LA Zoo being sued over plans to transfer elephants to Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- A Los Angeles resident is suing the director of the Los Angeles Zoo over its plans to transfer Asian elephants Billy and Tina to another zoo in Tulsa instead of an animal sanctuary, lawyers announced today.

Plaintiff John Kelly's complaint, which names Zoo Director and CEO Denise Verret as a defendant, echoes the concerns of animal rights activists who have lobbied for years for Billy and Tina to be moved to an accredited wildlife sanctuary. Those advocates were outraged when the zoo announced on April 22 that the elephants would be moved to the Elephant Experience and Preserve in Tulsa.

Zoo officials said the decision was made with the animals' care and well-being as the top priority, and the relocation "will afford them the opportunity to live among other elephants."

Kelly, who describes himself as "an animal lover and long-time resident of Los Angeles," says he initially was thrilled to hear that the zoo was transferring Billy and Tina to a preserve, and even went online to make a $50 donation to the LA Zoo "to show my love for Billy and Tina."

However, he says he was subsequently horrified to discover from a friend in the animal rights community that the Elephant Experience and Preserve in Tulsa "was just a fancy name for the somewhat larger elephant enclosure at the Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma."

He's suing under California Business and Professions Code 17200 -- referred to as the Unfair Competition Law -- which prohibits "any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising."

The complaint, which was filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks a preliminary injunction prohibiting the defendants from relocating Billy and Tina to any zoo or "unaccredited purported preserve or conservation facility during the pendency of this action."

It further seeks a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants "from keeping Billy and Tina confined at the LA Zoo or relocating Billy and Tina to any zoo (including, without limitation, the Tulsa Zoo), or any unaccredited purported preserve or conservation facility; and (ii) ordering defendants to relocate Billy and Tina to an elephant sanctuary duly accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries."

The lawsuit repeats the claims long made by animal rights activists, who say keeping the animals at a zoo instead of a sanctuary is harmful to their physical and mental well-being.

"This lawsuit arises from the deliberately false and misleading representations made by Defendant Denise Verret ... Mayor Karen Bass's appointed Director of the Los Angeles Zoo ... designed to dupe the public into believing that sending Billy and Tina the elephants to a newly expanded elephant preserve' meant they were going to a genuine elephant sanctuary," the legal document claims. "That is false. The 'preserve' is an enclosure at another zoo where Billy and Tina will continue to suffer.

" ... The purported 'elephant preserve' is just a slightly larger elephant enclosure at the Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma," the complaint continues. "It boasts 17 acres, which is approximately 0.027 of a square mile. The space available for the elephants, however, is only approximately 11 acres. The Tulsa Zoo already has five elephants. With the addition of Billy and Tina, there will be seven elephants on 11 acres, or approximately 1.57 acres per elephant, slightly more than the approximately one acre per elephant at the LA Zoo."

" ... Despite years of scrutiny for its breeding and confinement practices, the LA Zoo remains a cruel, inhumane and traumatic place for elephants where Billy and Tina suffer each day, isolated in restrictive enclosures with little shade, forced to stand on hard packed sand that has caused severe damage to their feet and prevented them from freely grazing on vegetation of their choice by electric wires wrapped around the trees and other flora," Kelly's complaint adds.

"The science is well-settled. The zoo environment is inhumane and confinement in zoo enclosures causes elephants severe physical and mental harm that can be fatal if left unchecked. Many species, particularly those with advanced cognitive abilities like elephants, suffer from the stress and limitations of zoo life. In their natural environments, elephants are highly social and roam vast home ranges (sometimes traveling as far as 50 or more miles in a day)."

Others signed declarations in support of the request for an injunction, including pop star Cher, who described herself as "a longtime advocate for Billy and Tina."

"My heart is broken to hear that the Los Angeles Zoo ... has made plans to move Billy and Tina to yet another zoo rather than to a sanctuary, and that they have done so in secrecy and without involving the community or our elected officials in this decision which is so important to our community," the singer and actress wrote.

