2006 Events

January 1, 2006 - Demonstration - Mummers New Years Day parade - we'll be there! Will you?

January 2, 2006 - Zoo Visit - 12: 30 pm - Dulary, Petal, Kallie and Bette were not in the outdoor exhibit. It was a mild day, mid 40's temperature, light rain. The Pachyderm House was closed. We looked inside and it appeared some of the stalls are being used for storage.

The Pachyderm House has been closed for several months. One zoo employee told us it was being renovated. We have looked inside the Pachyderm House on multiple occasions and have not seen any "renovation" going on. We called the Zoo today (215-243-1100) to inquire about the Pachyderm House. We were connected to Gretchen Toner's (Public Relations) voicemail. We left a message asking about the status of the Pachyderm House and asked for a return call. We will update here if Ms. Toner or someone from the Zoo responds to us. (Update - Ms. Toner never returned our call).

January 4, 2006 - Zoo Visit - 12:15 pm - Dulary was not in the outside exhibit. Petal stood around while Kallie and Bette tried to take mud baths in the small muddy area at the far left of the exhibit. Please see the photo page for photos.

It is a very mild day - around 40 degrees and sunny. The rhino, okapi, and hippos were not in the outdoor enclosure.

A family stood near us watching the elephants for a few minutes. We smiled at the little boy and the father asked us if we knew which elephant was the Asian elephant. We told him all of the elephants in the enclosure were African, explained a little about how African elephants have tusks and female Asians do not, and that the Asian was being kept inside. He asked if we knew why, and we said she had been injured by one of the Africans and it was not safe for her to be outside with them. A woman standing nearby wearing a "Philadelphia Zoo" lanyard came over and said "Actually, the reason the Asian elephant is not outside is that she is recovering from eye surgery and must avoid dirt." We explained to her that we had seen Dulary outside by herself over a month ago - in the dirt - and that the reason she was not outside with the rest of the elephants was she was being reintegrated into the herd and it was not safe for her to be with them yet. She asked us how we knew that and we said it was simply a fact. We did not tell her that we have spoken with various sources who have confirmed that this is true. She then said that she had not been to see the elephants for several weeks and that she taught on Wednesdays. We explained that we visited the Zoo several times a week and took photos for our website. She inquired about our website and we told her it was "Help Philly Zoo Elephants. com" and she asked, "How are you helping them?" We explained we were trying to get them to a sanctuary. She reared back and said, "Interesting.....well I have a different opinion" and walked away. We responded by saying it was not our "opinion" but rather facts we were basing our efforts on. She left the area.

January 7, 2006 - Zoo Visit - 11:00 am - Dulary, Petal, Bette, and Kallie were not in the 1/4 acre outdoor exhibit even though it was a mild, and sunny day.
The read that if the Pachyderm house was closed the animals would be out in their exhibit.
We did not see the elephants, hippos, rhino or okapi in their outdoor exhibits.

We joined a group of zoo patrons going to visit the hippos. Inside the Pachyderm house, we could see Petal, Bette, and Kallie in there 1,800 sq. foot barn at the far end of the building. The barn looks like a giant prison cell with steel bars and not much space. The elephants looked over towards our group looking at the hippos.
The zoo employee told us that Dulary was healing just fine from her eye injury. She said that maybe the elephants would be able to go out later in the day, but she wasn't quite sure if that would happen.

January 7, 2006 - Demonstration - 12:00 pm. We will be meeting at the Gallery in Center City.

January 12, 2006 - Zoo Visit - 11:00 am - Dulary was not in the exhibit. We filmed Kallie, Bette and Petal standing around for about 15 minutes. While we were watching the elephants, a Philadelphia Zoo volunteer docent - Deb Crough, according to her nametag - led a group of school children to the exhibit. We overheard her tell the children that African elephants are "endangered" mainly because of poaching. She did not mention anything about the elephants' diminishing habitat, nor did she talk about the proposed culling of African elephants in Kruger Park, South Africa, due to an alleged OVERpopulation of elephants in that area. She promoted "eco tourism" as a way to save endangered species.

The rhino and okapi were outside. The hippos were inside.

January 12, 2006 - Demonstration - 4:30 pm - We will be demonstrating at Suburban Station.

