2nd elephant calls [San Antonio] zoo home

The San Antonio Zoo has added a second elephant and isn't ruling out the addition of a third, despite the concerns of advocates. An Asian elephant known as Boo, or Queenie, was shipped to the zoo Wednesday by a private owner near Houston who was ordered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to sell or donate her to the zoo no later than Monday.

Zoo officials were notified of the move Tuesday afternoon. But they weren't sure they'd get Boo until about 6 a.m. Wednesday, when a staff member called from about 80 miles outside San Antonio and said Boo was coming, zoo executive director Steve McCusker said. “The guy we were dealing with was less than easy to communicate with,” he said.

The owner, Wilbur D. Davenport of Livingston, had leased the elephant to circuses. The zoo, which paid him $35,000, had tried for six months to buy Boo, McCusker said. “We're real excited about having her,” though it might be a month before Boo is out of quarantine and in public view, he said.

The elephant appears healthy and has tested negative for tuberculosis, but she still must have blood work and medical tests, McCusker said. Davenport didn't return calls by the San Antonio Express-News.

The elephant, about 55 years old, will be paired with Lucky, a female Asian elephant that's about 50. Lucky had been alone since Alport, a female African elephant and Lucky's companion for some 45 years, was euthanized in 2007. McCusker said Alport had a dislocated hip and couldn't stand up.

A California group, In Defense of Animals, opposed moving Boo to San Antonio and has called on the zoo to give Lucky to a sanctuary. It did not oppose the USDA's orders last summer that forced Davenport to send two other elephants to the San Diego Zoo, where they joined seven other elephants in a 2.4-acre exhibit.

The group's elephant campaign director, Catherine Doyle, wrote in a letter Monday to the USDA that letting Boo join Lucky was “tantamount to acknowledging complete indifference to the welfare of both animals.” She and other activists have said the zoo's exhibit is too small, at a half-acre, and lacks shade and soft substrate that elephants weighing well more than 1,000 pounds need to prevent joint damage and arthritis.

Zoo officials have said the area has sand for the animals to walk on, a pool and shade canopies, as well as giant tree trunks and tractor tires for enrichment. McCusker challenged the view that elephant sanctuaries are better than zoos. One recently had an elephant with tuberculosis, he said. “It's not green and glorious as they make it sound,” he said, referring to sanctuaries.

The zoo has had up to five elephants in its exhibit, McCusker said. It doesn't plan to have that many again, but hasn't ruled out the addition of a third Asian elephant, he said.

The zoo staff has about 150 years' combined experience in elephant care, with two full-time veterinarians and nutrition and husbandry experts, McCusker said. He disputed rumors that the zoo might someday sell Lucky and Boo and replace them with African elephants. “These two elephants will be here till their demise,” he said.

Mel Richardson, a former San Antonio Zoo veterinarian now living in Northern California, said the zoo should either invest heavily in a large area that simulates river basins and other natural habitats or join other zoos that no longer exhibit elephants. Richardson, a veterinary consultant who was at the zoo from 1991 to 1995, said he fears Lucky and Boo might fight and get hurt. The exhibit is “not complex enough for an elephant,” he said.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums recommends outdoor elephant yards have at least 1,800 square feet for one adult, and an additional 900 for each additional animal. The zoo's exhibit has at least 20,000 square feet.

Richardson said AZA standards are inadequate. “Elephants don't always just get along if they don't have enough space to be introduced,” he said.

McCusker said the pair will bond gradually in the four-stall elephant barn, with a barrier between them. They'll make contact with their trunks and will be closely monitored. “We'll know before we put them together whether they get along,” he said.

Courtesy of Mark Rosenthal