UPDATE: Elephants in Zoos

A couple of weeks ago I had thought that the number of elephants in zoos has declined. I heard back from Melissa Gonzales, the National Grassroots Campaigns Coordinator at In Defense of Animals late last week. She wrote that while there have been births of elephants in zoos, the deaths have out-numbered them and the total number of elephants in zoos in the United States is indeed declining. She added:

Elephants belong in natural habitats where they can roam over uneven terrain which keeps their feet and joints healthy.  They need to be with members of their own kind, not taken from the wild from their families and shipped to concrete or compacted dirt pens during the day and concrete jail cells at night or during the winter months.  Most zoo conditions are killing elephants prematurely and it’s just not right.