January 16, 2006 - Demonstration - 10:00 am - entrance of Zoo at 34th Street and Girard

January 19, 2006 - Zoo Visit - 3:30 pm - None of the elephants were in the outdoor enclosure. It was a sunny, mild afternoon - so warm that groups of joggers were out in just t shirts and shorts.

Two zoo employees were out in the elephant yard cleaning We asked them if the Asian elephant would be outside and an employee told us the elephants were "inside for the day." We said, "But it's so nice out, it's only 3:30 pm, why are the elephants inside already?" The employee told us "we have to clean up and the zoo closes at 4:30." We asked if the Asian elephant had been outside at all today and the employee said No. We asked why not and she said, "Management decision."

January 24, 2006 - Zoo Visit - 3:00 pm - Dulary was outside in the exhibit. Petal, Kallie and Bette were inside. We videotaped Dulary for nearly half an hour. She looked very lethargic - drugged. She stood with her legs in odd angles, sort of twisted. She appeared to have pressure wounds on her legs.

January 27, 2006 - Zoo Visit - 3:45 pm - It was a beautiful, sunny mild day - over 40 degrees. None of the elephants were in the exhibit.

January 29, 2006 - Zoo Visit - 2:00 pm - None of the elephants were in the exhibit. It was another unseasonably warm day - near 50 degrees with a light rain. The Zoo map for today indicated the "Pachyderm House is Closed", which a zoo employee has told us means the elephants will not be on exhibit outside at any point during the day.

The ostriches were outside. A young boy about seven years old or so threw pellets of food at the ostriches and yelled, "EAT it, EAT it." We did not want to start a fight with his parents, who were standing right in front of the boy, so we kept walking, but felt sorry for the ostriches.

February 8, 2006 - Presentation - 3:30 pm - PPPPPrepRobert Vaux High School

February 10, 2006 - Zoo Visit - 1:30 pm - Dulary was not in the exhibit. Petal, Kallie and Bette were huddled near the door of the barn. The door was shut and a bar in front of the door blocked their entrance. The temperature was around 39 degrees.

The Pachyderm House was closed. We looked inside and nothing appeared to be under renovation. Several stalls appeared to be used for storage of hay and other items.

February 18, 2006 - Demonstration - 1:00 pm - The Gallery, 11th and Market. Free buttons!

February 21, 2006 - Zoo Visit - 1:30 pm - None of the elephants were in the exhibit.

When we arrived near the elephant enclosure, we were told by Sheldon Lightfoot, Director of Security, that was posed a "threat" and would no longer be allowed in the Zoo. We will update this entry with more information as it becomes available.

February 22, 2006 - Zoo Visit - 1:00 pm - We visited the zoo today but were barred from entry. We called the police to document the incident and waited an hour for the police to arrive. We videotaped everything, although the officer told us not to. We explained we needed to document the accusations the zoo was making. The officer talked with Sheldon Lightfoot of the Philly Zoo for approximately ten minutes (out of hearing range for us). When the officer came back to speak with us, he was noticeably rude and refused to answer when asked what the Zoo had told him (again - we videotaped the entire encounter).

February 23, 2006 - Demonstration - 4:30 pm - Suburban Station

March 5, 2006 - Zoo Visit - 2:00 pm - Dulary was not in the exhibit.

Kallie and Bette displayed signs of foot problems. Petal did not move during our entire visit (nearly 30 minutes).

March 22, 2006 - Eles Angel Zoo Visit - 4:00 pm - It was a beautiful afternoon, 45 degrees. None of the elephants were in the exhibit.

March 23, 2006 - Eles Angel Zoo Visit - 2:00 pm - WEATHER 52 degrees, sunny

ELEPHANTS IN EXHIBIT 3 African elephants. No Asian elephant.

OTHER ITEMS Water pool filled with two floating logs plus one dry log. No toys.

COMMENTS The two younger elephants, Kallie and Bette, entertained themselves with one dry log until they lost it. One of the younger ones hardely opens her eyes. Public noticed this and commented. The older one, with longer tail, Petal, seems more remote, stays at the corner of the house against the wall. Doesn' seem to be able to move easily; eats constantly.
The inside conditions, in the barns where very moist and hot (the windows are fogged up).
The weather is quite cold.

