Zoo elephants should be in natural habitats

Re “Gita’s Really on a Stroll,” May 9

Gita may be called a “little princess,” but her life is anything but regal at the L.A. Zoo. She and African elephant Ruby are kept hidden from the public, warehoused in a cramped “temporary” enclosure that a city report in December 2005 called insufficient to house them long term. Gita has already spent more than 2 1/2 years there; Ruby 1 1/2 years. They will remain there for at least another three years, and probably longer, during construction of the zoo’s costly elephant exhibit expansion.

There is no reason to keep Ruby and Gita at the L.A. Zoo. They are not on display, and neither really has a place in the zoo’s planned elephant exhibit. In the wild, elephants range tens of miles a day. It’s inhumane to keep Ruby and Gita in a tiny pen. Give them a royal reprieve: Send them to a spacious natural-habitat elephant sanctuary now.

CATHERINE DOYLE

Los Angeles Alliance for Elephants

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The reason Gita “isn’t talking” is because she doesn’t have anything nice to say about the phony efforts to build her an expensive new exhibit. This elephant exhibit, costing taxpayers nearly $40 million, is not really for the elephants as much as for the officials who would like to pat themselves on the back.

Elephants don’t belong in exhibits; they belong in their natural habitat. Forcing elephants to endure confinement such as this for the pleasure of the zoo-going public is cruel, inhumane and wrong. If Gita could talk, she would most certainly say, “Hey! Stop pretending to be my friend and get me outta here!” The truth is, even if she gets her $40-million estate, she’s still under house arrest. Poor Gita.

CAROLE RAPHAELLE DAVIS

Los Angeles