Regardless of a stream of regular protests and objections because the announcement that Billy and Tina the elephants can be transferred from the Los Angeles Zoo to the Tulsa Zoo, the getting old pachyderms have arrived in Oklahoma.
The L.A. Zoo confirmed in a press release Wednesday morning that Billy and Tina arrived safely on the Tulsa Zoo after a prolonged journey collectively by truck in separate ventilated containers. The drive befell in a single day in hopes of optimum temperatures for the animals and minimal visitors, however the zoo didn’t present additional particulars on when the transfer started or the precise arrival time in Tulsa.
For the report:
12:25 p.m. Might 21, 2025An earlier model of this story incorrectly said the scale of the elephant enclosure on the Tulsa Zoo. It’s about 17 acres.
The L.A. Zoo estimated the elephants’ journey took 22 hours, however the Tulsa Zoo informed The Occasions it was nearer to 26 hours.
The assertion got here after advocates for the animals had been involved on the sight of an empty elephant enclosure on the L.A. Zoo on Tuesday.
Advocates have lengthy criticized the L.A. Zoo for its small enclosure dimension for elephants and the historical past of deaths and well being challenges amongst its inhabitants.
The zoo mentioned the deaths of elephants Jewel, 61, in 2023 and Shaunzi, 53, in 2024 meant the elephant program in L.A. was not in accordance with the requirements set by the Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums that require zoos to have a minimum of three Asian elephants in an enclosure due to their social nature. The one choices from there, to take care of AZA accreditation, had been to switch the 2 remaining elephants, Billy and Tina, or add extra elephants to the small enclosure.
In its assertion, the zoo reiterated that it evaluated all accessible choices, together with AZA-accredited sanctuaries, as activists had been pushing for. The zoo additionally mentioned Mayor Karen Bass “inquired” about transferring the elephants to a sanctuary, however that the choice was made on the advice of the AZA and its Elephant Species Survival Plan.
The Tulsa Zoo was the best choice from the AZA, in line with the assertion, due to the scale of the enclosure (about 17 acres of house and a 36,650-square-foot barn), the 5 Asian elephants already there and the truth that Billy and Tina may keep collectively.
The chair of the AZA is the L.A. Zoo’s director and chief govt, Denise Verret.
“Though they are going to be missed, we’re grateful for the outpouring of assist from our members, volunteers, workers, and the greater than 1.5 million company who go to the Los Angeles Zoo yearly,” the zoo mentioned in its assertion. “As they start their new chapter, we all know that Billy and Tina will obtain the identical love and knowledgeable individualized care that they’ve had on the Los Angeles Zoo.”
The zoo created an FAQ web page on its web site with extra particulars concerning the decision-making course of for the switch, which has been underneath scrutiny from animal activists and Metropolis Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, a longtime advocate of the elephants.
In a press release to The Occasions on Wednesday afternoon, Blumenfield mentioned the final 24 hours had been a “unhappy reflection on the federal government of Los Angeles,” including that he was “disillusioned and pissed off” by each the transfer and the shortage of transparency surrounding it.
“Angelenos are deeply invested of their well-being and the general public deserved a clear course of contemplating all choices earlier than a choice was made,” Blumenfield mentioned of the elephants. “How will we belief that every one choices had been actually evaluated, with none proof of any evaluation? The disregard for the general public’s concern is patronizing and disrespectful to the hundreds of Angelenos who’ve been calling for a viable sanctuary various.”
Blumenfield mentioned that whereas the AZA, led by Verret, beneficial the transfer to Tulsa, “we shouldn’t fake that the AZA’s curiosity is similar as an elephant’s or in the very best curiosity of the Metropolis of Los Angeles.”
“If you end up happy with your actions and safe within the righteousness of these actions you don’t transfer within the shadow of the night time and also you don’t disguise from public scrutiny,” he mentioned.
The zoo’s web site particulars specifics of the transferring course of, saying the elephants had been educated utilizing “optimistic reinforcement strategies” to voluntarily enter the big, ventilated delivery containers that they had been transported in.
They had been secured utilizing fabric- or leather-lined bracelets, which they wore previous to transferring day to get used to how they felt.
The journey by truck was taken straight by means of, with quick breaks and checks by the group of caregivers. Different zoos alongside the route had been “on stand-by” to help if there was an emergency in transit, in line with the FAQ web page. The Tulsa Zoo mentioned in a press release to The Occasions on Wednesday that the animals got hay, cantaloupe, romaine and water in the course of the breaks, and that the care group mentioned each Billy and Tina had been calm and ate and drank effectively.
Billy and Tina will endure a “normal quarantine interval,” the Tulsa Zoo mentioned, and can then spend the subsequent a number of weeks constructing bonds with their new care group and assembly the remainder of their new herd.
The L.A. Zoo paid $44,000 for the switch, splitting the associated fee with the Tulsa Zoo. The zoo mentioned the associated fee will “haven’t any affect” on the 2025-26 L.A. metropolis finances.
Blumenfield additionally famous that advocacy teams had provided to pay for the price of relocating Billy and Tina to a sanctuary.
With the empty house the place Billy and Tina lived, the L.A. Zoo will “reimagine” the world for different appropriate species and programming and can pause its elephant program for the fast future.
Billy and Tina’s switch befell regardless of a movement by Blumenfield in Metropolis Council final month to pause the transfer till council members may evaluate the potential of sending them to a sanctuary and two pending lawsuits concerning the relocation.
John Kelly, a Los Angeles resident, filed a lawsuit Might 9 in search of to halt the elephants’ switch, however a choose denied an emergency movement for a brief restraining order within the case final week. On Tuesday, the Nonhuman Rights Challenge filed a petition in court docket in search of recognition of the elephants’ “proper to liberty” and their launch to an accredited sanctuary.
Elizabeth Stein, the litigation director on the Nonhuman Rights Challenge, mentioned in a press release Wednesday morning, “We nonetheless have viable authorized choices to safe Billy and Tina’s freedom in an elephant sanctuary, and we’re not stopping.”