March 25, 2006 - Demonstration - with Police Activity - 11:00 am - Philadelphia Zoo -

During our peaceful demonstration, a zoo employee approached one of the activists and told her to move. She asked why, and the zoo employee told her she was on the Zoo's "private property." The activist was standing on the public area outside of the Zoo entrance, which is not the Zoo's "private property" but rather a public sidewalk and as such, accessible to all of the public, including demonstrators. Another activist approached the zoo employee who had told the first activist to move, but the Zoo employee turned his back on the activist and slunk into the Zoo, talking rapidly on his walkie-talkie.

A few minutes later, a uniformed police officer arrived. After conferring with Zoo employees, the officer asked the activists to move signs that were on the public sidewalk, stating that the Zoo employees had told him that the activists had "an agreement" to stay behind a black railing. We advised the office that there was no such "agreement." The officer told us we could leave our signs where they were until a unit from the Civil Affairs division arrived. At this point, there were approximately five zoo employees in a huddle outside, including the director of Zoo security, Sheldon Lightfoot.

Approximately 15 minutes later, a team from Civil Affairs arrived. The Civil Affairs officers met with the Zoo employees for a few minutes, and then approached us. The officers asked us for a sample of our literature, which we provided. One of the officers asked us to move one of our signs, which was leaning against the black railing. We asked why, and the officer told us the Zoo did not want our signs touching the railing, which was their property. We moved our sign so it was no longer touching the railing. We did not move from where we had been standing and where the Zoo had claimed was their "private property."

The Zoo apparently has no qualms about continuing to waste the time and resources of the Philadelphia Police Department, even during a time when crime is at an all time high in Philadelphia and the officers' time could certainly be better utilized than responding to a frivolous complaint filed by the Philadelphia Zoo .

March 26, 2006 - Eles Angels Zoo Visit - 4::44:00 p4:00 pm - WEATHER 52 degrees, wet

ELEPHANTS IN EXHIBIT 3 African elephants. No Asian elephant.

OTHER ITEMS One dry log. No toys.

COMMENTS The elephants were mentally prepared to go inside and spent
the entire time in front of the gate. When the curators entered the
space, the elephants became extremely interested in the cleaning
activities. In the 30 minutes the curators were there, all the
elephants had rich bowel movement...

March 27, 2006 - Demonstration - 12:00 pm - Philadelphia Zoo -

Once again, the Philadelphia Zoo showed no shame in its passion for wasting taxpayers' money and called the Philadelphia Police because activists were standing on public property. We are too disgusted by the behavior of the Zoo and the police to write the details about the incident now, but suffice to say that the Philadelphia Zoo has nothing better to do than to waste time and money harrasing peaceful activists standing on public property. Your donor dollars at work! We will write more later when our disgust wears off.

Update: video from the demonstration here.

March 2006 through December 2006 to be posted soon.

December 7, 2006 - Eles Angel Zoo Visit - 1. Date and time of visit: Thursday, December 7, 2006 at 12:00pm.
2. Elephants in exhibit: 3 African, 0 Asian.
3. Toys and other items in exhibit: There were three piles of feces and the rubber tire on a chain was out.
4. Weather: Overcast.
Time Temperature Humidity Real Feel Wind Direction Wind Speed Pressure (inches)
2pm 52 36 44 WNW 20 29.91
5. Comments: Two of the African elephants were hanging out together and munching on say hay that was strewn along the rocks. The other one was exploring the upper set of rocks.

*Rhino Update*
The rhino was just hanging out in the front right corner. His water pool was being refilled.

December 8, 2006 - Eles Angel Zoo Visit 1. Date and time of visit: Friday, December 8, 2006 at 1:00pm.
2. Elephants in exhibit: 0 African, 0 Asian.
3. Toys and other items in exhibit: Bare exhibit.
4. Weather: Partly sunny.
Time Temperature Humidity Real Feel Wind Direction Wind Speed Pressure (inches)
1pm 33 25 19 NW 24 30.30
5. Comments: No elephants out. VERY COLD AND WINDY!!!
*Rhino Update*
The rhino was not out.