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Gita the Elephant has died - Please Attend Protest!
Posted 06/12/2006
 From Pryors Planet:
We are all so very upset with the city and how ANTONIO VILLARGOSA...LET US ALL DOWN BUT ESPECIALLY GITA...HE MAY AS WELL HAVE MURDERED HER HIMSELF!
Photo copyright AP Press
(For related stories:
CNN.com - Elephant Dies at Los Angeles Zoo
Time.com - Are Zoos Killing Elephants?
L.A. Daily News 07/07/2006
Immediate action needed : St. Francis, help L.A. help animals
UPDATE: 6/16/06--Gita's Death Sparks Cry To Close LA Elephant Exhibit
KINSHIP CIRCLE ACTION CAMPAIGN http://www.KinshipCircle.org
SOURCE OF INFORMATION:
Elephant Sanctuaries - Not Captivity! The Los Angeles Zoo
http://www.lcanimal.org/cmpgn/cmpgn_elephant_zoo.htm#update
Last Chance for Animals
email: campaigns@lcanimal.org
web: http://www.lcanimal.org
PETITION: Help the Los Angeles Zoo Elephants!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/540718457?ltl=1150233328
EVERYONE - Write to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Keep your correspondence polite.
LA RESIDENTS - Write your Council Member and Mayor Villaraigosa.
To locate your council member: http://www.lacity.org/council.htm
*Important: Council Members should only hear from people in their district!
Inform them that you will not patronize the LA Zoo until the elephant exhibit
has been closed down and the elephants relocated to a sanctuary. Urge them
to relocate surviving elephants to the PAWS sanctuary, where they will get
the specialized care they need.
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SAMPLE LETTER from http://www.KinshipCircle.org
Feel free to use portions of our letter, but please add some original
thoughts. Hundreds of identical letters may lessen the impact.
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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
200 N. Spring Street, Room 303
Los Angeles, CA 90012
ph: 213-978-0600; fax: 213-978-0656
email: mayor@lacity.org
Dear Mayor Villaraigosa,
People around the world are saddened by the death of Gita, a 48-year-old
Asian elephant who lived at the Los Angeles Zoo. On the morning of June 10,
keepers discovered her on the ground, unable to rise. Swift medical
attention could not save Gita from the foot disorders and arthritis that
plague captive elephants and cause more fatalities than any other ailment.
In 2005 you ordered a complete appraisal of the "housing and health needs"
of elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo and instructed the City Administrator
Officer to conduct an assessment. I understand you also temporarily
suspended funding for an exhibit expansion that could cost taxpayers over
$50 million to give elephants 3.5 acres of space.
The CAO's biased findings and subsequent recommendation to sustain the
elephant exhibit appear even more unfounded in the event of Gita's death.
While I applaud your past efforts to support animal welfare, I am
disappointed you did not veto the City Council's April 19, 2006 vote to
proceed with the renovated elephant display.
I realize as Mayor you may feel obligated to address other municipal
concerns. However, please know your constituents and citizens worldwide care
deeply about the plight of captive elephants. The LA Zoo's reputation
continues to plummet with the premature death of African elephant Tara in
2004 followed by Gita's passing. Surviving elephants Ruby and Billy will
suffer a similar fate unless you take immediate action to move them to PAWS
Sanctuary in Northern California.
Clearly, zoos are unable to supply the space, exercise or social enrichment
necessary to fulfill the physical/psychological needs of elephants. A
simulated environment -- no matter how innovative or optimally maintained --
cannot replicate the wild where elephants roam 20 to 50 miles everyday,
pausing to swim in watering holes or indulge in dust baths. While the LA
Zoo's proposed expansion affords elephants a few more acres, sanctuaries
such as PAWS provide hundreds of acres.
Elephants form complex social bonds. In the wild, they roam in family groups
of 10 to 12 and females retain lifelong ties with their mothers. Males may
remain in the herd until 10 to 15 years of age. Within the secluded confines
of a zoo, an elephant's lifespan is shortened from 50-70 years to 40-45
years. An estimated 50% endure chronic arthritis and foot abscesses from
insufficient exercise and endless hours upon hardened surfaces. Some
elephants succumb to zoochosis, a type of psychological distress, and
tuberculosis also spreads among elephants in captivity.
Mayor Villaraigosa, I implore you to do the right thing. Please relocate
Ruby and Billy to a free-range refuge where they can savor relative freedom
before it is too late. I urge you to emulate the decision of other respected
national zoos that have permanently closed their elephant exhibits.
