For Immediate Release: June 22, 2006


As Elephants are Dying, Philly Zoo Concentrates on Naming Big Cats

As Zoo Moves On To Tigers, Zoo Continues to Allow Elephant to
Languish in Solitary Confinement

June 22, 2006 – Philadelphia,  Nearly three months after the Philly
Zoo publicly admitted it has decided to send its only Asian elephant,
Dulary, away and claimed finding Dulary a new home was the Zoo's "top
priority," the Zoo this week instead announced a contest to name a
jaguar cub. The four Philly Zoo elephants continue to suffer in an
inadequate enclosure, dying slow deaths like that of Gita, the 48-
year-old Asian elephant who collapsed earlier this month at the L.A.
Zoo, just days after Zoo officials assured a concerned public Gita
was in good health.

Sunday, members of local grassroots group Friends of Philly Zoo
Elephants ("FPZE") will demonstrate outside of the Philadelphia Zoo
to highlight the Zoo's continued abusive treatment of its
elephants. FPZE members also will give out free toy elephants to
the first 100 zoo patrons in honor of Dulary, who has been confined
in a concrete barn since she was injured last August by another
elephant.

"Dulary's situation is the direct result of the Zoo's negligence.
Last summer, it is reported that Dulary was not getting along with
the other elephants even before the attack. Rather than move Dulary
out of the cramped exhibit then, the Zoo forced her to live with the
other elephants and allowed her to attacked by another elephant,
reportedly almost dying," said Marianne Bessey, FPZE
spokesperson. "The Elephant Sanctuary, a 2,700-acre natural refuge
for elephants in Tennessee, could take Dulary tomorrow at no charge
to the Zoo, including free transport. Instead of releasing Dulary to
the sanctuary, the Zoo refuses to make a decision and allows her to
remain in isolation and confined to the cement barn for roughly 22
hours per day."

What: Demonstration to Move Elephants to Sanctuary

When: Sunday, June 25, 10:00 am to 12:00 noon

Where: Philadelphia Zoo, 34th and Girard Avenue, Philadelphia PA

Local residents are concerned that the Philadelphia Zoo, which
receives substantial public monies, free city services, and rents the
Zoo property for $1 per year, will secretively relocate Dulary to
another zoo, ignoring City Council members and community input
regarding where the elephants should be sent. Local community support
has been strong in favor of sending the four elephants to The
Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.

No U.S. zoo currently provides adequate space for the world's largest
land mammal. Sending the Philly elephants to another zoo would only
subject them to another inadequate enclosure that would prevent them
from walking and foraging, a situation that causes recurrent foot
problems and arthritis. Elephants in the wild can travel 30 miles
per day (one mile has 640 acres). The largest U.S. zoo elephant
exhibit is smaller than eight acres. The Philadelphia Zoo is
physically incapable of providing the vast acreage necessary to
accommodate elephants' social, spatial and psychological needs. This
lack of space leads to psychological and physical healt problems
including degenerative foot and joint disorders, digestive and
reproductive problems. Because of these captivity-induced conditions,
elephants in zoos on average die at far less than their natural
lifespan of 70 years.

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