Zoo puts a stop to elephants as exhibits
The Detroit Zoo will become the first major zoo to stop exhibiting elephants because of ethical concerns.
Elephants can develop arthritis and stress-related ailments in captivity, and in the Detroit Zoo, one of the largest in the country, the Asian elephants Winky and Wanda still have recurring foot problems due to the cold weather.
Director Ron Kagen said: "If we don't feel like we can keep elephants, then the question is, who can and how? For us, there really is a big question about whether elephants should be in captivity at all."
In the wild, elephants roam vast areas, live in large families, and exhibit some of the same social traits as humans such as forming friendships and mourning their dead.
Confined to zoos and circuses, elephants develop physical problems and neurotic behaviour such as rocking back and forth and aggression, he said.
Mr Kagen likens the change to the decision to stop performances by elephants and chimpanzees at the zoo years ago because of the stress.
The zoo expects to send Winky and Wanda to a sanctuary this summer where they can roam with other elephants.
"I think it is an enormously important precedent," said Wayne Pacelle, of the Humane Society of the United States. "It should trigger the examination of the treatment of elephants in other zoos and in circuses throughout the country."
Other zoos have also given away their elephants because they had health problems due to inadequate facilities, Mr Pacelle said. But the Detroit Zoo is the first with sizeable grounds and adequate care to end its elephant exhibit on ethical grounds, he said.