Thank you,
ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE TO HELP BILLY AND RUBY AT L.A. ZOO
1. DELUGE THE MAYOR! CALL AND EMAIL MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA ON MONDAY, JUNE 12TH -- TELL HIM TO SEND RUBY AND BILLY TO A SANCTUARY NOW!
Gita's death should be a wake-up call for the mayor, who, along with city officials, stood by while the zoo kept her warehoused in inadequate conditions that they knew worsened her already existing health problems. They were all warned that if Gita was not removed from the zoo, she would not live long. But no one lifted a finger to help her.
As mayor, Villaraigosa has stated over and over that he does not believe elephants belong in zoos:
"My interest is in ensuring our elephants are healthy and safe and I believe they are safer when they are not in zoos." Daily News, March 11, 2006
"I don't think zoos are big enough to house elephants. Nature preserves are more appropriate places for elephants." Los Angeles Times, April 19, 2006
Please CALL AND EMAIL Mayor Villaraigosa and urge him to send Ruby and Billy to a healthful, spacious elephant sanctuary NOW, before it's too late. Please be polite and keep your message brief.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Phone (213) 978-0600, Fax (213) 978-0750
Email: mayor@lacity.org
Address: 200 N. Spring St., Room 303, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Letters are also needed and are one of the best ways to make a difference. Please write as well.
2. ATTEND SPECIAL MEETING WHERE MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA WILL BE SPEAKING
WHEN: TUESDAY, JUNE 13TH
WHERE: AUTRY MUSEUM IN GRIFFITH PARK (DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM THE ZOO)
TIME AND MORE INFORMATION TO COME
3. ATTEND HUGE DEMO AT L.A. ZOO'S ANNUAL FUNDRAISING GALA
WHEN: SATURDAY, JUNE 17TH
TIME: 5PM SHARP
WHERE: L.A. ZOO (MEET IN FRONT OF MAIN ENTRANCE)
BRING: SIGNS
WEAR: BLACK OR DARK "DRESSY" CLOTHING
Report from In Defense of Animals:
We are sad to report that 47-year-old Asian elephant, Gita, who has long suffered from chronic foot disease and arthritis that were a direct result of keeping her in inadequate conditions at L.A. Zoo, died this morning. Members of In Defense of Animals (IDA) and Los Angeles Alliance for Elephants will hold a demonstration Sunday at Los Angeles Zoo.
Please join us to demand L.A. Zoo to send the remaining elephants, Billy and Ruby, to an elephant sanctuary and to cease keeping elephants.
When: Sunday, June 11, 2006, 12:00 noon
Where: L.A. Zoo, in front of main entrance
Contact: Catherine Doyle (323) 301-5730
In an incident hauntingly reminiscent of the death of 39-year-old Tara in December 2004, Gita was found collapsed this morning in her enclosure and died a short time later.
"We hold L.A. Zoo, the mayor, and the city accountable for Gita's death. They all failed her," says Catherine Doyle, representative of IDA and head of the local group Los Angeles Alliance for Elephants. "It was criminal not to have moved Gita to a sanctuary a couple of years ago, before her condition worsened due to standing on concrete in her enclosure, one of the conditions known to be the cause of lethal foot and joint problems in elephants. It's time for the city to admit it just can?t properly care for elephants."
Zoo medical records indicate that Gita began to suffer from foot infections while still in her teens and developed arthritis in her 20s. Last September, Gita underwent surgery for her steadily deteriorating foot condition, so severe bone in one of her toes had "disappeared" -- literally rotted away due to advanced infection.
Advocates have long warned that Gita?s health would continue to deteriorate if she remained in zoo conditions that are known to cause irreparable damage to elephants' feet and joints, including restricted enclosure space and concrete flooring, yet the Zoo refused to place Gita in more a more suitable, natural habitat environment.
"I believe Gita's condition is poor to guarded. I will be astonished if she lives another six months," said 23-year zoo and wildlife veterinarian, Dr. Mel Richardson in October 2005, after reviewing Gita?s medical records from May 20, 2005 through August 9, 2005 and observing her at LA. Zoo. "Gita is in this condition directly because of the over forty years of inactivity and over forty years of standing on concrete and/or hard packed substrate."
Asian elephants in the wild are known to reproduce into their 50s and have a natural lifespan of 70 years. Of the 12 known elephant deaths at L.A. Zoo, more than half the elephants did not live to see age 20. Field scientists report that ailments plaguing elephants in zoos, such as foot infections, are unheard of in wild elephant populations, where elephants? ability to travel over thirty miles a day helps to maintain healthy feet and joints. Arthritis and foot problems are the two leading causes of euthanasia in captive elephants in the United States.
Please visit www.HelpElephants.com for more information.
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