Free Tembo from Isolation at the Cameron Park Zoo

Tembo is a 49-year-old African elephant who was captured as a calf in Mozambique in 1979. Stolen from her family and natural habitat, she has spent decades in captivity and is currently being held at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas. Since the death of her companion Tanya in 2020, she has lived in complete isolation, in violation of zoo industry guidelines that recognize the intense social needs of elephants. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) requires zoos to house at least three female elephants together, acknowledging the emotional trauma and psychological suffering solitary elephants endure.

Yet for five long years, the Cameron Park Zoo has refused to send Tembo to an accredited sanctuary, where she could finally experience the companionship, space, and autonomy that have been denied to her for nearly five decades. Instead, the zoo claims Tembo is better off with her human handlers, whom they have referred to as the “herd” she is used to. This justification is not only misleading, but a callous minimization of her tragic situation. Tembo is confined to an unnatural, cramped enclosure in a facility built not for her well-being, but to entertain the public.

The zoo continues to exploit her further by training her to paint for the public and then selling her artwork to visitors, referring to these unnatural performances as “enrichment.” True enrichment for an elephant like Tembo means roaming expansive natural spaces, forming bonds with other elephants, foraging, mud bathing, and living as freely as possible—not being used as a novelty act.

African elephants are intelligent, emotionally complex beings. In the wild, they live in large matriarchal families, form lifelong bonds, and mourn the deaths of their loved ones. They travel vast distances each day and rely on social interaction to stay mentally and emotionally healthy. Captivity already strips elephants of so much, but to also deny them the company of their own kind is among the worst cruelties imaginable.

African elephants have been known to live into their 80s in captivity. Tembo still has so much life ahead of her, and she deserves to spend her remaining years surrounded by other elephants, with room to roam.

Take Action Now

Please join Species Unite in calling on the Cameron Park Zoo to end Tembo’s prolonged solitary confinement and send her to a reputable elephant sanctuary, where she can finally live as elephants are meant to—with a true herd of her own.