The Natural Bridge Zoo is a 180-acre facility located in Natural Bridge, Virginia. Species include African bush elephant, Asian black bear, Beisa oryx, Japanese macaque, mandrill, greater kudu, southern cassowary, Chilean flamingo, southern ground hornbill, American alligator, and Burmese python, among others. On January 13th, the zoo announced that (0.2) nyala were born. Log into Facebook On February 11th, it was reported that the USDA gave the facility a citation over their elephant ride, namely that the animal handler was not close enough to the animal to be in control during the ride. USDA cites Natural Bridge Zoo | WFXRtv Feds Cite Natural Bridge Zoo Over Dangerous Elephant Rides, PETA Learns | PETA On May 6th, the zoo announced that a (0.0.1) ring-tailed lemur was born a few weeks prior. Log into Facebook On May 27th, the zoo announced that (0.0.3) southern cassowaries were hatched. Log into Facebook
On August 29th, 2023, the zoo announced that a (0.0.1) southern ground hornbill named Jnco hatched. NBZoo was thrilled to have a baby... - Natural Bridge Zoo
Animals seized from Natural Bridge Zoo during investigation The Zoo's Amur tiger was euthanized on 12/6, the same day authorities executed a search warrant for the facility. Numerous other animals have been confiscated and are being transfered to a wildlife sanctuary in Colorado.
I wonder what will become of Asha, Natural Bridge Zoos' lone female African elephant. She's forty years old and has been isolated from other elephants for goodness only knows how many years. How do you even seize an elephant? You can't exactly load one into a horse trailer and go off on your merry way! And where do you keep an elephant that's been seized? A local accredited zoo? The Elephant Sanctuary?
Colorado would be Wild Animal Sanctuary (which has a LOT of animals...), which mostly does carnivores, so that would be the one tiger left and the mountain lion, maybe the four servals and pair of eurasian lynx. They mostly have ungulates and primates. Primates, with numbers from the June USDA to give an idea of amount - 5 mandrill, 9 DeBrazza's, 2 Lar gibbon, 15 tufted capuchin, 12 white-headed capuchin, 6 each of ring-tailed and black and white ruffed lemurs, 5 red ruffed lemurs, 6 cotton-top tamarins. Ungulates - 13 beisa (largest public herd in the USA, hoping these go somewhere like Six Flags and not to a ranch!), 8 bontebok, 58 fallow deer, 4 giraffes, 5 greater kudu, 14 nyala, 23 plains zebras, 13 reeve's muntjacs, 18 sitatunga. There's also a bunch of goats and llamas, a couple pigs, and a half dozen dromedary. Beyond that there's some crested porcupines and prevost's squirrels, and the elephant, of course. For birds the main ones are 20 or so flamingos and a half dozen cassowary that are in multiple exhibits around the zoo, along with about a dozen sacred ibis. There's a few demoiselle cranes, black swans, Eurasian eagle-owls, southern ground hornbills, blue-fronted amazons, and of course a bunch of chickens and budgies.
Long time coming and I am glad they were able to get some of the animals out. I'm hoping they get Asha a good home, because she deserves it.
Asha will probably go TES if Natural Bridge Zoo is closed for good. They're (relatively) close-by and have accepted confiscated elephants before. I just hope Asha can be integrated into an actual herd, or barring that, will be able to be placed in some sort of social situation. Elephants need to be around other elephants, just for the sake of their mental health if nothing else. It's just that Asha has reportedly killed an enclosure mate before...
I never said that TES was a sure thing, just that her placement there was probable given the (then) assumed distance to the facility and the history it has with confiscated elephants. If Asha really is in Florida now though, the closest sanctuary would be Elephant Refuge North America in southern Georgia.
They don't have to place them with a refuge, there are other places in Florida that could take them assuming the Florida part is accurate and they intend on her staying here. Myakka Elephant Ranch and White Oak come to mind.
I really hope it's not Myakka, at least... would White Oak be able to take an elephant that likely has to be kept apart from others?
I really have no idea, but I would be surprised if they were not set up to accommodate at least temporary isolation for medical and other reasons.
That's true! I suppose I was operating under the assumption that a sanctuary would be prioritized over any other potential placement given the fact that animal rights activists are speaking publicly about this case. Doubtlessly putting pressure on the authorities that be to act... and more importantly, act in a way that they favor. Isn't Myakka Elephant Ranch more of an entertainment place than anything else? I think the last thing anyone wants is for Asha to get shuffled from one job entertaining the public, to another. White Oak is very nice, but don't they just have Asian elephants? Asha is an African elephant.
Myakka is essentially a scam. They make themselves sound like a a rescue center, claiming they bought circus elephants to retire them, but those elephants were in their circus. They still send animals to Wilstem in Indiana, and they still let guests pay to go into an area with the elephants.
That's what I thought. And it's certainly the impression that their website gives off. Doesn't sound like a suitable placement for Asha and I hope like hell that it's not even in consideration.
PETA has assisted in the placement of animals from closed roadside zoos before, including at times when some of the animals were placed at AZA facilities. So while it is possible that many or all of these confiscated animals end up in sanctuaries, but it's also very possible that AZA or otherwise reputable zoos take a share of the animals even if ARA groups were involved in the decision-making.
I'm doubtful that any AZA accredited zoo would be clamoring to accept Asha: She's a 40 year old, post-reproductive cow elephant with a history of violence against enclosure mates. Maybe an AZA zoo would agree to temporarily house her until a suitable permanent placement could be found, but realistically... she'd just be taking up space otherwise. And everybody on here knows that space is at a premium in reputable zoos, especially when it comes to mega-fauna like elephants. Hopefully, for most of other animals, they will end up at AZA zoos. There's multiple uncommon, even rare, species in need of new homes. It would be a shame to see them go to places that won't propagate them.
I am sure no one is clamoring, but there are facilities in the AZA for troubled elephants. But if any of them would take her, I don't know.
