NEW INVESTIGATION: The American Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) apparently punishes zoos that send elephants to sanctuaries.
The sanctuaries rightfully don’t promote breeding in captivity and one of the industry’s dirty secrets is that for every elephant born at a US zoo, two die (the Seattle Times).
To dissuade accredited zoos from endorsing sanctuaries, as the Detroit and Milwaukee zoos had done, the national association adopted harsh punishments designed to hurt zoos’ bottom lines.
But the association does allow zoos to give their unwanted elephants to circuses, where breeding can occur.
Photo: Steve Ringman/Seattle Times, PAWS Sanctuary, California.
