Los Angeles News

LOS ANGELES The Los Angeles Zoo should stop construction on a $40 million elephant exhibit and instead open an pachyderm sanctuary in the San Fernando Valley or Los Angeles County, a city councilman said today.

The zoo is currently home to Billy, a 21-year-old Asian elephant. The $40 million exhibit under construction, set to open next year and be called
Pachyderm Forest, is designed to hold up to five adult Asian elephants and three of their offspring.

Animal rights groups, like Voice for the Animals Foundation and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, oppose the exhibit, saying elephants are complex social creatures that need room to walk seven to 13 miles a day.

A motion to be introduced today by Councilman Tony Cardenas would move Billy to an elephant sanctuary and shut down work on the exhibit. A second motion would create the Elephant Satellite Sanctuary Advisory Group, which would identify a 60-acre plot of land that could be used as a $20 million city- owned sanctuary.

"Though L.A. touts itself as one of the most compassionate cities toward animals, we are behind the curve nationally when it comes to awareness
of our elephants," Cardenas said.

"Elephants, because of their unique size and unique needs, cannot live in zoos," he said. "The majority of elephants in captivity suffer foot diseases and chronic arthritis for their entire lifetimes. They also suffer psychological disorders."

A representative for the Los Angeles Zoo was not immediately available
to comment on Cardenas' plan. However, Councilman Tom LaBonge, whose district includes the zoo, said work must be completed on the exhibit because it is funded with a bond measure approved by voters.

"I think it's important for children to have a full range to see the beauty of all animals," LaBonge said. "I would love to see more space for animals, but it all has to be resolved. We don't stop the project -- we voted on it, budgeted it with bond money."

Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, said he supports closure of the
exhibit. "I stand in strong support of Councilmember Cardenas' call for Los Angeles to join a dozen major U.S. cities to acknowledge the inability of urban zoos to adequately care for elephants," Levine said in a statement. "It's time for the L.A. Zoo to stop throwing money at a problem it doesn't have the space to solve, especially in the midst of an economic crisis."

Former TV game show host Bob Barker, who frequently speaks in support of animal rights, said a Los Angeles-operated sanctuary would serve as a model for other cities. "This will undoubtedly change the way elephants are presented in exhibits all over the United States," Barker said.
"Visitors, tourists to Los Angeles, will be charmed with this sanctuary. They can go there, and they will see elephants living the way nature intended elephants to live -- not in a zoo that has them confined."

Zoos in Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco and Anchorage have closed their
elephant exhibits in recent years.

Actor Robert Culp and real estate agent Aaron Leider sued the city of
Los Angeles and zoo director John Lewis last year, accusing zoo authorities of withholding medical care, keeping elephants in confined spaces, and using bull hooks and electric shock to control the animals.

Earlier this year, the lawsuit was dismissed by a Los Angeles Superior
Court judge who said the issues are political in nature, rather than legal.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)