SAN DIEGO — The animal rights organization, In Defense of Animals (IDA), is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to investigate the circumstances surrounding Thursday’s death of a 21-year-old African elephant at the San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park.

Zookeepers found Umoya lying down in the elephant exhibit shortly before the park opened on Thursday, according to the Christina Simmons of San Diego Zoo Global.

No official cause of death has been released. Veterinary staff was conducting a post-mortem examination to discover a cause of death, but results might not be known for weeks, Simmons said.

“All the information we have and the evidence from the postmortem exams suggests that there may have been some kind of pushing and shoving, and perhaps even a fall,” said Simmons.

“There were few injuries that indicated there may have been some sort of aggressive interaction with another elephant,” zoo spokesperson Yadira Galindo told 10News’ media partner the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Umoya, whose name means spirit, was one of seven African elephants born in South Africa, which were taken to Swaziland in 1994. They were going to be killed, but were brought to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in 2003. Now, their family has grown to 17, and they mourned the loss much like people.

“They gathered around her and kind of touched her and pushed at her a little bit, and once they confirmed that she had passed on, they all slowly moved back into the other area of the habitat,” Simmons explained.

Some animals toss their young aside, but this herd won’t let anything happen to Umoya’s calves, Kami and Emanti. In fact, their aunts have continued to care for them just like their mother would.

“[They] appear to be doing alright,” Simmons said. “They’ve been hanging out with their aunties. The keepers plan to monitor Emanti closely.”

Four-year-old Kami was already weaned, but Emanti is only 18 months. Four other females are lactating and may end up nursing Emanti.

“It’s important to remember that these are wild animals with wild behaviors, and also that they’re very big strong animals. At 6,600 pounds, small movements can do a lot of damage,” said Simmons.

“This is an interaction that would happen normally in the wild. These are social animals that have a strict hierarchy,” Simmons added.

IDA’s complaint to the USDA states that an adult male elephant, Mabhulane, who is known to throw his weight around was confined with the females and their offspring.

Zoos typically keep males and females separated because the powerful males can injure the females. In the wild, adult males do not live with the matriarchal family groups, the complaint said.

“This elephant’s shocking death is another tragic example of how elephants suffer in inadequate and artificial zoo exhibits,” IDA Elephant Campaign Director Catherine Doyle said. “There is nothing natural about the San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s elephant exhibit or keeping 18 elephants crammed into a space of less than six acres when their natural home ranges can measure hundreds of square miles.”

Three elephants have been killed by other elephants in zoos throughout North America since 2001, according to IDA.

IDA is also asking the USDA to investigate why no staff or security personnel were aware of Umoya’s fatal injury until trainers arrived in the morning.

Umoya was known to be one of the most dominant in the herd.

“She was definitely high-spirited, a spitfire and appeared to let the other animals know what she needed and wanted,” said Simmons. “We definitely have seen that energy in some of her calves, and that energy is living on I have no doubt.”

The proposed facility, which will masquerade as an elephant “sanctuary,” will bring an elephant named Rosie from a circus-related facility where she is not performing to live by herself in a tiny enclosure and weather conditions that will force her to spend most of the year indoors.

There are grave human safety concerns involved with this project that include a dangerously inexpert handler, unsafe and inhumane training methods (including use of the bullhook, a weapon resembling a fireplace poker that is used to control elephants through fear of painful punishment), and the threat of tuberculosis, which is transmissible to humans.

The town of Hope may have approved construction of the facility, but there are still hurdles at the state and federal levels. That’s why we’re asking you to appeal to legislators in your state and in Congress.

IDA wants Rosie sent to a real sanctuary, one with other elephants, acres and acres to roam, and expert caretakers. But we need your help to do this.

Click here to find out how you can help.

About half of AZA zoos with elephants currently employ a training method in which keepers use the bullhook, a steel-tipped weapon resembling a fireplace poker, to control elephants through the threat of painful punishment. Under the new policy, zoos will be required to use the “protected contact” method, which means keeper and elephant are separated by a protective barrier and only positive reinforcement training is utilized.

“In Defense of Animals has long pushed zoos to end the archaic, circus-style training that has been inhumane for elephants and lethal for keepers,” said IDA Elephant Campaign Director Catherine Doyle. “We are pleased that elephants soon will be better protected from abusive handling in zoos.”

The new policy allows for exceptions, including medical procedures and testing, though zoos using protected contact have successfully trained elephants for veterinary treatment, blood tests and routine care. Zoos also will be required to document all instances of aggression by elephants and to report annually on all injuries or fatalities related to elephants (no such record-keeping now exists).

