Seattle, Wash. — Woodland Park Zoo staff announced Friday that its two remaining elephants will move to the Oklahoma City Zoo.
The controversy over the elephants’ health and habitat reached a peak when a 45-year-old African elephant, Watoto, had to be euthanized last August when she was not able to stand up. In 2007, a 6-year-old Asian elephant named Hansa suddenly died. She was determined to have had herpes.
Some Seattle City councilmembers have suggested withholding discretionary funding unless the zoo gives up the elephant exhibit. Elephant advocates have rallied for the animals to be placed in a sanctuary.
But Woodland Park Zoo CEO and president Deborah Jensen said the California sanctuary to which advocates referred is not ideal.
“They have two Asian elephants that currently have an active case of tuberculosis and are under quarantine," Jensen said. "And secondly, they don’t have a yard for our two animals to join. But even if they did, Chai and Bamboo would be socially isolated.”
She told KIRO 7 that no other sanctuaries were considered. When asked about a sanctuary in Tennessee, Jensen said that facility does not have a multi-generational herd, and its management is in transition.
Bamboo and Chai will be sent to the Oklahoma zoo on a long-term loan basis so the Woodland Park Zoo can continue to be part of their care. Woodland Park Zoo staff do not have any plans to reopen an elephant exhibit in the future.
The animal curator for the Oklahoma City Zoo, Laura Bottaro, said its elephant facility was created in 2011 and has five Asian elephants. One of them was born in December. They also have a 20-year-old female, an 18-year-old female, a 4-year-old female and a 47-year-old male.
“I think we can offer them everything that perhaps a sanctuary can offer, but much more,” Bottaro said.
The Oklahoma City Zoo’s elephant habitat was a $13 million project that includes nearly 4 acres of space for the elephants. It has outdoor yard space with a pool and a waterfall, as well as an indoor barn for the animals to stay when it is extremely cold or hot outside.
“It’s quite clear that Woodland Park Zoo is not making the elephants’ well-being a priority," said Alyne Fortgang, co-founder of Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants.
She said that while Oklahoma City has more warmer days than Seattle, she said its cold temperatures are more extreme than those here.
“In fact, the (Oklahoma City) zoo closed early today because it was so cold,” Fortgang said.
Bottaro said the elephants in those situations go inside a barn that can hold as many as 12 elephants. She told KIRO 7 that none of the zoo's elephants have suffered from any disease while they’ve been at the facility.
There will be no financial transaction, but the two zoos will share the cost of transporting Bamboo and Chai: a trip that will cost between $50,000 and $100,000. They will be put in climate-controlled crates on the back of a truck.
Zoo staff hope to make the move sometime between the end of March and the end of April.
Want to talk about the news of the day? Watch free streaming video on the KIRO 7 mobile app and iPad app, and join us here on Facebook.
KIRO
