Rose-Tu has never known what it’s like to be a free elephant. She was born within the confines of the Oregon Zoo, where four generations of her family have been condemned to a life and death in captivity: her maternal grandparents Rosy and Thonglaw, her parents Me-Tu and Hugo, her stillborn twin, and her daughter Lily.
Her birth was a result of the zoo’s captive breeding program, which made deals to transfer newborn baby elephants to other zoos and circuses. Rose-Tu has spent her entire life held captive at the Oregon Zoo—an institution that was notorious for harmful practices like using bullhooks on elephants—where she was a victim of horrific violence. When she was only five years old, she endured a brutal assault from an elephant keeper. The incident left her with both physical and emotional scars. Elephants are known to exhibit signs of PTSD, and the young Rose-Tu was undoubtedly left traumatized by the incident.
Sadly, this would not be the end of the bodily harm that Rose-Tu would have to endure. She is part of the cycle of captive breeding, forced to mate with other elephants and produce another generation of offspring to be held captive and exploited by zoos.
She’s given birth to two elephants, and each has a uniquely tragic story. Her son, Samudra, had to be removed from Rose-Tu’s care after she tried to stomp on him in an apparent infanticide attempt (a behavior not seen in wild elephant mothers). Her daughter, Lily, tragically died of EEHV on the eve of her sixth birthday, an often fatal disease that claims the lives of many young Asian elephants in captivity. In spite of her two traumatic experiences with motherhood, Rose-Tu is still being forced to mate by the Oregon Zoo—she’s currently pregnant and expecting to deliver in 2025.
Rose-Tu’s story is marked by tragedy, but, thankfully, not all hope is lost for her. Activists with Free the Oregon Zoo Elephants (FOZE) are leading on-the-ground efforts to secure Rose-Tu’s freedom by campaigning for the Oregon Zoo to close its elephant exhibit and send the remaining elephants to an accredited sanctuary. Rose-Tu’s brother, Prince, has been fortunate to find freedom at the Performing Animals Welfare Society–a sanctuary that offered solace after years in a circus.
