PETA and ZooCheck have been campaigning to convince officials at the Edmonton Zoo, deemed Canada's worst zoo for elephants by African elephant biologist Winnie Kiiru, to release its sole pachyderm prisoner, Lucy, to a sanctuary. We've reasoned with zoo officials. We've enlisted support from experts and celebrities. And we've called on caring supporters to write letters pushing for Lucy's retirement.

Unfortunately, it took proposed litigation against the city of Edmonton for zoo officials to make a pathetic attempt to improve Lucy's sad state and announce their "plan" to improve her life by putting her on a diet, giving her some sand to stand on—and possibly providing her with a treadmill.* We responded to this craziness with a full-page ad, which ran yesterday in the Edmonton Journal.

The zoo's policy of locking Lucy inside during the long, bitterly cold winters means that Lucy spends most of her time in a small barn. When she is allowed outside, she's primarily restricted to an enclosure that is less than an acre in size. It's no surprise that Lucy exhibits signs of mental distress, and her medical records reveal that she has been suffering from arthritis as well as chronic foot and respiratory problems.

It's time that Edmonton Zoo officials made the decent decision to help Lucy by retiring her to a sanctuary where she can enjoy warmer temperatures, acres of space to roam, and the company of other elephants. Please help by sending your polite comments to Edmonton's mayor and city councilmembers.

Stay tuned for updates.

Posted by Karin Bennett

*I think if Edmonton zoo officials were serious about enriching Lucy's life and improving her health, they'd sign her up for some Jazzercize classes. I'm obviously joking, but building a jumbo-sized treadmill for the overweight elephant is just as ludicrous. (Am I right—or am I right?)

How could we not plug the new, adorable polar bears at the Saint Louis Zoo? After all, we are all about the zoo of the future, and this zoo exhibit is unlike anything we've ever seen before. Instead of flesh-and-blood bears, the zoo is currently displaying electric proxies, and we couldn't be more thrilled.

images.chron / CC

A study out of the University of Oxford determined that polar bears fare especially poorly in captive situations. These large, roving predators develop neurotic behaviors because of stress when kept in captivity because they are unable to satisfy their instinct to roam. The report noted that "a polar bear's typical enclosure size, for example, is about one-millionth of its minimum home-range size," and the authors concluded that "the keeping of naturally wide-ranging carnivores should be either fundamentally improved or phased out."

The Saint Louis Zoo has a miserable record of polar bear "care." Four years ago, a polar bear named Churchill ate a toxic meal of cloth and plastic and died during his subsequent stomach surgery. Just one month later, the polar bear Penny died from infection. She had two dead fetuses inside her uterus, though zoo officials didn't know she was pregnant. Hope, the zoo's last surviving polar bear, was euthanized earlier this year after veterinarians discovered she had cancer.

We're hoping that the zoo maintains its merry instillation year-round, making every day a cause for polar bears to celebrate. And if they decide that the still-lives don't quite cut it, we'd love to see the zoo invest in animatronic bears that look and act like the real things.

Posted by Logan Scherer

Update: PETA India has just announced that it will give its 2009 Proggy Award for International Leadership in the Field of Animal Rights to India's Central Zoo Authority (CZA) in recognition of the government organization's decision to ban the use of elephants in zoos and circuses.

That's right. India, which is home to an estimated 23,900 to 32,900 wild elephants, will no longer allow its most prominent national symbol—the elephant—to be imprisoned in zoos or forced to perform in circuses. The move by India's Central Zoo Authority (CZA) comes after years of campaigning by PETA India to improve conditions for captive elephants (it has already succeeded in getting performing elephants banned from Mumbai and other cities). PETA India repeatedly expressed concerns to the CZA about the mental and physical suffering endured by elephants when they are forced to spend all their time standing on hard concrete surfaces while confined to cramped enclosures that severely restrict their movement. Now the government has announced that all the elephants currently living in Indian zoos will be transferred to elephant camps run by the Forest Department. The camps will be located near protected areas, national parks, and wildlife sanctuaries in India.

