Elephants in U.S. zoos? Without breeding, future is uncertain
FRESNO, CALIF. >> Mabu saunters across a grassy field and raises his long, gray trunk to wrangle food from a hole carved inside a large boulder, captivating the attention of a girl propped up on her father’s shoulders.
At this zoo in a central California farming community, the 32-year- old African elephant is key not only to drawing visitors but also to ensuring there are elephants for zoogoers to see in the years to come — a future some animal lovers want to avoid.
Over the past year, the Fresno Chaffee Zoo has been pulled into a growing global debate over the future of elephants in zoos. In recent years, some zoos have phased out elephant exhibits due to the complexity of the animals and their needs. Still, others, like Fresno’s zoo, say they are committed to keeping elephants and are turning to breeding, arguing that a sustainable population of zoo elephants will help spur a commitment to wildlife conservation among future generations of visitors.
The zoo in Fresno, while beloved by local residents, has been targeted by animal activists in a report criticizing living conditions for the elephants and in legal actions trying to free them. 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.
The zoo opened a revamped and expanded multi- species African Adventure exhibit in 2015 to better accommodate elephants, lions and gazelles by giving them more space to roam. It’s also been working with other zoos around the country on breeding more of the animals, which are endangered in the wild, in the United States.
Mabu came to the zoo from one in Arizona last year after Vus’musi, another male elephant, showed little interest in breeding. Mabu has sired offspring at other zoos and there’s hope he can do so again to grow the Fresno zoo’s population.
“Lions, tigers and bears. People are coming to see charismatic megafauna — that’s the term we use,” said Jon Forrest Dohlin, chief executive officer of the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, comparing an elephant to a larger- than- life figure like pop star Justin Bieber. He said visitors who see animals in real life — instead of in a photo or on a screen — are more likely to support conservation efforts. “We’re telling large stories, so it is something that is important for conservation writ large,” he said.
In recent years, some larger zoos such as the Toronto Zoo and San Francisco Zoo have phased out their elephant programs, sending their aging animals to sanctuaries in the United States that have far more space. The Los Angeles Zoo is also discussing sending its Asian elephant, Billy, to a sanctuary.
In some cases, animal rights activists have started legal efforts aimed at removing elephants from zoos.
In New York, the Nonhuman Rights Project filed legal papers to try to free the Asian elephant Happy from the Bronx Zoo but lost in court. The group then filed similar papers to try to free Fresno’s three African elephants — a mother- daughter pair and Vus’musi — but a judge ruled against the group.
This month, the group filed a case in an appeals court and swapped in Mabu. Jake Davis, an attorney for the Nonhuman Rights Project, said the case isn’t over — especially since the zoo sent Vus’musi to a zoo in San Diego so it could bring in Mabu in a bid to boost breeding.
“He really is their golden ticket,” Davis said. “Hopefully we can get him out.”
Some elephant experts argue the more humans learn about elephants’ intelligence and social networks the more compelling the argument to release them — or at the very least to stop breeding them in zoos. They also note that poaching of elephants and habitat destruction in Africa continue despite conservation efforts by zoos and question the difference they’re making in hosting visitors who are largely seeking recreation.