In December, the El Paso Zoo in Texas shared the news that the lone elephant remaining in their elephant exhibit has skin cancer–likely caused by “sun exposure over her long life,” as the local NBC affiliate reported. Her name is Savannah, and, at 71 years old, she’s the oldest elephant held captive in a zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. Her cancer made the news because the zoo is touting her treatment for cancer and arthritis to local media (sunscreen to prevent further skin damage, pain medicine, joint supplements, and stem cell therapy).
Subjecting an elephant to intense sun, with limited shade and no ability for her to choose to escape to find relief, exemplifies what life in zoos does to elephants–slowly but surely destroying their bodies (and minds) so they can be displayed to humans, while nothing is done to address or even acknowledge the core issue of the elephants’ imprisonment. Instead, zoos try to keep the focus on novel medical treatments and therapies, doing all they can to distract from everything the elephants in their custody have witnessed and endured. And Savannah has witnessed and endured a lot.
Read Savannah’s full story here on the Free to be Elephants website, and help raise awareness of elephant suffering in zoos by sharing her story, especially with any Texans you know.
Free To Be Elephants is an NhRP campaign to educate millions of people about the extraordinary cognitive, emotional, and social complexity of elephants, how they suffer in even the “best” zoo, and why they need the right to liberty.
Thank you for reading and sharing Savannah’s story.
Courtney Fern
Director of Government Relations, the NhRP
