Elephant Emily joins Tina, Tembo and Indu in a sad plight.

1/4/25

We have a sad update to report: over the holidays yet another female elephant lost her friend and now finds herself alone. Emily, at Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford, Massachusetts, has been confined at the zoo since 1985. She was joined by Ruth in 1986. Sadly, Ruth passed away on December 28. 

Emily now joins Indu, Tembo, and Tina in the unfortunate predicament of being a lone elephant confined to a zoo. As we previously shared, zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) should be housing female elephants in groups of at least three. Yet despite this, AZA zoos frequently subvert those recommendations and keep single elephants with no apparent threat to the zoo's accredited status. Let the AZA know that this is cruel and unacceptable.

To all who took action earlier this week: please sign again for Emily! We must let the AZA know that we will hold them accountable. Elephants simply do not belong in zoos. The AZA's own inability to provide optimal care for elephants certainly proves that point. Elephant welfare must be prioritized over zoo profits.