Dear John,
It’s been a year since two elephant calves, Thando and Davu, were born into captivity at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.
Instead of growing up in freedom, they’re spending their first years confined to a zoo exhibit, just like other elephant calves across the country.
Their births weren’t a step forward for conservation. They’re part of a system designed to keep zoo exhibits full–a system that sacrifices the physical and emotional well-being of individual elephants while claiming their confinement is harmless and for the good of the population as a whole. Under the AZA’s captive breeding program, their father Mabu, who’s now sired 18 elephants and is one of the most exploited elephants in North America, was transferred to Fresno specifically to breed with Nolwazi and her daughter Amahle. Like him, they were taken from the wild.
If nothing changes, Thando and Davu will never know the freedom that’s still a memory for their father and mothers. The more people who speak out, the greater chance they have of living with dignity and autonomy in a sanctuary instead of growing up prisoners.
Take action now: demand that Fresno Chaffee Zoo CEO John Dohlin send these elephants to an accredited sanctuary and shut down the zoo’s elephant exhibit.
