The San Antonio Zoo has been sued over the continued habitation of Lucky the Elephant, an Asian elephant that has resided there for more than 50 years. The Animal Legal Defense Fund accuses the zoo of improperly caring for the animal with a habitation that has too little shade, too shallow a pool, among other things they believe are harming the 55 year-old pachyderm, and violating the Endangered Species Act.
The San Antonio Zoo has been criticized for years by animal welfare activists over its facilities and over the fact that Lucky is the sole elephant at the zoo, which violates the Association of Zoos & Aquariums accreditation standards. The AZA requires facilities with elephants to "hold a minimum of three females, two males or three elephants of mixed gender." The San Antonio Zoo has received a variance from the AZA to keep Lucky.
She wasn't always alone. Lucky has outlived multiple elephants.
Guest:
- Carney Anne Nasser, Legislative counsel for the Animal Legal Defense Fund
San Antonio Zoo CEO Tim Morrow issued the below statement to The Source in lieu of coming on our program. You can find the entire response from the San Antonio Zoo's lawyers at this link.
The San Antonio Zoo’s many years of care for Lucky have always exceeded all generally accepted animal husbandry practices, including the Animal Welfare Act. Lucky’s health and well-being is –– and always has been –– a priority for the San Antonio Zoo, and the Zoo is committed to continuing to care for her in a manner that puts her health and well-being ahead of any other interests, including special interests or political expediency. As we have said before, with respect to any alleged Endangered Species Act violations, there are none. In fact, our legal team has previously written to the plaintiffs in this lawsuit and pointed out that the allegation that the San Antonio Zoo has committed an unpermitted “taking” under the Endangered Species Act is both factually and legally baseless. A copy of that correspondence is attached. The San Antonio Zoo is confident in our legal position and has directed our legal team to answer the lawsuit and vigorously defend against it. It would be otherwise inappropriate for us to discuss the ongoing litigation at this time. Additional information will be forthcoming in our legal team’s filings with the Court as the lawsuit progresses.