Back in 2005, PETA India embarked on an investigation of 14 major zoos throughout the country and found appalling neglect at every single facility. The group discovered hungry animals who were forced to forage among rotten food and garbage, animals who were confined to barren cages and enclosures without so much as a blade of grass, and animals who were deprived of shelter from monsoons and the blazing Indian sun.

At the Aurangabad Municipal Zoo in Maharashtra, a PETA India investigator found that the elephants were confined to a bleak concrete enclosure. All the elephants were chained, and one was tethered by both front legs with a spiked chain, effectively (and painfully) preventing him from moving more than a few shuffling steps in any direction.

After Rajkumar, an elephant at the Mumbai zoo, attacked his keeper, his intensive confinement prompted PETA India to file a lawsuit against the zoo. The court ruled in PETA India's favor, and Rajkumar was moved to another zoo in 2007.

Over the years, PETA India's campaign against the abysmal conditions for animals in captivity has garnered support from numerous celebrities, including UK Big Brother veteran Shilpa Shetty, Beatles guru Ravi Shankar, and Shankar's daughter Anoushka.

Congratulations to PETA India on this groundbreaking victory. Now, if only North American zoos and circuses would follow suit.

Posted by Alisa Mullins

The BBC has just unveiled its "Wildlife Finder," a Web site it bills as "the world's biggest online zoo." To create the "zoo," which so far includes 370 different species of animals (with more to come), the BBC has compiled video footage from hundreds of wildlife documentaries, including the blockbuster hit Planet Earth.

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Unlike a "real" zoo, with its bored animals gazing out blankly from concrete cells and cramped cages, BBC's Wildlife Finder captures animals in their own habitats—from the rain forests of Chile to the volcanoes of Papua New Guinea. No more peering through cage bars trying in vain to catch a glimpse of a sleeping lemur or waiting for the hippos to come up for air. BBC's Wildlife Finder includes footage shot with underwater and infrared cameras to capture nocturnal and deep-sea animals doing the things that they do naturally—things they never get to do in a zoo.

So far, the most popular animals are proving to be the meerkats (who doesn't love meerkats?), Darwin's frog (a Chilean frog whose males give birth through their mouths—all of which is caught on tape, of course), and the New Guinea jumping spider, who is shown jumping onto a cameraman.

Gather the kids around the PC and check out the online zoo today. They'll learn a heck of a lot more than they would at the local wildlife penitentiary.

Posted by Alisa Mullins

Warning: Spoiler Alert! If you don't want to have your suspension of disbelief, er, suspended, please do not read any further.

The penguins in Madagascar and Happy Feet are not real!

OK, so you knew that already, but you still love them anyway, right?

Our point exactly. That's why we're asking the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York, to replace the real penguins at the zoo with bionic birds.

Developed by German engineering company Festo, these robotic penguins are able to swim and communicate just like real penguins—and tap dance like the fake ones.

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I'm kidding about the tapping. They're more into Bollywood dancing. :)

These cutting-edge carbon copies are totally lifelike—but as fake as some zoos' concern about animal welfare—and they'll allow visitors to observe animal behavior without inflicting the stress of captivity on live penguins. Penguins are avid swimmers and divers who belong in open water—not on display in concrete enclosures that fail to come even close to simulating their natural environments.

And forget attracting a partner with a sweet song. Penguins in zoos have their mates chosen for them through breeding programs, and their chicks are often taken away to be raised by zookeepers.

It's no wonder that being pent-up in a zoo causes pimped penguins and other exploited animals to have pent-up frustration.

Here's hoping that the Rosamond Gifford Zoo will take our advice (we're offering to donate two grand toward this grand idea). I'd definitely be down with watching robotic animals.

How about you? What type of animal would you most like to see zoos replace with a robot?

Posted by Amy Elizabeth

As promised, here are the photos from PETA India's protest yesterday outside the Calcutta Zoo. You'll probably remember the protest because of a certain police officer's arrest "Fail."

This protest is just one of PETA India's many actions to help animals in captivity—check out this latest ad.

Hmm … looks like somebody's out of uniform!

