For immediate release: January 22, 2020

Rosamond Gifford Zoo response to placement on IDA “10 Worse Zoos

for Elephants” list for 2020
A fanatical “animal rights” organization called In Defense of Animals has once again targeted 10
of America’s top zoos for its annual list of “10 Worst Zoos for Elephants.”
While the Rosamond Gifford Zoo is not surprised to be among those targeted – and we are in
good company with several excellent zoos -- we are shocked at the level of misinformation and
outright lies contained in the IDA “report.”
While the IDA claims are so absurd as to be laughable, we feel we must respond to them on
behalf of our 8-member Asian elephant herd, our devoted elephant care team and our many
supporters who actually experience and appreciate the loving attention given to the elephants
in our care.
IDA claims that Rosamond Gifford Zoo “uses elephants for breeding purposes, separates
elephants who have been together for many years and keeps elephants confined indoors
during cold winter months.”
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is one of only 30 zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos &
Aquariums to participate in its Species Survival Plan for Asian elephants and one of only 11 that
have surpassed all the requirements to be a breeding facility. The goal of Species Survival Plans
is to maintain a genetically diverse and healthy population of an endangered species in human
care to prevent the species from going extinct before we can solve the threats that are
decimating the wild populations.
Asian elephants are listed on the IUCN red list as critically endangered – there are only about
30,000 remaining in the wild due to human encroachment and deforestation of their habitats,
poaching for their ivory and human-elephant conflict that results when elephants invade
farmers’ crops seeking food.
AZA zoos are required to be actively engaged in conservation of threatened and endangered
species both in the wild and in our care, and our zoo donates tens of thousands of dollars to
conservation projects on the ground in Thailand, India and Africa aimed at curbing poaching
and other threats.
At the same time, we have invested millions of dollars, countless hours and many years of study
to create a habitat for the elephants in our care that caters to their natural behaviors and herd
structure and provides them with constant health care, enrichment, interaction and nutrition,
as well as a deep bond with the human caregivers who feel privileged to serve them.
Our elephant herd’s night house is a 12,000-square foot barn with heated floors and piles of
sand to protect their feet. Their “exhibit” is a nearly 7-acre preserve that we expanded in size
and complexity again last year. In 2015 we added a 50,000-gallon watering hole that mimics the
home base of elephant family groups in the wild. Our elephant herd enjoys access to the
outdoors in all but the most inclement weather, and they love to play in snow while our team
carefully monitors them to ensure they don’t get “cold feet” or ears, for that matter.
We do not separate elephants that have close relationships – to the contrary, we have a three-
generation family group composed of mother Mali, father Doc, grandma (Mali’s mother) Targa,
Mali and Doc’s son Batu, who turns 5 on May 12, and his baby brother Ajay, who turned 1 year
old on January 15.
We also have the “aunties,” Romani and Kirina, a mother-daughter pair as is typical in the wild,
and matriarch Siri, age 52, our elderly elephant who was the zoo’s sole elephant for many years
and enjoys a close relationship with her human caregivers.
As part of building its “10 Worst” list, IDA filed a Freedom of Information Act request for all
husbandry and health care records for our entire herd over the past year, and we complied –
yet all they could come up with to discredit us are untruths and misinformation – including the
false claim that we plan to send Doc to another zoo.
Doc did not come to us “as part of a breeding partnership with the notoriously cruel Ringling
Brothers Circus,” as stated in the IDA “report.” Doc came to us as part of the movement to free
circus elephants from a life of work and place them in better situations – such as at an
accredited zoo with a large preserve and the ability to participate in the Species Survival Plan
for Asian elephants.
When Doc came to us, he was not socialized with a typical family group, but he soon changed.
Now he is a different elephant – he loves playing with anything he can get his trunk on, he is a
great father and – unlike many bull elephants – he is very close to his family. Doc’s
transformation is a testament to the great care and environment at our zoo. Watching him and
his young sons interact is a joy that amazes our staff and visitors alike.
Contrary to what the IDA “investigator” supposedly “overheard,” Doc is not going anywhere.
Spreading a lie such as this just goes to show that this group will not stop at anything to
discredit any zoos that has elephants.
The video that they show – with extremely biased commentary that “He wants to escape” –
does not depict Doc. It shows one of our females, Romani, using her trunk to explore, as all
elephants do.
The focus on Doc’s swaying is another misrepresentation of what is really going on. Those who
know Doc are aware that he sways with anticipation, not stress, when he senses something
exciting such as the approach of a keeper, a family member or a bale of hay.
Lacking any recent problems to cite, IDA reaches back to 2001, when Targa had a miscarriage as
the beginning of “a tragic family history.” The number of fallacies in this portion is truly
astounding, but suffice it to say that Targa and her daughter Mali went to Canada while our zoo
constructed a bigger, better elephant facility and returned here when it was completed. Targa
did have a baby, Chuck, who remained with her for 6 years. Often after that age, a young male
will go off and join a bachelor group where he can play, roughhouse and learn to be a typical
bull elephant until he is ready to mate. Elephant daughters, on the other hand, stay with their
moms for life, as Mali has stayed with Targa and Kirina has stayed with Romani.
Mali’s son Batu, soon to be age 5, eventually will also be ready to leave his family and, we
anticipate, join a bachelor group at another zoo as would be typical in the wild. The claim that
male elephants are sent “from zoo to zoo” for breeding is also false, and we would ask that IDA
provide proof of this and ALL of its unfounded claims aimed at disparaging our zoo and
tarnishing our reputation.
Far from being a problem zoo, the Rosamond Gifford Zoo is highly respected by scientists and
researchers who have included us in many studies that are helping Asian elephants in the wild.
Our zoo participates in research that has led to treatments for elephant herpes, the biggest
killer of wild elephants, as well as studies of elephant communication, intellect and herd
dynamics. We are currently participating in a study that will shed light on what characteristics
of elephants may lead to elephant-human conflict on the ground in their native countries.
The rash, irresponsible claims made by IDA and the lengths they stoop to bolster their agenda
actually show that we are doing a fine job with our elephant program. After all their digging, we
are certain that if there were any real evidence to the contrary, they would have found it.

For more information: J Gramza, Communications Manager

Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park
jgramza@rosamondgiffordzoo.org
(315) 435-8511 x8534

One Conservation Place, Syracuse, NY 13204 • (315) 435-8511 • (315) 435-8517 fax
www.rosamondgiffordzoo.org
County Executive, Ryan McMahon • Commissioner of Parks & Recreation, Bill Lansley
Rosamond Gifford Zoo Director, Ted Fox • Friends of the Zoo President, Janet Agostini