Judge Clears Way for Transfer of 2 Gorillas From L.A. Zoo

Declining to enter a debate between animal rights groups and zoo officials, a federal judge on Tuesday cleared the way for the transfer of two gorillas from Los Angeles to zoos in Albuquerque, N.M., and St. Louis.

U.S. District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew told three organizations opposing the transfers that they filed their complaint was too late for him to stop the move of the two female western lowland gorillas, Lina and Kay.

Zoo officials immediately reaffirmed plans to transport Lina, 19, this morning to the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque. Kay, 28, could be shipped to St. Louis within 10 days, officials said.

The animal rights groups--In Defense of Animals, Last Chance for Animals and the Performing Animal Welfare Society--had asked Lew for a restraining order, arguing that the gorillas could die in transit.

But Lew said federal courts do not have jurisdiction in the matter until 60 days after an appeal is filed with the Department of the Interior. The groups had appealed less than two weeks ago to the department, which enforces the Endangered Species Act.

Complaints about the transfer of the gorillas follow by two months the death of Hannibal, a five-ton African bull elephant that died in a crate at the zoo during an ill-fated attempt to move it to a zoo near Mexico City.

After the uproar over Hannibal’s death, zoo officials have gone to great lengths to assure the public that moving the gorillas is in the best interest of the animals.

Kay and Lina have been in “dysfunctional family groups” at the zoo, said zoo Director Mark Goldstein. Lina has never reproduced while Kay has three children, but has not produced any offspring in seven years.

Goldstein said the move will put the gorillas, an endangered species, in circumstances where they will be happier and more likely to give birth.

“It’s in the best interest not only of the individuals, but of the species,” Goldstein said.

A six-page press release from the zoo details every aspect of Lina’s move--from transport in an air-conditioned van, being chaperoned by a zookeeper and being housed in “spacious, well-ventilated” quarters awaiting her in Albuquerque.

But animal rights activists said they are not reassured.

Elliot Katz, president of In Defense of Animals, said the drive to the new zoos will seem to Lina and Kay like an hours-long earthquake.

“It just goes on and on,” Katz said. “It’s a terrifying process.”

He said the activists plan to take their complaints to the Los Angeles City Council, hoping the council will prohibit Kay’s transfer to St. Louis.

Even if the moves proceed, two gorilla troops will remain intact at the Los Angeles Zoo.