Posted by Amanda Schinke

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The Zookeeper has recently begun filming at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. It's a movie about, well, a zookeeper, played by Kevin James, who wins Rosario Dawson's heart with the help of his animal charges. Well, presumably he wins her heart—what a bummer of a movie if not!

Something else that would make the The Zookeeper a bummer? If it used exotic animal "actors" to portray its animal characters, who are voiced by stars such as Cher, Adam Sandler, and Sylvester Stallone.

PETA has written letters to the film's stars asking them not to work with animal "actors" and pointing out that Birds & Animals Unlimited, the company that has been contracted to supply animals for the film, has a long list of USDA violations. Not only that, but exotic animals who are used as involuntary "actors" are routinely subjected to cruel training methods that can include being beaten, shocked with electric prods, drugged, and deprived of food in order to coerce them into performing acts that are stressful, confusing, and even painful to them.

Movies like The Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong have exclusively used computer-generated imagery, animatronics, and other technology instead of trained animals—and they ended up being blockbusters. We are suggesting that The Zookeeper use these modern techniques as well—or simply use footage of animals who already live at the Franklin Park Zoo.

As PETA's own Debbie Leahy said, "When it comes to exotic animal characters, the best casting choice is to 'fake it.' Even under the best of circumstances, captivity can be hell for exotic animals."

Posted by Amanda Schinke

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When PETA pal Chrissie Hynde learned that the organizers of her band's summer tour included a date at the Weesner Amphitheater—which is located at the Minnesota Zoo—the staunch zoo opponent wasn't pleased.

Then she learned that animals from the Minnesota Zoo's petting zoo are routinely sent to livestock auctions.

Chrissie has never shied away from an opportunity to speak up for animals who are being exploited, so she fired off an e-mail to the zoo director, Lee Ehmke, in which she wrote:

"I am disappointed to learn that the zoo sells its petting zoo animals to slaughter at the end of the season. How can a zoo invite children to touch and play with and express joy over animals for their uniqueness, only to turn around and sell those very animals to slaughter?"

Well, the zoo didn't agree to stop shipping off once-petted goats and sheep to slaughter. Instead, it canceled Chrissie's show!

You better bet she'll have some choice words about it to share with Pretenders fans.

Posted by Karin Bennett

Click for a larger version

To check out the archives of past strips, click here.

olifantenhuis / CC

On Sunday, a 45-year-old elephant named Annabel was euthanized after falling into a ditch that surrounded her compound at Emmen Zoo in the Netherlands. For more than two and a half hours, zoo workers tried to help the struggling elephant pull herself out of the ditch. Ultimately, firefighters used a truck to lift her out.

Annabel entered a deep state of shock. Once freed, the 3-ton elephant was unable to stand up, so she had to be euthanized. Heartbreaking images of her struggle can be viewed here.

The zoo was aware that elephants regularly fall into this ditch and strain to drag themselves out, but even after this tragic incident, a spokesperson has announced that the zoo has no plans to modify the elephant's outside area because of space concerns. If this horrible situation doesn't cause the zoo to think twice about the environment it provides for the animals, I shudder to think what would.

No animal deserves to live his or her life in a pitiful cage, but zoos have the obligation to provide—at the very least—a safe facility for animals. In the end, Annabel paid the price for the zoos' irresponsibility. It is time for the zoo community to stop capturing and breeding more animals to be put on display and to leave animals in their natural habitat where they belong.

Please, never support the cruel zoo industry.

Posted by Liz Graffeo

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Michael Jackson is trickier to find these days than Waldo, but lucky for us (and for animals), we've got some mad detective skills. Do you really think any disguise would prevent us from tracking him down when animals are in danger? Heck no!

PETA's Captive Animal Rescue and Enforcement Department—otherwise known as CARE—shot off a letter to the artist insisting that he take responsibility for the giraffes he once owned at his Neverland Ranch property. You might remember that Jackson sold the animals who were living at his private zoo after the millions of dollars of unpaid debt that had piled up at his doorstep made him incapable of caring for them.

