LA Zoo's Last Elephants Moved 'Under Cover of Darkness'

Advocates wanted aging elephants to be sent to a sanctuary, not Tulsa Zoo
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 21, 2025 4:23 PM CDT
LA Zoo's Last Elephants Moved 'Under Cover of Darkness'
Billy, a male Asian elephant, roams in his habitat at the Elephants of Asia exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo on Tuesday, April 18, 2017.   (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

Billy and Tina, the last remaining elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo, were quietly moved this week to a zoo in Oklahoma despite a pending lawsuit seeking to have them transferred instead to an animal sanctuary where they could live out their days with more room to roam. The announcement last month that Billy, 40, and Tina, 59, would be sent to the Tulsa Zoo angered animal advocates who argue that they would be subjected again to an enclosure that's too small for aging elephants, the AP reports.

  • The move came "under cover of darkness," says Jake Davis, an attorney for the Nonhuman Rights Project, which is suing the LA Zoo. Davis says he received reports that the Asian elephants were transferred out about 1:30am Tuesday to elude protesters who've been staking out the zoo.

  • The nonprofit's lawsuit asked a judge to release Billy and Tina from the LA Zoo and send them to one of two accredited sanctuaries appropriate for elephants where they would have full-time care and ample space. "At a sanctuary, they could live as nature intended," Davis says. "They need massive swaths of land; they need varied terrain." He says he expects the lawsuit to be dismissed, but his group will not give up the fight to get Billy and Tina a sanctuary retirement home.
  • The move was necessary because the Tulsa Zoo has other Asian elephants who will provide important socialization for Billy and Tina because "keeping them in larger groups is crucial for their well-being," especially at their advanced age, the LA Zoo said in a statement. Asian elephants typically live around 60 years.
  • Officials at the Tulsa Zoo said the elephants arrived after a 26-hour road trip that included stops every few hours for hay, cantaloupe, lettuce, and water, Tulsa World reports. They said the zoo now has 17 acres dedicated to its elephants, including indoor and outdoor spaces.

(More elephants stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X