New elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo faces tough legal f...

Work continues on the 6 acre Pachyderm Forest exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo Thursday October 29, 2009.

[Vera Stafford]

Regarding the new L.A. Zoo elephant exhibit, here's my question: Does the lawsuit maintain that the entire surface is too hard? I live in Santa Barbara, and the floor of the elephant barn at our zoo is both heated and cushioned, thereby solving that problem. Also, DN's map on page 8 does not show where the giraffes are kept. Might they conceivably have access to the shower as well as the elephants, albeit, not simultaneously? What seems like a waste of money would be scrapping the entire project over a few problems that could conceivably be solved. Talk about throwing out the elephants with the bath water!

[Erik Nelson]

Robert Culp has shown he is a fairly good actor, but his interpretation of what is good for elephants is faulty and hammy; as if he hasn't had enough good parts lately.
The Los Angeles Zoo is a world class operation and has a fine reputation for the way their animals are housed and treated. If Voice For Animals has the money and energy to spend to help animals, they should be doing something about Circus animals where treatment is at best questionable.

[Davitt]

Sorry, but I think the proverbial barn door closed a long time ago on this issue. This lawsuit is the waste of time and taxpayer dollars here.

[Patches Ohoulihan]

Can't wait to visit the new exhibit next summer!!

[Paul and Kulbir]

If they get it finished ahead of schedule, by Christmas Day, my brother and I will be able to go to the zoo to taunt them. It is a Christmas tradition in my home country to taunt large wild animals being kept in enclosures. One time, Jumbo and Dumbo flew out of the elephant pen and gored and stomped us half to death. Wow, that was so much fun!

[Anamouse]

Oh yea lets close all he exhibits down and put the animals back into the wild where they they belong, so they can all die. That would be much better than keeping a few in Zoos where millions of people gain an appreciation of them that they would not otherwise get.

Back in the 70's we abused a dolphin named Flipper on TV and his influence on use saved millions of dolphins when people forced the tuna industry to stip killing them.

Today a few elephants in Zoos can help kids want to help the ones in the wild. If we shut down the elephant exhibit what will be next? Which animals would these folks like us to have in Zoos? Probably none at all.

[Mike Gibbs]

Continue with the Elephant exhibit, it sounds like a wonderful feature, I can't wait to bring the grand kids.

[Tony Randel]

Given the fact that more than half the money is being raised from private citizens who want and believe in this exhibit and in saving Asian Elephants, this is hardly a waste. Is saving a species from extinction a waste of money?

[AngryWhittierRes ident]

This exhibit is looking awesome!! This Lawsuit is a waste of time.
I find it HILARIOUS that these idiots cannot understand how the zoo is continuing construction amid their baseless lawsuit. Classic.

[Aitchee]

Free the elephants!

[Aitchee]

These elephants and any others who are in captivity should be sent to The Elephant Santuary, http://www.tappedintoelephants.com/asp/index.... , where they can live with peace and dignity. Do you not realize they are sensitive and feeling mammals? They have a keener sense of family than most American humans. They suffer trauma at our hands -- hunters, zookeepers, and lookie-loos alike -- and should be free like you and me.

Yes -- Anamouse -- Animals should not be in zoos at all.

[AngryWhittierRes ident]

Aitchee wrote:

These elephants and any others who are in captivity should be sent to The Elephant Santuary, http://www.tappedintoelephants.com/asp/index.... , where they can live with peace and dignity. Do you not realize they are sensitive and feeling mammals? They have a keener sense of family than most American humans. They suffer trauma at our hands -- hunters, zookeepers, and lookie-loos alike -- and should be free like you and me.
Yes -- Anamouse -- Animals should not be in zoos at all.

This Elephant is well taken care of and probably lives a better life than alot of people on the LA streets.
Let's see,
-he's is fed everyday.
-He has a team of well trained Vets and handlers who care for him.
-When this exhibit is finished he'll have one of the nicest, spacious and most state of the art exhibits in the country.
- He will get "laid" frequently (unlike you probably), while helping to sustain the species through breeding and education.
-He will be safe from "hunters" and have a purpose instead of being forgotten in some sanctuary which helps neither educate us, or propagate the species.

Enjoy your new exhibit, Billy!

[Kate]

Please let Billy out of the zoo to go to live in an environment that is better suited for an elephant, with other elephants not trapped in a zoo but in a sanctuary - where he can roam free with other elephants. Elephants need to be with their own species and free.

Please help.

[CanogaParker]

Vera Stafford wrote:

Also, DN's map on page 8 does not show where the giraffes are kept. Might they conceivably have access to the shower as well as the elephants, albeit, not simultaneously?

I hope so. Otherwise, we're back in the 1950s with those "Elephants Only" showers that is still a black mark on our country's zoological history.

[CanogaParker]

Aitchee wrote:

Free the elephants!

Yeah, and you think traffic here in LA was bad now...!

[michele6933]

"For the children " "For the Tourists" "For L.A.'s reputation" etc . I wager the children know a lot about sharks, manatees, whales, but how many of those have they seen ?
What about FOR THE ELEPHANTS ?
A prisoner may be fed, housed, clothed but remains in a cell .
The acreage is the size of a block of houses in The Valley , it takes 5 to 7 min. the walk around the whole perimeter, hardly enough for one elephant, let alone 6 to 11, even with miniature pools and bushes .
If breeding _ naturally or artificially as is mostly the case - is successful, the habitat will soon be overpopulated, what then ? Divide families and dump the old ones unto another zoo, a canned hunt in Texas, a road-side exhibition, a traveling circus ?
Tom Labonge only sees revenues. He states that when he saw Billy, the latter appeared happy; so seems an isolated inmate when anyone approaches his cell .

Just finish the exhibit and let other, smaller animals enjoy its confines but allow Billy to go join his friends at the Central California PAWS refuge, he's earned the right to freedom and to enjoy what's left of his natural life .

[Jean]

Enough already - the animal rights activists don't believe that animals should be in zoos or that animals can be well treated in zoos. Elephants are the current animal they use to get publicity but they'll move on to another animal soon. The interesting thing about activists is that few, if any, of these people have any experience with the animals they care so deeply about. I think that the professionals at the zoo obviously know more about and care more about the animals they work with every day than these do-gooder types who care only about a principle. This lawsuit is a another waste of our time and money - I hope that Mr Culp loses soundly and has to pay the legal bills incurred by the City.

[Jerri Miller]

Billy belongs in a sanctuary, where he can live the life he deserves! It is NOT fair to make his habitat larger at the zoo...he needs MORE space..Space to be an elephant!!!
It is so hurtful to think of Billy, wasting away at the L.A. Zoo...and bringing in other elephants does NOT make it right..

[Damian Miller]

Billy, the elephant, deserves MORE space than he can get at the Zoo.
Elephants do NOT belong in Zoos.
A sanctuary will be glad to take Billy and give him the life he deserves! Stop wasting tax payers money on making the elephant space larger and give the elephant what he really needs to live a full, happy life.

[Patches Ohoulihan]

Billy will thrive at the L.A. Zoo's new exhibit.