Since 1990, 31 keepers have been injured or killed by elephants in zoos. The most recent incident took place in January, when an elephant killed a keeper at the Knoxville Zoo. Another keeper was gravely injured last year at the Toledo Zoo. IDA filed complaints with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after each incident, calling for an end to unsafe training practices in zoos. No keepers have died in zoos that use “protected contact” management.

The AZA directive will not entirely resolve the problems suffered by elephants in zoos. “The new policy is a significant step forward,” said Doyle, “but many elephants in zoos are still held in inadequate and unnatural displays that shorten their lives by decades. So there is still much work to be done.”

For more information, please visit www.HelpElephants.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Catherine Doyle, 323-301-5730, Catherine@idausa.org

San Rafael, Calif. (April 13, 2011) – Following the diagnosis of tuberculosis in Donna, an Asian elephant at the St. Louis Zoo, In Defense of Animals (IDA) is urging the zoo to end its elephant program due to a history of elephant suffering from a broad range of captivity-induced problems.

“The St. Louis Zoo is a breeding ground for suffering, as a result of keeping elephants in inadequate and extremely unnatural conditions,” said IDA Elephant Campaign Director Catherine Doyle. “It’s time for the St. Louis Zoo to stop breeding elephants and to take a hard look at the serious problems the elephants are suffering under its care.”

According to IDA, St. Louis provides the perfect example of why elephants do not belong in urban zoos, citing the wide array of disorders directly related to their captivity:

•    Foot disease and arthritis caused by lack of space for movement and standing on concrete flooring are the leading causes of death for elephants in zoos. These conditions claimed the life of Clara in 2007 and have been found in several other elephants. Long cold winters compound the problem by forcing elephants indoors for greater periods of time.
•    Rani rejected and even injured her calf Jade soon after her birth in 2007. Though generally unheard of in the wild, calf rejection is prevalent in zoos where elephants lack the opportunity to learn appropriate mothering behaviors. Rani is again pregnant and expected to give birth this year.
•    Sri’s full-term fetus died in utero in 2005 and was not expelled. Birth complications, including a high rate of stillbirths, are common in zoos. Excessive weight gain due to lack of movement likely plays a part.
•    Jade was stricken with a lethal elephant virus in 2009; Maliha was also infected. The disease, which strikes young Asian elephants and has an 85% mortality rate, historically sickens only captive elephants. The zoo recklessly continues to breed elephants despite the high risk of another calf becoming infected.
•    Tuberculosis, recently diagnosed in the St. Louis Zoo’s Donna, is not endemic to elephants; the disease was passed to elephants from humans. It infects at least 12% of Asian elephants in captivity, and most infected elephants do not show clinical signs of the disease. Stress and impaired immunity play a part in susceptibility to tuberculosis.

Though elephants have a natural lifespan of 60-70 years, scientific data shows that those in zoos are dying decades sooner than elephants in protected wild populations. Some zoos have recognized they cannot meet elephants’ natural needs. In the United States, 18 zoos have closed or plan to close their elephant exhibits.

For more information, please visit www.HelpElephants.com.

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Contact: Catherine Doyle, 323-301-5730, Catherine@idausa.org

Join with IDA to protest circus cruelty at the Shrine Circus in Los Angeles. Last year’s demo drew more than 40 people, and we hope to top that this year, sending a clear message to the Shriners, the media, and circus patrons that animal abuse is not entertainment.

The Shriners usually contract with Circus Gatti to present the show, which features two elephants, Tiki and Debbie (also called Patty), tigers, and horses. One elephant is used to give rides between shows. Circus Gatti has been cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for failure to meet minimal federal standards for the care of animals used in exhibition.

In circuses, animals are brutally trained to perform unnatural tricks, chained, confined to small cages and pens, and trucked around the country for months on end.

You can help make this the biggest Shrine Circus demo ever and bring an end to the use of animals in circuses.

When: Saturday, April 9 at 1 p.m.

Where: Shrine Auditorium, 665 W. Jefferson Blvd., L.A. 90007 (1 block West of Figueroa, across from the USC campus). Please note: The entrance to the circus is at the back of the building (one block north of Jefferson Blvd.); this is where the demo will be held.

Signs and flyers will be provided.

For more information, contact Bill Dyer, bill@idausa.org.

Additional demos:

Saturday, April 9 at 6 p.m.
Sunday, April 10 at 1 p.m.

