Jenny, a 32-year-old African elephant who has spent 22 years on exhibit at the Dallas Zoo, now faces an even sadder fate in Mexico unless the Dallas City Council intervenes at the eleventh hour.

Texas Humane Legislation Network, a leading animal advocacy organization that lobbies for effective animal protection laws at the Texas Legislature, is urging Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and the City Council to send Jenny to The Elephant Sanctuary, a USDA-approved elephant sanctuary in Tennessee, where she will live in a natural habitat with other female African elephants.

“It is our hope that the Mayor and City Council will recognize the situation Jenny will face in Mexico and choose the far better option of a sanctuary,” said THLN president and Dallas area resident Cile Holloway.

THLN joins with the Dallas-based grassroots organization Concerned Citizens for Jenny in opposing her relocation to the Mexican Safari Display Park for the following reasons:

• Jenny will not be protected by anti-cruelty laws nor will any public records be made available to track her welfare.
• In Mexico, Jenny will be isolated from the other female elephants, as she will be the only African elephant in a community of Asian elephants. African and Asian elephants cannot share space due to behavioral differences and health risks. Female elephants in the wild live in close-knit matriarchal groups. Isolation is unnatural and inhumane.
• The Safari Display Park will give Jenny less than two percent of the space she would enjoy at The Elephant Sanctuary (elephants.com), whose operators have said they would welcome Jenny into their 2,700 acre state-of-the-art refuge to live in the company of other African elephants.
• The Dallas Zoo cites the Mexican Safari Display Park’s accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums as sufficient qualification for being entrusted with Jenny’s well-being. However, AZA is a trade association that calls for only minimal and voluntary standards of humane treatment.

To Contact the Mayor of Dallas

Mayor Tom Leppert
Dallas City Hall
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5EN
Dallas, TX 75201-6390

Main Phone: (214) 670-4054
Fax: (214) 670-0646
tom.leppert@dallascityhall.com

The Philadelphia Zoo and the people of Philadelphia suffered a loss today.  Petal, the oldest African elephant in an American zoo – died suddenly this morning – at the age of 52.  The cause of death is yet to be determined, and she is survived by the two other African Elephants sharing her pen – Kallie (age 25) and Bette (age 25).   Petal, Kalie, and Bette were all born in the wild.

Generations of Philadelphia Zoo visitors have had the pleasure of Petal’s company in the zoo.  Petal had not shown any signs of disease or ill health.  Zoo staff reviewing the 24 hour a day camera trained on the Petal’s stall saw that her right rear leg gave out in the early morning hours.  Zoo employees knew something was wrong when they arrived to work and saw Petal laying down on her side because she normally sleeps standing up.

Medical help was immediately sought and Zoo vets and other staff members spent two hours attempting to comfort Petal and help her back onto her feet before she finally died at about 9:15am.

Because of the close bonds Bette and Kallie had with Petal they will be monitored closely.  Well-known for their intelligence, close family ties and social complexity, elephants remember for years other individuals and places.

Elephants are long-lived animals. The few long-term studies done to date suggest that elephants in the wild can expect to live to their mid 40s. (Life expectancy is how long a “typical” individual would be expected to live; half the individuals will not live as long, half will live longer). Some elephants live well beyond this age, to 65 or perhaps occasionally older. At age 52, Petal was already well beyond typical life expectancy and was in great shape for her age.