Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens Los Angeles Elephant Sanctuary

The link that you posted was from yesterday's meeting.

But we did win!!! The vote was 11-4 in favor of building the exhibit. I was really happy when I heard that Councilmember Rosendahl (he used to be against the exhibit) changed his vote based on today's testimonies.

http://billyshome.com/ has also been updated and it includes a link to an LAtimes article.

 

This is truly monumental because it shows people, including those "government crooks" care about wildlife and are on the zoo's side! I cant wait for the exhibit to be completed. Hopefully you guys can be up and running in a few years and this exhibit will slide the LA Zoo into the category of "Zoos with the Best Elephant Exhibits." Also another Asian breeding facility is a DEFINITE plus!

 

Also, I want to give thanks to all Zoochatters that helped! Maybe finally we could put this thread to rest.

 

Woops, my bad! But positively wonderful news none the less.

 

Ahhh, how nice, and in at about a year there will be a world-class, trend setting elephant habitat in Los Angeles

 

I sincerely hope this is the end of the issue. Sinking feeling that the battle isn't over though...

 

I just found some great photos of the construction of Pachyderm Forest in flickr. Link: Billy - a set on Flickr

This is only one portion of the exhibit where Billy should be moving into while the rest of the exhibit is built.

 

WE WON!!!!!! Thats so awesome and im so glad Billy will finally get his new home. And to if an IDA personnel are on here, in your face!

 

Regarding that "sinking feeling", I share it. As I saw the passion in those IDA and other animal rights' people at today's hearing, I have to think -- they must be SOOOOOO mad! I'm wondering, is there any "higher court" they can take this to? Can they sue to stop construction? I'm guessing they can, but it's likely to be a long-shot for them.

My other thought is that I sure hope the Zoo has good security, especially around the Pachyderm Forest area. If you remember those anti-fur animal rights extremists who would pour real blood on ladies' fur coats, it makes you realize these folks are capable of some crazy things.

 

I agree, IDA and Peta can get crazy at times, specially after losing. I bet they will protest outside the zoo as the zoo gets ready to open the new exhibit.

Also, I think they sued back in 2007, but I don't know what happened.

 

Also, did you guys hear how the zoo managed to get 12,700 signatures of LA residents in favor of the zoo. Wow, I was surprised that it was that many.

 

From what I recall, the case was thrown out.

As far as protests go, when San Diego was importing the Swazi elephants, they were out front of the zoo every day (I'm not sure they even knew that there was a San Diego Wild Animal Park) and on at least one occaision they dumped a truckload of feces at the entrance. I don't recall exact details but I think things got uglier in Tampa over the same issue, offices being broken into and such...

 

Lets move toward positive exhibit for Elephants

They lost the suit. Judge threw it out. Hopefully, LA Zoo starts a positive PR campaign. The exhibit should have been finish but the contractor was useless. It will be a year before it is finished. There is a lot of mis-information out there and the zoo PR never tries to correct it. Very sad! PETA the org that euthanizes pets (look that up) doing something positive, Forget it. Hope Billy gets his home finished soon.....

 

The Next Anti-Zoo Elephant Battle

Just in case all of you were wondering, here is where the anti-zoo folks will make their next stand: Edmonton, Canada. Since this is not an AZA zoo, I wonder if it will get the same amount of pro-zoo support. I guess the Canadian equivalent of the IDA is "Zoocheck Canada".

Barker fights for elephant

 

That`s good news and I hope they will have sucess. I´ve heard about Lucy some time ago, after her only companion Samantha was sent to the NC zoo. Since that, Lucy is alone in that terrible cold climate, there`s pretty much zero chance that they will ever bring another ele in as friend for her, and they should really, really let her go. I don`t buy this ******** that "she needs no elephant company because she`s so bonded with the keepers" - the Alaska zoo said the same about Maggie for many years, and they were wrong.

 

"terribly cold climate"- elephants are pretty cold hardy creatures, and can handle cold pretty well. They also are very adaptable creatures so the climate issue is really overused. Rather than send her to a sanctuary, I think they should send her to another zoo and integrate her into an existing herd.

 

Let's NEVER hope for success for the enemies of zoos! The Alaska Zoo was wrong twice -- they were also wrong to send Maggie to a stupid, unregulated "sanctuary". As BlackRhino said, if Lucy needs to be moved, it should be to another zoo, where she'll be properly cared for, and perhaps she'll breed more elephants.

Anytime these nasty folks win a battle, it recharges them. Let's hope they lose and lose and lose, until their morale (and funds) dry up.

 

Lucy is way too old to breed, and you should make the effort and learn a bit about elephants before posting such nonsense. And learn more about the 2 big elephant sanctuaries in the US, too, or you wouldn`t dare to call PAWS a "stupid, unregulated place". They have set themselves standards which are way HIGHER then those of the AZA, and they are working with vets and consultants which are highly regarded in the zoo industry (Alan Roocroft and Gayle Lale, for example, while the vet of the elephant sanctuary in Tenn. is Susan Mikota!). I want the best for each animal, regardless who else wants the same!!

Zoos don`t have the space to accommodate "problem" elephants if they prove to be uncompartible with the resident female(s), while both sanctuaries have enough space to keep their elephant herd in smaller subgroups without having to lock one group inside or in small yards, and that alone is a huge reason why those 2 sanctuaries are better equipped to care for single females. Not talking about the massive amount of space they offer.

 

Forgot to add, if a zoo like the N.C. Zoo would show up and offer to take Lucy, I`d be very happy to see her going to another zoo. Just sadly, most if not all US zoos with modern elephant facilities and serveral yards that make it possible to keep uncompartible elephants apart want to breed and are not interested in taking old, sick, non-breeding females.

 

OK, I back down. I just gave an emotional response to your "hope they <they anti-rights wackos> succeed". To me, that's like hoping Al Queda succeeds. But I see your point about PAWS. I guess I also got quite annoyed at hearing Barker, Cher, and Lily Tomlin raving about what a heavenly place the California "sanctuary" was, compared to the hellish (in their view) LA Zoo.