Elephants leave Seattle
Effort to stop move to Oklahoma fails
SEATTLE – A Seattle zoo has sent its two elephants, Bamboo and Chai, on their long journey to a new home in Oklahoma City after a federal appeals court declined to block the transfer.
A flatbed truck carrying the elephants’ climate-controlled crates left the Woodland Park Zoo early Wednesday evening on the 2,000-mile trip, expected to take about 40 hours.
Earlier Wednesday, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion by activists to stop the move of the aging female elephants from Seattle to the Oklahoma City Zoo.
Activists have said the long trip could endanger the elephants’ health and that their quality of life in Oklahoma would be worse than in Seattle. The legal action was part of the broader debate about whether housing elephants in zoos is humane, with critics arguing the large animals need more space than zoos can provide. Activists wanted them sent to a sanctuary.
Bamboo is 48; Chai is 36.
Woodland Park Zoo President Deborah Jensen said in a statement that officials were grateful for the court’s decision and were focused on the elephants’ welfare.
“A team of our elephant experts, veterinarians and the transport consultant staff will accompany the truck,” zoo spokeswoman Gigi Allianic said in an email. “The trip will be straight through except to stop every few hours to check on the animals’ well-being and to provide food and change water.”
Alyne Fortgang, a co-founder of the Elephant Justice Project, joined other activists at the zoo when it was clear the move was imminent. Some of them wept.
“This is not a protest. We would do that Saturday, when it probably would more aptly be called a vigil,” she said. “This is not about us being heartbroken. This is about the elephants – our humanity and how we treat these other beings.”
She called it “a sad day for the citizens of Seattle.”
Woodland Park Zoo estimates it will cost $111,000 to ship the two elephants to Oklahoma City. They will be on a long-term loan.
The zoo has said the transfer will give the pair more space and allow them to be part of a larger herd. The zoo considered a number of U.S. zoos with Asian elephants before deciding the Oklahoma City Zoo was the best choice.