The zoo referred questions about the lawsuit to the City Attorney's Office, and a spokesperson for City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto told City News Service that the office does not comment on pending litigation.

The fate of the elephants has become a contentious issue on the City Council as well, with Councilman Bob Blumenfield calling for the zoo to delay its decision until additional options are explored. Last week, Verret came before the council's five-member Budget and Finance Committee to answer follow up questions and defended the decision.

"I can promise you that I am always going to make decisions that are for the best interest of the animals at the zoo, including the elephants," Verret said.

In response, the Blumenfield said "that's not good enough." The councilman is seeking a cost-benefit analysis of the options available for relocating the elephants, whether it is the Tulsa Zoo or another Association of Zoos & Aquariums-accredited sanctuary.

"...On big issues like this... it would come to the council to get that report. What I really want to make sure is that we get the information before anything happens," Blumenfield said. "Can you at least promise that?"

Verret repeated her previous statement.

When Blumenfield asked whether a contract was signed there was no answer. A deputy city attorney advised Blumenfield to stay away from such lines of questioning.

Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez voiced support for Verret and the zoo's decision to retire the elephants to Tulsa.

"We have Denise, who's the general manager of the L.A. Zoo, and she has a team of phenomenal caretaker animal experts, both in quality of life, but what it looks like to retire them essentially," Hernandez said. "They've been working on this because it's been something that they, as a department and as leadership of the department, feel the need to happen, which is granted to them, that authority, by the charter."

Blumenfield pushed back noting that the City Council has a fundamental role to oversee city departments. He called for a budget memo to evaluate the $80,000 required to relocate the animals to Tulsa. According to the councilman, if the city can relocate the elephants to a sanctuary for less, funds could be used to support zoo personnel at a time when the city planned layoffs.

Billy is 40 years old and Tina is 59. Zoo officials said they have been evaluating the elephant exhibit since the deaths of two other elephants -- Jewel, age 61, in 2023, and Shaunzi, age 53, in 2024 -- although they said those animals were in "declining health due to issues unrelated to the zoo's enclosure or care."

The Tulsa Zoo is home to five Asian elephants. The preserve covers 17 acres, including a 36,650-square-foot elephant barn and a 10-plus-acre wooded elephant preserve.

A date for the move has not been set.

Meanwhile, Blumenfield asked for the zoo to consider the 3,060-acre Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, home to 12 elephants, or the Performing Animal Welfare Society's ARK 2000 Sanctuary in Northern California.

Courtney Scott, an elephant consultant for In Defense of Animals, previously told City News Service that she was disappointed by the decision to relocate the elephants to another zoo instead of a sanctuary, as they have been petitioning the L.A. Zoo to do for the last 20 years.

Scott said the Tulsa Zoo's exhibit is far from enough space to accommodate the needs of far-roaming elephants.

"These two elephants have been existing in a constricted, barren zoo exhibit for decades, enduring physical and mental suffering. It is really tragic that they are not getting the opportunity to live the rest of their lives as the wild, free elephants they were born to be," Scott said.

In March, philanthropist and retired trial lawyer David Casselman offered to fully fund the relocation and lifetime care of the elephants to Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary, a spacious refuge Casselman co-founded.

In his remarks, Casselman said the city doesn't have to pay anything, just get out of the way.

"We can crate Billy, we can take Tina with him, and we can move them to Cambodia -- they'll have all the space in the most lovely existence for an elephant you can imagine," Casselman said. "All we need to do is convince the City Council to just let them go."

Casselman cited the successful relocation and recovery of Kaavan, "the world's loneliest elephant," who was transferred from the Islamabad Zoo to Cambodia.

According to Scott, the zoo did not consult with Casselman. There were also sanctuaries in the United States zoo officials could have considered as well, she added.

Max Pulsinelli, a spokesman for the zoo, previously told CNS that neither In Defense of Animals nor Mr. Casselman contacted or presented them with an offer.

"Even if we had, the cost of the move and activist agendas are not taken into consideration, only the wellbeing of the individual animals. Animal care decisions are made by animal care experts and zoo professionals within the context of the AZA Accreditation Standards," Pulsinelli said.