Why did Packy Have to Die?

Did Packy die to bring in a new breeding elephant to the Oregon Zoo?

Right before Packy was put down in Feb of 2017, there was a closed door meeting at the zoo. It was reported that a zoo staff member stated that a baby elephant is worth more than an old sick elephant. At that point Packy’s days were numbered. Packy’s keeper went public about this meeting to let us know the zoo and Metro had no good reason to kill Packy. He was doing better after being taken off the toxic TB drugs that had caused him to lose a massive amount of weight and to feel ill for much of the last 3 years. Speculation was the plan was to bring in a new elephant to breed and produce more babies for the Oregon Zoo’s breeding program. Fourteen months later and voila, Samson, a viable breeder arrives.

No doubt the zoo felt that fourteen months was enough time for the public to forget about that meeting and to forget about old sick Packy. Some of us however, remember.

Samson

What we all need to remember is that elephants are unsuited for captivity. Check the medical records for the zoo’s elephants and you will see a history of foot disease, arthritis, TB, joint disease and a host of other conditions that are endemic to zoos. Even worse is the stereotypical behavior of elephants in zoos. Chendra walks in circles, Packy paced endlessly, Shine was seen sucking on her teat, not normal behavior for an elephant, Tusko bobbed his head as did Rama, repeatedly. Samudra sometimes stands in place all alone, staring at nothing. These behaviors are not unique to the Oregon Zoo, elephants in captivity everywhere exhibit these behaviors, which are not seen in the wild.

It’s time to break away from the antiquated idea that elephants need to be exhibited in order to foster concern about them and save them in the wild. There is no evidence whatsoever that keeping elephants confined for life has saved any elephant in the wild, anywhere. In fact, elephant populations are declining at ever increasing rates.

At Free the Oregon Zoo Elephants, we believe that the focus should be redirected to where it belongs, on saving elephants where they live in Africa and Asia. As long as we support the continued incarceration and breeding of elephants in zoos, we distract from efforts to save them where they need to be saved.

Poor Samson, he is here to perform a job. What will happen to him if he doesn’t perform it well? But the real question is when will we realize that elephants do not thrive in captivity, they die long slow deaths in captivity, and sometimes, if they don’t die fast enough, they are killed.