For Immediate Release: March 21, 2009                                        Contact: Marianne Bessey (610) 733-1248

Philadelphia Zoo’s 150^th Anniversary: NO Celebration For Animals

Zoo Is Stuck in the Past; Inadequate Conditions Continue 

 Demonstration TODAY: Local Residents Call for Change at Zoo

March 21, 2009, Philadelphia, PA  –  As the Philadelphia Zoo celebrates its 150^th anniversary, local citizens will gather today to call attention to the outdated policies of Zoo and the current inhumane exhibits that continue to display animals. The Philadelphia Zoo, which receives millions of dollars in taxpayer support annually, is being called irresponsible by local residents who want to see change in animal welfare policies at the Zoo. 

For over two years community members have rallied and called for surviving elephants - Kallie and Bette - to be sent to the PAWS sanctuary in California. More than 10,000 local citizens have signed petitions calling on the Zoo to send the elephants to the sanctuary. Despite this overwhelming public support to send the elephants to the PAWS sanctuary, the Zoo has instead chosen to mislead the public on its plans for the elephants by falsely describing the temporary breeding facility, where the Zoo plans to send the elephants, as a sanctuary. A true sanctuary provides a lifelong home and does not allow the use of bullhooks or other pain-inflicting devices to control the elephants; the breeding facility does not meet these two criteria.

Today the Zoo will celebrate the charter of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia in 1859. Sadly, most of the animals at the Zoo continue to be confined to decades-old exhibits.  The majority of the animals are kept in cramped, inadequate enclosures, such as the elephants who are confined to a postage-sized exhibit built back in 1941. Community members will gather to urge the Zoo to follow in the footsteps of forward-thinking zoos and do the right thing for the elephants by sending them to the PAWS sanctuary and permanently close the elephant exhibits. 

Nearly two years ago, the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), a 2,300-acre refuge in California, offered to take the then-three African elephants at no charge (52-year-old elephant Petal has since died, collapsing in her cement stall last June).  Zoo Director Vik Dewan refuses to send the elephants to the spacious sanctuary, opting instead to keep them in Philadelphia in conditions that zoo officials themselves admit are inadequate while the breeding facility is built.  At the breeding facility, plans are to  breed Kallie and Bette, who are both 27 years of age, possibly using artificial insemination – an extremely invasive and painful procedure for elephants. The zoo industry has significant data that highlights the dangers associated with the first-time breeding of elephants over the age of 25 years.

Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants is a group of local residents concerned about the elephants at the Philadelphia Zoo. For more information, please visit www.helpphillyzooelephants.com.

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