J. Stephen McCusker
Executive Director
San Antonio Zoological Gardens and Aquarium
3903 N. St. Mary’s Street
San Antonio, TX 78212-7183

Fax (210) 734-7291

Dear Mr. McCusker:

We were saddened to learn of the tragic death of Alport, the elephant at the San Antonio Zoo.
Now you are now faced with an important decision regarding the future of your zoo’s lone, surviving elephant, Lucky, as well as the broader issue of keeping elephants at the San Antonio Zoo.

On behalf of our 85,000 members internationally, In Defense of Animals (IDA) urges you to make the ethical, moral, and financially responsible decision to close the San Antonio Zoo’s elephant exhibit and send Lucky to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, which stands ready to transport and house her for the rest of her life--at no cost to your zoo.

With only 35 acres in total, the San Antonio Zoo simply does not have adequate space to house elephants, earth’s largest land mammals, who, in the wild, walk ten or more miles a day and thrive in large, tightly-knit family groups. In stark contrast, for decades, your zoo has housed elephants in a cramped and unnatural exhibit that fails to meet their physical and psychological needs.

There can be no doubt of the disastrous impacts of these conditions, having experienced the loss of your Asian elephant, Ginny, who died in 2004 after suffering from “severe arthritis and infectious foot ailments for several years,” according to news reports. These painful ailments are the result of lack of space and hard substrates. In addition, photographs taken of Alport last month (October 2007) reveal an elephant in very poor condition (see next page). Although she died at 49 years of age and was considered elderly by zoo standards, female African elephants in the wild can breed when they are into their 50s.

“Females can give birth well into their 50s but some females stop breeding. Of the 20 big, old Amboseli females who are over 55, only five have stopped reproduction... Echo, the star of the documentary films, "Echo of the Elephants" and "Echo of the Elephants: the Next Generation,” gave birth to a new calf on January 12. This grand matriarch is 55-60 years old, probably closer to 60, and so she is one of the oldest females in the population to continue to breed…”
(Source: www.elephanttrust.org)

A comparison of photographs of Alport, who was 49, and Echo when she was at least a decade older, shows a striking difference.

The sad reality is that no amount of care or medical attention that your zoo has provided elephants could compensate for the fact that the zoo environment simply fails to meet elephants’ physical and psychological needs. This failure results in an overall poor quality of life, abnormal behaviors, and conditions of poor health. Among the most serious of these health conditions is foot and joint disease, which is the leading cause for euthanasia for elephants in zoos. A 2006 IDA survey of medical records for elephants in 35 U.S. zoos found that 63 percent of elephants suffered from foot disease and 42 percent suffered from arthritis.

Several years ago, you made the compassionate decision to endorse the transfer of Wanda, a San Antonio zoo-“owned” elephant from the Detroit Zoo the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in San Andreas, Calif. Now you can again make the right choice to send Lucky to The Elephant Sanctuary and permanently close San Antonio’s elephant exhibit.

In contrast to San Antonio Zoo’s cramped and unnatural zoo exhibit, The Elephant Sanctuary offers Asian elephants 2100 acres of natural habitat over which they can roam and enjoy freedom of choice in daily activities and social companionship. The Sanctuary’s natural conditions have restored quality of life to numerous elephants debilitated by years of intense confinement in the zoo or circus.


San Antonio Zoo Elephant Exhibit The Elephant Sanctuary Asian Elephant Habitat

Please make the right decision for your zoo by focusing scarce resources on improving conditions for other species at the zoo while sending your sole surviving elephant to a sanctuary with the space and social conditions necessary to meet her needs. It’s too late for Alport, but it’s not too late for the San Antonio Zoo to do the right thing by sending Lucky to The Elephant Sanctuary and permanently closing the elephant exhibit at your zoo.

In addition, I would like to request copies of the veterinary records for Alport and Lucky and the full necropsy report on Alport.

We hope the death of Alport will serve to hasten your addressing the urgent matter of Lucky’s wellbeing and her future. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Elliot M. Katz, DVM
President