1. If Billy leaves the LA Zoo, where will he go and why is it better?


2. Is it true they castrate elephants at sanctuaries?


3. Will Billy be alone at the sanctuary?


4. Do sanctuaries have breeding programs?  If not, why?


5. Are breeding programs at zoos successful?  If not, why?


6. Where do the offspring of captive elephant breeding usually go?


7. Answer specific statements by the zoo


1. If Billy leaves the LA Zoo, where will he go and why is it better?

PAWS – the Performing Animal Welfare Society – he will, immediately upon arrival, be given 20 acres of land to roam – that space will increase as he acclimates himself to his new home. There he will have a diverse, expansive and intellectually stimulating environment and he will join his old friend, Ruby, who was retired there two years ago.  It has space, elephants top of the agenda, social opportunities and a diverse, expansive and interesting habitat.

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2. Is it true they castrate elephants at sanctuaries?

ABSOLUTELY NOT.  PAWS DOES NOT CASTRATE ELEPHANTS.   Castration is a highly invasive technique. A couple of zoos promote it as a wild elephant population control technique in Africa.  It has no place in Billy’s new home.

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3. Will Billy be alone at the sanctuary?

There are numerous other elephants at PAWS and the world renown elephant experts there will, with great care and attention to the individual needs of each animals, maximize the social opportunities for Billy when he is there.

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4. Do sanctuaries have breeding programs?  If not, why?

NO. Sanctuaries are there to provide retreat and rescue. They focus on rebuilding the often severely damaged lives of their animals. There are only 2 such places in the USA and NONE in Europe. Breeding would take space from the inhabitants and from potential rescues. There are many elephants - like Billy - in need of rescue.

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5. Are breeding programs at zoos successful?  If not, why?

NO.

Over the last 10 years, of the 26 elephants born in captivity in AZA accredited zoos in North America, only 6 remain alive.  

In contrast, elephants in the wild have NO DIFFICULTY procreating.

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6. Where do the offspring of captive elephant breeding usually go?

IN THE U.S. CALVES HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED TO OTHER ZOOS AT LESS THAN 2 YEARS OF AGE AND OTHERS HAVE BEEN SENT TO CIRCUSES.

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7. Answer specific statements by the zoo

Why the Los Angeles Zoo Needs Pachyderm Forest (Statements Made By the LA Zoo):


  • Asian elephants are in danger of becoming extinct during our lifetime.

Not if we do the right thing for their protection in the wild. Zoos contribute almost nothing in this regard.


  • Every citizen has the right to see elephants in their Zoo.

No one has this right any more than everyone has the right to see the Great Pyramids or the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We should stop giving ourselves entitlement and instead think of the privilege we have uniquely to do the very best we can to protect and conserve this planet and its fellow beings as nature intended.


  • Los Angeles citizens voted overwhelmingly to provide funds from two bond measures as well as private funds to build a new Pachyderm Forest.

L.A. CITIZENS DID NOT VOTE FOR PRIVATE FUNDS. L.A. CITIZENS VOTED FOR TWO BOND MEASURES MEANT FOR ZOO IMPROVEMENTS, NEITHER OF WHICH SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFIED THE ELEPHANT EXHIBIT.  They did so based on a poor understanding of the situation and without being presented with any alternatives. Like we went to war believing there were weapons of mass destruction.


  • In 2006, after this project was vetted by activists and experts in support of elephants at Zoos, City Council voted 13-2 to build the exhibit.

CITY COUNCIL WAS NOT IN POSSESSION OF ALL THE FACTS, WHICH WERE BROUGHT TO LIGHT IN A 2007 LAWSUIT FILED TO HALT CONSTRUCTION OF THE EXHIBIT.  Says it all. No balance, no independence, no alternatives. LA Zoo wants to build an enclosure that's bigger than the one at SDWAP. That says it all. Metropolitan competition. It has nothing to do with the welfare of the animals.


  • Sanctuaries are for animals who have reached the end of their lives and are not places for species survival programs.

Sanctuaries are for animals in need. They are not gated communities for the superannuated. They can heal. Think of a hospice for sick children, people with their whole lives ahead of them. Our Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda has 49 animals all rescued as juveniles. It was described as a model for such places in Africa by Dr Jane Goodall. Age has NOTHING to do with it. Elephant sanctuaries are not reception centres for the wasted, caste-off husks of elephants that have been bleached by the zoo world.

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