San Rafael, Calif. (January 17, 2011) – In Defense of Animals (IDA) is calling for all zoos holding elephants to adopt a safer management system, following the tragic death of an elephant keeper at the Knoxville Zoo. The zoo used a management system called “free contact” when the incident occurred; it is still used in about half of U.S. zoos.

“In Defense of Animals disagrees with zoos on many issues concerning elephants,” said IDA Elephant Campaign Director Catherine Doyle, “but I hope we can agree that no one should lose their life caring for elephants. We must put keepers and elephants first by ending use of the unsafe and inhumane “free contact” management method.”

“Free contact” requires keepers to share the same physical space with the elephants. The method relies on the keeper establishing dominance over the elephants through a combination of negative and positive reinforcement and physical punishment. Keepers use a steel-tipped bullhook, a controversial device resembling a fireplace poker, to prod, hook and discipline elephants.

IDA is urging the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) to recommend that all its member zoos holding elephants adopt a safer and more humane management method called “protected contact.” “The AZA’s elephant policies leave the door wide open for more keeper injuries and deaths,” said Doyle. “It’s time to close that door forever by requiring all accredited zoos to practice protected contact elephant management.”

In “protected contact,” keepers use only positive-reinforcement training. A protective barrier separates keeper and elephant at all times, removing the risk of bodily harm while still allowing for necessary care and veterinary treatment.

Since 1990, 31 keepers have been injured or killed by elephants, all of them in zoos using free contact. No injuries or deaths have occurred in zoos using protected contact. The most recent incident involving an elephant keeper took place in July 2010 at the Toledo Zoo, a free-contact zoo, when a keeper was gravely injured by an elephant he had known since the animal’s birth.

“No other zoo employees are required to have the same level of unprotected contact with dangerous animals, especially an animal as massive and powerful as an elephant,” said Doyle. “There is no justification for zoos to continue using free contact when protected contact is a proven method that successfully prevents keeper injuries and deaths.”

For more information, please visit www.HelpElephants.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Catherine Doyle, 323-301-5730, zoos@idausa.org

Dr. Joyce Poole, who has been studying elephant behavior in Africa and Asia for more than 30 years, reviewed videotape of the elephants taken over two days, finding aggressive behavior by newcomer Boo toward Lucky.

“Lucky is being terrorized by Boo,” observed Dr. Poole. “This kind of persistent bullying is not seen in the wild, because elephants have other activities with which to occupy themselves, and because they can remove themselves from conflict. In my opinion, the primary cause of this undesirable situation is that the elephants have too little space.”

According to IDA Elephant Campaign Director Catherine Doyle, the zoo and not the elephants are to blame for this predicament: “Lucky and Boo are both victims of an outdated system that allows zoos to keep two elephants weighing more than four tons each in a space smaller than many backyards. When aggression occurs in such restricted space, an elephant is going to get hurt.”

In its letter to the USDA, IDA urged the agency to take immediate action to avert a tragedy at the San Antonio Zoo, calling for the removal of the elephants and their transfer to a natural-habitat sanctuary where they would have room to move and could choose their companions. Until that can take place, the elephants should be constantly monitored.

Boo was acquired by the Zoo in April, following a settlement facilitated by the USDA with a circus handler who was facing charges for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. IDA opposed the move based on Lucky and Boo’s histories of aggression toward other elephants and the zoo’s lack of adequate space even for one elephant.

IDA’s letter to the USDA is available upon request. For more information, visit www.HelpElephants.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Catherine Doyle, 323-301-5730, zoos@idausa.org
Deborah Robinson, 860-836-7761, circuses@idausa.org

San Rafael, Calif. (November 4, 2010) – In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal protection organization, is urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take action against the Cole Brothers Circus for its seeming role in an elaborate scheme to circumvent federal animal welfare laws by helping Florida-based animal handler Lance Ramos Kollman exhibit his animals even though his license was revoked by the agency.

Since losing his license in 2009 for horrific violations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), including animal deaths, a cast of shady characters has been playing a complicated shell game and exploiting legal loopholes to keep Kollman illegally in business. Throughout its 2010 tour, the Cole Brothers Circus has been showing a group of nine big cats that belonged to Kollman but were exhibited (and sometimes purportedly owned) by a procession of unlicensed and inexperienced handlers.

In July, the USDA ordered the Circus to stop using unlicensed exhibitors to show the tiger act. And in September the agency began an action to revoke the licenses of those exhibitors, claiming they have been circumventing the AWA by allowing Kollman to exhibit his animals illegally, including at the Cole Brothers Circus.

