L.A. Zoo quietly moves elephants Billy and Tina to Tulsa, ignoring calls for sanctuary freedom
Billy and Tina, the last elephants at LA Zoo, were relocated to Tulsa Zoo under cover of night amid ongoing lawsuits seeking their transfer to a sanctuary.
Photo credit: Elephant Guardians of Los Angeles
The last remaining elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo have been quietly transferred to a zoo in Oklahoma despite ongoing lawsuits seeking their release to an accredited sanctuary.
Efforts to relocate the two aging elephants, 40-year-old Billy and 58-year-old Tina, to a sanctuary have been happening for over a decade, including a high-profile 2007 lawsuit in which renowned elephant expert Dr. Joyce Poole testified that, in her 40 years of studying wild elephants, she had never witnessed the abnormal behaviors exhibited by Billy and Tina.
Los Angeles Zoo has consistently ranked among the worst in North America for elephant welfare. In addition to being confined to an inadequate enclosure, both Billy and Tina are reportedly suffering from serious health issues, including chronic arthritis and foot and joint disease.
In April of this year, hope for Billy and Tina was renewed when a US philanthropist named David Casselman made a public offer to organize and fully fund the relocation of Billy and Tina to a sanctuary.
As part of the offer, Casselman will arrange the transport logistics, and fully fund not only the relocation itself, but also the lifetime care of the two elephants.
Instead, the Asian elephants were transferred out of Los Angeles Zoo to the Oklahoma zoo "under cover of darkness," according to Jake Davis, an attorney for the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP). Davis said he received reports that they were moved out about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday to avoid protesters.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Billy and Tina were transported by truck in separate ventilated containers on a journey that took around 24 hours in total.
"It's just really too bad, and there's a lot of broken hearts right now," Judie Mancuso, the founder and president of Social Compassion in Legislation, told ABC7. "We knew it was coming, with the shackles on them.”
Los Angeles resident John Kelly filed a lawsuit May 9 seeking to stop the elephants’ transfer, but a judge denied an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order in the case.
On May 20, NhRP filed a petition in court on behalf of Billy and Tina seeking recognition of the elephants’ common law right to liberty protected by habeas corpus and their release to an accredited sanctuary. Habeas corpus is a legal principle that protects against unlawful imprisonment.
“Billy and Tina show clear signs of psychological distress after decades in an unnatural and sometimes abusive environment,” said Christopher Berry, Executive Director of the NhRP. “We’re simply asking for a fair process where we can present evidence to a judge that a sanctuary is the only just outcome for Billy and Tina.”
Multiple animal advocacy groups have long been fighting to transfer the elephants to an accredited sanctuary. In Defense of Animals supporters alone sent more than 21,000 emails to Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council, and more than 18,000 messages to Dan Ashe, President of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), and AZA Board Chair and Zoo Director Denise Verret.
“Billy and Tina should be in a sanctuary — not the Tulsa Zoo,” said Marilyn Kroplick, M.D., President and CEO of In Defense of Animals. “All zoos cause elephants to suffer brain damage and lifetimes of deprivation in barren, minuscule exhibits. Only sanctuaries offer healing from zoo abuse. We will not let Billy and Tina die in Tulsa Zoo’s overcrowded exhibit without a fight.”
Tina with shackles on all four legs at the Los Angeles Zoo May 19, 2025 in preparation for the move to the Tulsa Zoo. Credit: Elephant Guardians of Los Angeles/Facebook
Meanwhile, Species Unite community have also been speaking out, with more than 34,000 people signing a petition calling on Los Angeles Zoo to “do the right thing and send Tina to sanctuary so that she can live out her golden years in peace and freedom surrounded by other members of her species.”
“No animal should be imprisoned for human entertainment, and Tina and Billy deserve to live out their lives in true sanctuary, with space, dignity, and freedom,” said Santina Polky-Link, Director of Campaigns and Development at Species Unite.
“The L.A. Zoo’s decision to send them to another zoo is a betrayal, not only of Tina and Billy, but of everyone who has fought for their release,” Polky-Link continued. “Species Unite will not back down. We will never stop fighting for Tina and for all elephants suffering in captivity.”
Elizabeth Stein, litigation director at the Nonhuman Rights Project, emphasized that the legal battle is far from over. “We still have viable legal options to secure Billy and Tina’s freedom in an elephant sanctuary,” she said in a statement on Wednesday 21. “And we’re not stopping.”
We Have A Favor To Ask…
Species Unite amplifies well-researched solutions to some of the most abusive animal industries operating today.
At this crucial moment, with worldwide momentum for change building, it’s vital we share these animal-free solutions with the world - and we need your help.
We’re a nonprofit, and so to keep sharing these solutions, we’re relying on you - with your support, we can continue our essential work in growing a powerful community of animal advocates this year.