Four giraffes from the ranch were relocated to Arizona after being purchased by a couple who apparently intend to open a zoo. But since the beginning of the year, PETA has received numerous complaints from concerned citizens regarding the well-being of these giraffes. A former volunteer caretaker for the animals has reported that the giraffes do not receive adequate foot care. According to this person, the giraffes have been housed in small, 15 ft. by 15 ft. "temporary" enclosures since the day they were purchased over a year ago. And, with the exception of one giraffe—who reportedly was allowed to bleed for days after giving birth before the couple finally requested assistance—none of the animals have been seen by a vet.

We have reason to believe that one of these giraffes was born at the San Antonio Zoo. Unfortunately, our numerous attempts to contact the zoo to request that zoo officials arrange for the giraffes' lifetime care at a suitable facility have gone unanswered.

Now, it's time for Jackson to put his money where his mouth is and pay to have these animals, whom he once supposedly loved so dearly, transferred to an accredited sanctuary. These giraffes have been suffering for far too long. They deserve to live out the remainder of their lives in a clean, safe environment, where they will receive adequate food, shelter, and veterinary care.

Come on, Michael. It's bad, it's bad, and you know it.

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

We frequently catch wind of some insightful satire from the folks over at The Onion, as their talent for drawing attention to ridiculous practices and pastimes deservedly focuses on animal issues from time to time.

In this very clever piece, the San Diego Zoo reportedly merges with the San Diego prison to boost tourism and cut costs (which is a common theme in animal industries). It's worth noting that they refer to the new facility as a zoo-prison, which is not exactly a new concept—"zoological park" is really just a kid-friendly way of saying zoological prison. The only difference between the medium-security inmates and the big cats, after all, is the inmates' right to a day in court before a life of imprisonment. The last quote in the article really says it all:

"To see all those poor souls forced to live in confined living quarters, with little to no sunlight, and no hope of freedom, it's just so inhumane," San Diego housewife Carol Wurster said. "Those otters deserve better."

—Sean

Posted by Sean Conner, Laboratory Investigations Special Projects Coordinator

LA Zoo, this time. Last week was Tampa. Could it, just possibly, be because these animals don’t want to be there? At least no one was hurt during this particular attempted escape, but that doesn’t change the fact that in addition to being (quite clearly) unsafe for visitors, the conditions animals are kept in at zoos are inhumane and unacceptable. There’s more information on this issue here.

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OK, so we’re not exactly rushing to sign this guy up as the next PETA spokesperson, but he’s certainly got it right about zoos. Joe Francis — the intellectual force behind the Girls Gone Wild series — just got done serving time in prison after a contempt of court citation that occurred during a civil lawsuit brought against him by seven women who were underage when they were filmed for his videos. Apparently, being behind bars has given him a new perspective on the stress and misery of enforced confinement: In an interview with The Sports Junkies (an inexplicably popular DC radio show devoted to professional sports and bathroom humor), Joe said that he will never look at zoos in the same way again, pointing out that “the animals don’t want to be there … it’s unnatural.”

Well, I guess we’ve got something in common, Joe. Actually, two things.

It looks like Dickerson Park Zoo had a loose kangaroo on its property last week. But don't fret: He wasn't escaping—he was protesting! In fact, it was actually a PETA member dressed as a kangaroo, but hey, now we're just splitting hairs.

Documents received by PETA reveal that in 2007, the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Missouri, "donated" a kudu and a kangaroo to Buddy Jordan, a notorious animal dealer who has been featured in numerous media investigative reports, all of which documented that Jordan sold animals to hunting ranches, operators of exotic-animal auctions, exotic-animal breeders and dealers, unaccredited zoos, and pet owners. Check out the news story about this demo here.

PETA animals in entertainment specialist (and my "donkey basketball"-fighting pal) Daniel Hauff was quoted at the protest as saying, "Investigative reports show that Buddy Jordan sells these animals to exotic-animal auctions, breeders, and dealers; hunting ranches; and unaccredited facilities."

To read more about this issue and to take action, please click here.

Truly,

Christine <3

It looks like Dickerson Park Zoo had a loose kangaroo on its property last week. But don't fret: He wasn't escaping—he was protesting! In fact, it was actually a PETA member dressed as a kangaroo, but hey, now we're just splitting hairs.

