Letters to the Editor: R.I.P. Shaunzi. Don’t let the L.A. Zoo’s remaining elephants die there

To the editor: Reading about the death of Shaunzi, one of the elephants at the L.A. Zoo, I felt a mixture of sadness and relief.

Elephants are incredibly intelligent animals with complex social networks. They are meant to roam free, in herds. Captivity is torture for them. Shaunzi had a long, unhappy life in a totally unnatural and confined environment.

Her death also fills me with frustration that the L.A. Zoo has for years blocked efforts by animal rights activists, local politicians and community leaders to get Billy and other captive elephants moved into sanctuaries where they can live happier, more natural lives. There are sanctuaries that are anxious to accept them, and people ready to pay for their transportation.

But the zoo won’t let them go. If zoo leadership really does care about the elephants, they can show it by letting Billy and the other elephants live out the rest of their lives in freedom.

Judie Mancuso, Laguna Beach

The writer is president and chief executive of the animal advocacy group Social Compassion in Legislation.

..

To the editor: I was greatly distressed to learn that yet another elephant, Shaunzi, has died at the zoo.

It is a well-known fact that elephants in captivity die earlier than elephants in the wild. Now only two elephants are left: the older elephant, Tina, 58 years old, and Billy, age 38, for whom people have been advocating for many years, asking that he be sent to a sanctuary.

Zoos are unable to meet the needs of these enormous animals. Walking back and forth over small areas compacts the soil beneath them into a concrete-like surface. They walk on their feces and food, and their feet get infected. The hard surfaces cause arthritis, and once elephants cannot bear their weight, they lie down and die.

Elephants are intelligent animals, and the stress of being confined is unbearable for them. It is time to close the L.A. Zoo’s Elephants of Asia exhibit for good.

Patricia O’Reilly, Hawthorne