https://www.idausa.org/campaign/elephants/10-worst-zoos-for-elephants-2025
When Packy was born at the Oregon Zoo in 1962, he was the first elephant calf born in North America in over 40 years. His birth skyrocketed ticket sales and triggered a nationwide breeding frenzy. Today, a new baby boom is in full swing, with 12 calves born in 2025 alone, luring in unsuspecting visitors by the millions.
But zoo baby fever is a sickness that plunges elephant lives into tragedy. Each new calf draws crowds, but behind the smiles and photo ops lies a cycle of exploitation, heartbreak, and death.
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Zoo-born elephants are twice as likely to die as wild-born calves before age 2. Source: In Defense of Animals analysis; Turkalo et al.
One in four elephants born in zoos dies before age 5 — a rate far surpassing wild mortality. By age 2, the death rate for zoo calves is double that of the wild, even though captives are protected from drought, predation, and poaching.
Visitors pay to watch playful youngsters, while older elephants sway from zoochosis caused by brain damage, shuffle with crippling osteoarthritis, and are dosed with painkillers for incurable, often fatal foot disease. A data review by In Defense of Animals found that over a third of elephants born in zoos since 2004 have died prematurely. Most captive-born elephants fail to reach even half of their natural life expectancy.
Independent studies consistently show that elephants in zoos suffer persistent, chronic health and psychological problems, even at facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA). Breeding underpins, perpetuates, and causes it. A new report exposes the devastating results of captive breeding worldwide.
Bred to Breaking Point
Zoos increasingly rely on artificial insemination, an invasive procedure forced on females again and again. It produces three times as many males, who are notoriously difficult to manage in captivity and lead some of the most tormented, tragic lives in zoos.
Males are shipped between zoos to breed, which traumatically breaks bonds with friends and family. This shuffling increases mortality by 50 percent.
For females, zoo breeding is a miserable punishment. Chai, at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, endured 112 brutal insemination attempts — often tightly restrained with chains or in an “iron maiden”. All failed, so she was shipped to Dickerson Park Zoo in St Louis to mate with a live bull, despite the risk of contracting deadly elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). She returned pregnant, but her baby was infected and died at six years old.
Rare documentary footage shows one zoo’s distressing birthing process in 2012. Chained elephants give birth onto concrete, and the stricken mothers are immediately separated from their newborns.
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Too Young To Breed, Too Young To Die
Zoos are so desperate to have babies that the AZA allows females to be bred as early as 8 years old, far younger than 12-14 years old which is typical in the wild.
The pace is relentless. In the wild, mothers wait four to six years between calves. In zoos, some are impregnated within a year of giving birth.
Male elephants in zoos enter musth as young as 11 years old, when wild bulls commonly enter sexual maturity in their 20s or 30s.
The relentless demand and stress of captivity causes miscarriages, stillbirths, and deadly diseases like EEHV.
Zoos mislead the public by claiming EEHV is found equally in the wild. In truth, it is not a threat to wild elephants, but in zoos, it kills. Breeding spreads the virus from zoo to zoo as elephants are traded on breeding loans.
A few zoos are testing an experimental vaccine, but even if it works, it would only prolong the suffering of elephants kept in unnatural conditions that make the disease deadly in the first place. While zoos highlight dangers elephants face in the wild, zoos themselves are far more deadly to elephants.
Breeding for Commerce, Not Conservation
No elephant born in a North American zoo has ever been released to the wild. The AZA’s Species Survival Plan (SSP) is not a conservation program, but an attempt to maintain a fresh supply of elephant prisoners for zoos. The SSP leaves a trail of dead infants and traumatized parents in its wake.
Captive breeding funds a conservation con that diverts millions of dollars toward zoo infrastructure and away from genuine efforts to protect wild elephants where they live.
A Better Way Forward
In 2025, the Louisville Zoo made the compassionate choice to close its exhibit and retire its last two elephants to sanctuary, earning our deep gratitude and Path to Progress designation. More than 40 North American zoos have already shuttered their elephant exhibits. We hope more follow this progressive path.
10 Worst Zoos 2024:
- Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens, Los Angeles, California
- Bronx Zoo, Bronx, New York
- Edmonton Valley Zoo, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Cameron Park Zoo, Waco, Texas
- Two Tails Ranch, Williston, Florida
- Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Topeka Zoo & Conservation Center, Topeka, Kansas
- Little Rock Zoo, Little Rock, Arkansas
- Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Phoenix Zoo, Phoenix, Arizona
Path to Progress Award: Oakland Zoo, Oakland, California
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