Documents received by PETA reveal that in 2007, the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Missouri, "donated" a kudu and a kangaroo to Buddy Jordan, a notorious animal dealer who has been featured in numerous media investigative reports, all of which documented that Jordan sold animals to hunting ranches, operators of exotic-animal auctions, exotic-animal breeders and dealers, unaccredited zoos, and pet owners. Check out the news story about this demo here.

PETA animals in entertainment specialist (and my "donkey basketball"-fighting pal) Daniel Hauff was quoted at the protest as saying, "Investigative reports show that Buddy Jordan sells these animals to exotic-animal auctions, breeders, and dealers; hunting ranches; and unaccredited facilities."

To read more about this issue and to take action, please click here.

Truly,

Christine <3

Sometimes photos just speak for themselves, so I’m going to let this one do just that. Okay, just a few words first: Kudos to everyone at PETA Asia Pacific for putting together this demonstration at the Manila Zoo, in the Philippines. It really says it all about zoos in just a few words, don’t you think?

nytimes/Creative Commons

After years of urging from PETA, the Alaska Zoo just announced that they will be sending Maggie, a 27-year-old African elephant, to the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in California! Maggie was captured in Zimbabwe in 1981 during a cull, and likely watched as her entire family was slaughtered. She has lived at the Alaska Zoo since 1983, and the last 10 years of captivity for this highly social animal have been solitary, after her only companion, an Asian elephant named Annabelle, died.

It's pretty much a no-brainer that elephants, who roam up to 30 miles a day, don't belong in zoos, and Anchorage, like most northern zoos, is far too cold for an elephant, meaning that she spends many months out of the year locked indoors.

You may remember that Maggie was in the news recently after a failed attempt by the zoo to provide her with a treadmill to give her exercise. Following this incident, and two subsequent collapses by Maggie due to failing health, attitudes from locals and the media changed, and more and more people began calling for her release to a sanctuary.

As PETA Director Debbie Leahy says,

“We applaud the Alaska Zoo for its compassionate decision to move Maggie to a warmer climate where she will be able to socialize with other elephants for the first time in 10 years. By taking action now, the zoo has ensured Maggie's future happiness and probably saved her life.”

The zoo plans to finalize the agreement with PAWS within two weeks, and hopefully she'll be headed to the sanctuary before winter. Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to make this happen!

PETA has donated $10,000 dollars toward Maggie’s long-term care—we hope she gets well soon.

Dulary arrives at the sanctuary

Some great elephant news on two fronts for you today, as two famous elephants have found new places to live. The first, an elephant named Dulary from the Philadelphia Zoo, has been released to a sanctuary to spend the rest of her life following the zoo's decision to close down its elephant exhibit for good. It's amazing to me to think that before I got involved in animal rights, it never even occurred to me that there was something monumentally screwed up about keeping elephants (who walk up to 30 miles a day in the wild) in tiny enclosures in places like Philadelphia for people to gawk at. Anyway, awesome work The Philadelphia Zoo for figuring that out too. You can read the full story here.

Ella PhantzPeril

The second elephant to find a home is a beautiful little anti-circus sculpture who goes by the name of "Ella PhantzPeril" (yeah, I know. Kill me.) Ella, a shackled, weeping pachyderm who wears a sign that reads, "Shackles, Bullhooks, Loneliness — All Under the Big Top" has been the subject of a few legal troubles over the past few years, even getting the ACLU involved when DC balked at displaying her as part of a citywide exhibit of elephant and donkey sculptures. Now, after a whole lot of back and forth with the New York City Parks Department, the New York Post has reported that the city has finally agreed to allow her a spot in Union Square Park this summer. So take that, circuses.

The Onion struck a blow against the cruel confinement of animals in zoos this week by broadcasting a chilling interview with Yun Mei, a panda who has finally had enough. And yes, in case you're wondering, I do get all my news from The Onion. I find tragedy much more palatable when they funny it up. Thanks again, Onion!

Panda Demands Abortion