Though the circus does not have its own USDA license, the agency has treated it as a “de facto” exhibitor, citing the Circus in July for several violations, all arising out of the participation of the unlicensed big cat act.

In a letter to the USDA, IDA urged the agency to pursue the Cole Brothers Circus for violating the AWA, which could result in fines or an order barring the circus from using animal acts. IDA also encouraged the USDA to consult with the U.S. Attorney, suggesting that the Circus appeared to have participated in attempting to circumvent federal law.

“The USDA should be pursuing all possible legal actions against the Cole Brothers Circus,” said Catherine Doyle, IDA elephant campaign director. “The circus has been putting children, families and the animals at risk by employing unlicensed and inexperienced handlers.”

The Cole Brothers Circus continues to use Kollman’s tigers under yet another handler, and Kollman has been seen working with the circus during its current Florida run, which continues through November. The Circus is currently in Boca Raton, moving on to Sarasota next week.

Documentation is available upon request. For more information, visit www.HelpElephants.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Catherine Doyle, 323-301-5730, zoos@idausa.org

Deborah Robinson, 860-836-7761, circuses@idausa.org

“Scientific research shows that inter-zoo transfers contribute to the premature deaths of elephants, so unnecessary moves should be avoided at all costs,” said IDA Elephant Campaign Director Catherine Doyle. “If the San Diego Zoo cannot keep Tina and Jewel, the elephants should be sent to a natural-habitat sanctuary where they would be assured a permanent home and the stability that elephants need to thrive. Unlike a sanctuary, there is no guarantee that the L.A. Zoo will not move these elephants yet again.”

IDA worked for more than two years to free Tina and Jewel from a life-threatening situation in the circus, filing complaints with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act and pressing for confiscation of the ailing elephants. The USDA and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service removed the elephants and sent them to the zoo in August 2009.

The PAWS Sanctuary in San Andreas, California, had long offered to take Tina and Jewel and guarantee them a lifetime home. IDA expected that if the elephants were to be moved again, it would be to PAWS, which provides expert rehabilitation for abused elephants.

“IDA is appalled that the San Diego Zoo is treating these elephants like pieces of furniture, shipping them from one zoo to another at the zoos’ convenience,” said Doyle. “Unfortunately, this is typical for zoos and a perfect example of how they are failing elephants.”

The San Diego Zoo has been under fire before for disposing of elephants to suit its convenience. In 2003, seven elephants were taken from the wilds of Swaziland and sent to the Safari Park for breeding, despite offers to move the elephants to reserves elsewhere in Africa. Prior to the move, three long-time resident elephants were shipped to Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, despite concerns about their welfare in such a cold climate. All three elephants died within two years.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Catherine Doyle, 323-301-5730, zoos@idausa.org

San Rafael, Calif. (October 7, 2010) – In Defense of Animals (IDA) today filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), urging an investigation into the death of Tiki, a female African elephant held at the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon. Tiki died on Wednesday after suffering an unidentified illness.

“Tiki’s unexpected death raises a red flag because at age 40 she should have been in the prime of her life,” said Catherine Doyle, IDA Elephant Campaign director. “IDA has asked the USDA to investigate the circumstances surrounding Tiki’s death as a matter of public interest and safety.”

In a separate letter sent to Wildlife Safari Executive Director Dan Van Slyke, IDA urged the zoo to  publicly release the elephant’s veterinary records and necropsy reports, saying, “The public has a right to know the cause of Tiki’s death.”

IDA also expressed concern that the park now holds just one female elephant, Alice, in addition to a male, George. According to standards set by the zoo industry trade group, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the park was already in violation of standards which state that zoos should “strive to hold no less than three female elephants wherever possible” due to their social nature. By holding one female elephant, the park falls even further below these standards and threatens elephant welfare. Highly social, elephants naturally live in large family groups; female offspring remain with their mothers for life.

AZA standards also strongly discourage visitor-elephant interactions, including elephant rides, “in the interest of public safety.” Yet Tiki and Alice have been used for rides, photo ops and to wash cars.

Tiki was taken from her family in the wild and brought to Wildlife Safari at age two, along with Alice. George arrived 17 years later. Elephants have a natural lifespan of 60-70 years, yet recent scientific studies show that elephants in zoos die decades earlier than those in relatively protected wild populations.

Copies of IDA’s letters to the USDA and Wildlife Safari are available upon request. For more information, visit www.HelpElephants.com.