Heartbreaking News: Tembo Has Passed Away, Ending Her Lifetime of Captivity
After a lifetime in captivity, Tembo has tragically passed away before she had the opportunity to know freedom or sanctuary.
Photo: Cameron Park Zoo/Facebook
The 49-year-old African elephant spent the last five years of her life in isolation at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas, without any other elephants for companionship. She deserved so much better than to end her days suffering the terrible loneliness that afflicts solitary elephants in captivity, and we are heartbroken that our efforts to have her moved to a sanctuary could not move fast enough.
We are deeply grateful to the more than 17,000 members of this incredible community who spoke out for Tembo and demanded her transfer so she could experience the peace and dignity all elephants have a right to. We are truly sorry that we could not make that happen for her in life. At least now, Tembo is finally at peace, and her suffering has ended.
We will be closing Tembo’s petition and sending our final list of signatures to the Cameron Park Zoo, calling on them to do the right thing in her honor and permanently close their elephant exhibit.
This heartbreaking loss is a stark reminder that ending elephant captivity in zoos and safari parks is long overdue—and that we need systemic change alongside advocacy for individuals. That is why we have launched our most recent campaign in support of the Captivity of Helpless Elephants Reduction (CHER) Act of 2025, which would finally put an end to elephant captivity in the United States. If you are based in the U.S. and haven’t already, please consider reaching out to your member of Congress and asking them to support this bill in memory of Tembo and all the other elephants who never had the chance to know the freedom they deserved.
What You Fought Against
Tembo was a 49-year-old African elephant who was captured as a calf in Mozambique in 1979. Stolen from her family and natural habitat, she spent decades in captivity at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas. After the death of her companion Tanya in 2020, she 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 refused to send Tembo to an accredited sanctuary, where she could experience the companionship, space, and autonomy that had been denied to her for nearly five decades. Instead, the zoo claimed Tembo was better off with her human handlers, whom they referred to as the “herd” she was used to. This justification was not only misleading, but a callous minimization of her tragic situation. Tembo was confined to an unnatural, cramped enclosure in a facility built not for her well-being, but to entertain the public.
The zoo continued 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 deserved to spend her final years surrounded by other elephants, with room to roam. The Cameron Park Zoo should have ended Tembo’s prolonged solitary confinement and sent her to a reputable elephant sanctuary, where she could have finally lived as elephants are meant to—with a true herd of her own.