Elephant retirement progress
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2004:
SAN FRANCISCO, DETROIT–The former San Francisco Zoo
elephant Tinkerbelle, 38, was moved on November 28, 2004 to the
Performing Animal Welfare Society refuge near San Andreas. Her
companion Lulu, also 38, slower to learn the transport procedure,
is to be moved in December.
The American Zoo Association is to decide in March whether to
penalize the San Francisco Zoo for retiring the elephants outside of
the AZA-accredited system, but on December 2 withdrew a similar
objection to the planned retirement to PAWS of the Detroit Zoo
elephants Wanda, 46, and Winky, 51.
The AZA had threatened both the Detroit and San Francisco
zoos with loss of accreditation for not keeping the elephants in
captive breeding programs, but agreed to retiring the Detroit pair
after a test showed that Wanda might have been exposed to a viral
disease which can kill young elephant calves.