Tina’s No Longer at the LA Zoo — But This Isn’t the Outcome We Fought For
Last month, the Los Angeles Zoo went through with its plan to relocate its only remaining Asian elephants, Tina and Billy, to the Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma—despite years of opposition from individuals and advocacy groups fighting to secure their freedom. The move also disregarded an ongoing lawsuit brought by the Nonhuman Rights Project, which sought recognition of the elephants’ common law right to liberty protected by habeas corpus and their release to an accredited sanctuary.
Photo: Nonhuman Rights Project
The battle to protect these elephants and ensure they were sent to a sanctuary rather than another zoo even reached the Los Angeles City Council, where Councilmember Bob Blumenfield urged Zoo Director Denise Verret to allow public or city consultation before making such a consequential decision. Instead, the zoo acted in secrecy, initiating the elephants transfer at 1:30 a.m. in a calculated move to avoid public backlash and protest. Tina and Billy then endured a 24-hour journey to Oklahoma, quietly removed from the city without transparency or accountability.
Tina and Billy are now in quarantine together and will remain together once integrated into the Tulsa Zoo’s existing elephant herd, which includes two males and three females. While this is far from the future we envisioned for these two long-suffering elephants, we find some consolation in the fact that they are no longer confined in separate, barren enclosures. At last, they will have each other—and other elephants—for companionship, along with access to more space and enrichment.
At Species Unite, we do not and will never condone the captivity of animals for human entertainment and we remain committed to exposing the myth that zoos are necessary for conservation. However, given this major change, we have chosen to close our petition which was primarily focused on removing Tina from the LA Zoo. We will now take time to assess what would truly be in her best interest moving forward, as we closely monitor news of her transition in Tulsa.
We submitted 34,128 petition signatures one final time to LA Zoo Director Denise Verret in protest of her deceptive and careless decision. The relocation of Tina and Billy appears driven more by a desire to get these animals off her hands than by any genuine concern for the elephants’ best interests or long-term wellbeing. We are heartbroken that Tina and Billy were denied the sanctuary they deserve—but we are profoundly grateful to everyone who raised their voices in support of their freedom.
We will continue to fight for a better future for elephants and for an end to cruel captivity everywhere.
What You Fought Against
57-year-old Tina was the only female Asian elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo after her last remaining female heard mate Shaunzi was euthanized in the first week of 2024. The death of Shaunzi came less than a year after the death of another elderly female elephant at the L.A. Zoo, Jewel, who had been Tina’s companion for nearly her entire life in captivity.
Tina was born in the wild in 1966 and was captured at just a year old. Before arriving at the L.A. Zoo Tina and her friend Jewel lived together for over 30 years and were used as circus elephants where they suffered physical abuse, neglect, and inadequate veterinary care. The two friends were confiscated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2009 and after a year of rehabilitation they were relocated to the L.A. Zoo.
Unfortunately for these two survivors the move was not the happy ending they deserved as the Los Angeles Zoo has been featured 9 times on In Defense of Animals’ list of North America’s 10 worst zoos for elephants, with the two most recent rankings naming the L.A. Zoo as the #1 worst zoo for elephants.
For years campaigners fought to free Billy the lone bull elephant at the L.A. Zoo who suffered a lifetime of torturous isolation and violating breeding tactics. Thanks to that ongoing campaign Billy’s story was well known but Species Unite felt that Tina, as the last remaining female elephant at the zoo, needed just as much attention so that she didn’t also pass away alone and forgotten at North America’s worst zoo for elephants.
Tina deserves to spend her remaining years in sanctuary where she will have the care, space, and companionship she needs.
Elephants are socially complex animals who live in matriarchal societies and Tina was undoubtedly suffering terrible loneliness and isolation after all her female friends passed away. Although Tina and Billy were able to interact in L.A., Tina needs female companionship to thrive.
A growing number of zoos across the country have made the ethical decision to send elderly elephants to sanctuaries but unfortunately the Los Angeles Zoo refused to make the same compassionate choice.
Despite Tina’s advanced age she could still live many happy years in sanctuary if she is given the chance. One elderly female elephant Shirley, who was sent to the Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary in her early fifties lived to be 72 years old!
The L.A. Zoo has proven time and again that it does not care about the welfare of its elephants—and made that painfully clear one final time when it denied Tina and Billy sanctuary and instead sent them, under cover of darkness, to live at another zoo in Oklahoma.