By Nancy Farnam

Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) has, once again, shown contempt for public opinion by recently transferring legal ownership of its elephants to two other zoos. Sri was sent to the St. Louis Zoo in 2002 on a permanent breeding loan and Bamboo and Chai were sent on loan to the Oklahoma City Zoo last April. Although WPZ claims the elephant ‘donations’ were requested by the other zoos, the timing makes it far more likely that our zoo wanted to prevent a newly elected, more animal-friendly Seattle City Council from ordering the elephants to a sanctuary and wanted to make sure they would be permanently trapped in the zoo system. A public majority favored sanctuary placement where the elephants would have enjoyed vast natural space and freedom.

In its press release, Woodland Park Zoo claimed the elephants are all “thriving” at the other zoos. That is not true. Sri was impregnated in St. Louis, her calf died just before birth and she has been unable to expel the dead fetus for over 10 years. She stands in a small, overcrowded exhibit, with no quality of life – waiting to die.

Zoo records show Bamboo and Chai were very aggressive to each other before their transfer and displayed severe neurotic behaviors for years, an attempt to comfort themselves in a constant state of stress according to experts. Videos taken in Oklahoma show Chai is still performing her sad, neurotic “dance” just like she did here. Both suffer from captivity-related arthritis, chronic foot infections and colic, conditions that typically lead to premature death. Bamboo collapsed in her crate en route to Oklahoma and was treated for colic. Since arriving there, they have had to endure loud rock concerts near their exhibit and witnessed Asian calf, Malee, die from elephant herpes just like Hansa did here in Seattle. Clearly, the elephants are not “thriving” in their zoo environments.

The elephants’ legal transfer of ownership reflects Woodland Park Zoo’s complete lack of public accountability. Oversight has failed at every level. The zoo board passively acquiesces to whatever zoo administrators want to do. After sitting on the elephant welfare issue for years, the mayor and city council finally acknowledged the elephants would be better off at a sanctuary, then stood by while the zoo sent them to other zoos even though the city had the power to stop it.

The courts have repeatedly dismissed lawsuits brought under various legal theories to help the elephants and even ruled that the zoo was not subject to the Public Records Act although it receives millions of taxpayer dollars every year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has done a miserable job of enforcing the Animal Welfare Act and does not even require testing and treatment for TB in elephants anymore.

The state legislature allowed the city to enter into a semi-privatizing agreement with the zoo but only if it maintained proper oversight to make sure the zoo remained accountable to the public. Obviously, that has not happened. Instead, the city and courts have created a monster with absolute power that is above the law.

The Nashville Zoo did the right thing recently by retiring its three elephants to The Elephant Sanctuary. Woodland Park Zoo should have done the same but, instead, chose to play cynical hardball politics to keep the elephants under zoo control. If the zoo’s ownership transfer stands, Bamboo, Chai and Sri will continue to languish and die in strange cities without ever having the chance to live their lives.

It is disgraceful that Seattle allowed this to happen. Dramatic changes are needed at Woodland Park Zoo. A more compassionate and responsive zoo leadership would be a good start. The new city council should use every means in its power to pressure the zoo to reverse its elephant ownership dodge and the public should consider its own powerful option – a zoo boycott until the elephants are freed to a sanctuary.