The Philadelphia Zoo's plan to get rid of its elephants (which involves a protracted dispute with local activists) has run into a new problem. The Maryland Zoo won't take Philadelphia's elephants, which has forced the Zoo to look elsewhere:

Caught by surprise last week when the Maryland Zoo backed out of a deal to adopt its three African elephants, the Philadelphia Zoo is now searching for a home for the animals at institutions within a day's drive of here.

The Pittsburgh Zoo and the North Carolina Zoo, which had been considered and are poised to open expanded African elephant habitats, seemed likely prospects.

Andy Baker, the Philadelphia Zoo vice president leading the search, would say only that he was looking mainly at zoos in the Atlantic seaboard area with African collections and that he had made contact with a number of potential homes.

"Closer is better," he said. "Petal is 50 years old and it's been a long time since she's moved."

"Closer is better," he said. "Petal is 50 years old and it's been a long time since she's moved."

Her companions, Kallie, 24, and Bette, 23, are in their reproductive prime and attempts will be made to breed them wherever the three end up.

Pittsburgh is a major breeding center, with two calves born in the last eight years, and two more on the way, plus four adults.

The North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, which is doubling its elephant exhibit to seven acres, is also acquiring.

It has two females and a male who has not been a successful stud, said Rod Hackney, zoo spokesman. As it adds elephants, it will be looking for a bull and breeding-age females.

Philadelphia's Baker said he was not exploring a sanctuary placement for the elephants, which local activists are urging.

Friends of the Philly Zoo Elephants gathered over the weekend at the zoo entrance to push the sanctuary option for the Africans and to say goodbye to Dulary, 42, the zoo's Asian elephant, who is scheduled to move next month to the Elephant Sanctuary in rural Tennessee. That sanctuary is not accepting Africans.

In a statement released last week, Marianne Bessey, a spokeswoman for the Friends group, said another sanctuary, the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in California, had offered them a home.

"The Philadelphia Zoo has a wonderful opportunity to do what is best for Kallie, Bette and Petal and send them to a place where they will finally have a life free of bullhooks and chains," Bessey said.

Not according to the animal rights group "In Defense of Animals." In 2003, an IDAUSA alert -- "Protest San Diego Zoo's Great Elephant Betrayal" -- stated that moving elephants from California to Texas (a distance considerably shorter than Pennsylvania to California) was not only harmful, but possibly fatal:

Elephant experts warn that physical stress of being dragged into trailers and hauled thousands of miles across state lines could actually kill the elephants.

Pat Derby, cofounder of PAWS, said there was room for the Philadelphians in the sanctuary's 75-acre African habitat, but added, "It's more than saying, 'Ship them out here.' "

"We'd have to evaluate the elephants, the zoo would have to want to send them, and our veterinarians would have to go there," she said in an interview.

I don't know, but looking through some of the links at the PAWS web site, I suspect the sanctuary would want the zoo to pay, and heavily. When the typically-vilified Hawthorn Corporation "donated" elephants to the sanctuary, it was uncharacteristically called "generous" for making what was termed a "donation""

An agreement between the Hawthorn Corporation and PAWS will allow the two elephants to retire to a permanent home at the spacious ARK2000 sanctuary in San Andreas, CA. Beyond donating the elephants, the Hawthorn Corporation is also making a generous financial donation to PAWS in order to fund initial arrangements for PAWS to receive the elephants. Upon approval by regulatory agencies, the two elephants will be transported to Galt, CA. to be housed at the old PAWS elephant facility until a Bull Elephant Habitat can be constructed at ARK2000. The Hawthorn Corporation and PAWS are each delighted and excited that their cooperation will enable Nicholas and Gypsy now to find a lasting home together.

Ed Stewart and Pat Derby, PAWS Directors, are initiating a capital campaign for the costly construction.

Derby states that "In order for PAWS to be able to take Nicholas, we are launching a fullscale capital campaign to raise the funds necessary to build a home for Nicholas at ARK2000." Stewart projects the costs to be one million dollars and construction will take at least one year.

However, male elephant transfers might be more expensive than those of females, for when PAWS discussed the transfer costs of another elephant named "Ruby", the figure was closer to half a million dollars:

So far, animal activists have raised $260,000 to transfer Ruby to a sanctuary, which will be matched up to $300,000 from game show host Bob Barker. The funds would cover the costs of transferring Ruby to the sanctuary and pay for her care once she arrives.

Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago wants Wankie to live at a zoo accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, said Kelly McGrath, zoo spokeswoman. "We know what that means -- the highest quality of animal care and a commitment to conservation and education," McGrath said. "We believe that it's only that up-close experience with wildlife that fosters a long-term concern for animals, not just in zoos but in the wild."

PAWS is not accredited by AZA. Hogle's AZA accreditation is valid until September 2009.

Meyer objects to what she calls AZA zoo captive breeding programs, in which elephants are "shuffled from zoo to zoo like baseball cards irregardlessSIC of the bonds they may have," she said. "It's literally bringing any animal to the same deprivation that its parents are."

Sanctuaries do not allow breeding and have more space for animals that can roam tens of miles each day looking for food.

PAWS Director Pat Derby said she does not think the zoo will send Wankie to her sanctuary, but she hopes that "all of this conflict over elephants could be resolved in a way that would benefit the elephant."

Ordinary Inquirer readers (who are for the most part not activists) simply cannot be expected to realize that the elephant sanctuaries are, simply, a dead end. I'm sure the Philadelphia Zoo knows this; in any event PAWS founder and director Pat Derby confirms it herself here:

We always say that although people think running a sanctuary is a wonderful thing, we would hope that in the future there would not be a need for them. We often say that we are working hard to put ourselves out of business. The happiest day of my life would be to see no captive wildlife at all and these animals in their natural habitat. People who are really concerned about wild or exotic animals need to support efforts to protect their habitat.

But doesn't that mean the end of zoos? I hate to put it so bluntly, but unless I am mistaken, a zoo which "donates" an elephant by forking over money to one of these sanctuaries is ultimately contributing to its own demise.

Why on earth would the Philadelphia Zoo be expected do such a thing?

Because activists say so? Because Pat Derby (a former Hollywood animal trainer who has seen the light) says so?

Make no mistake, the latter has repeatedly stated that she is against breeding animals in captivity -- a practice she deems "hypocrisy":

The hypocrisy of breeding animals in captivity who will be doomed to live in unnatural enclosures in the name of conservation and science is a practice which should be eliminated by AZA and replaced with truthful information about captivity and the compelling need to protect wild species and their habitat.

"In 1973 in my book The Lady and Her Tiger, I wrote, 'Wild animals are not meant to be owned, any more than human beings are. No one has the right to pass a cougar or gorilla from hand to hand, not for the purest of motives. Now, twenty-three years later, I feel even more strongly about this issue. The Performing Animals Welfare Society (PAWS) pledges its support to IDA's Guardian Campaign."

The ultimate goal is to abolish the raising of farm animals, animals in medical research, in zoos or aquariums and to end the breeding and selling of pedigreed cats, purebred dogs and other pets.

By "all" they do mean all. I think the movement against elephants in zoos is just part of a larger agenda which wants to criminalize all animal breeding, and end the keeping of pets. I've gone so far as to call it an anti-dog movement, because I think it really is that and more.

I'd hate to see the Philadelphia Zoo assist this movement in any way.