and staring at them, these elephants have become living shells of a being,” she said. “They look like zombies, exude little emotion, and hardly even act alive compared to wild elephants that are in movement 20 hours a day.”