Oakland Zoo mourns death of 46-year-old elephant Lisa amid push to end species’ captivity

OAKLAND — By the end, the arthritis that consumed the last decade of Lisa’s life had made even lying down an arduous task for the 46-year-old African elephant.

After Lisa was euthanized this week by veterinarians at the Oakland Zoo, head vet Dr. Amy Herman recalled how brave the beloved elephant had been as zookeepers treated her for the chronic, age-related health issues she had developed over the years — which also included eye ulcers and fluid buildup in her stomach.

“She was very present and very lively and definitely let us help her in many ways that extended her quality of life for a long time,” Herman said in an interview.

Still, the doctor knows — and animal-welfare advocates are quick to point out — that elephants in captivity do not live as long as those in the wild. Lisa was among the oldest zoo elephants in North America, but those in the wild often live to the age of 60.

African elephants are a major part of the Oakland Zoo’s promotional campaigns, and visitors’ fondness for Lisa can be seen and heard in the videos of her posted by staffers over the years. Fans also seemed to take a special interest in Lisa’s health and treatments, sharing updates on social media.

But while the zoo is recognized as one of the leaders in elephant care worldwide, many animal advocates say it should no longer keep these animals known for their intelligence, sociability and capacity to feel love.

“We’ve come to the conclusion that there is no right way of keeping an elephant in captivity,” said Ed Stewart of Performing Animal Welfare Society, which recently led a public push to free wild elephants from a zoo in Fresno, where they have just three acres in which to roam.

“If you go to India or Africa, you see a completely different elephant than you see in captivity,” Stewart said. “You see the families, you see movement, you see migration.”

Lisa arrived at the zoo in 1979 and was one of three African elephants living in a 6-acre habitat where zookeepers stay behind protected barriers and never force the elephants to comply with health care checks.

Lisa, though, was known for never having a problem with the various treatments for her arthritis that began in 2012: physical therapy, medication, foot soaks in Epsom salt, cryotherapy and, this year, stem-cell treatment.

Arthritis is common in large, heavy land mammals, Herman said, because over time their joints can no longer support their weight. Zoo monitors kept a close eye on how she moved while grazing and whether she was shifting weight to protect a lame limb. Lisa’s necropsy will be performed at U.C. Davis.

Should she have been kept in captivity? Stewart, whose organization currently houses seven elephants in an 80-acre habitat north of Fresno, believes it may have contributed to her health problems and that she may have felt less vital than in the wild, where she would be regularly traveling long distances, swimming and raising a family.

For veterinarians who work closely with zoo elephants, particularly at the Oakland Zoo, the issue is more complicated. It wouldn’t have been a surprise, for instance, if Lisa had died far younger through hunting — a traumatic fate met by close to 100 elephants a day in Africa.

Ivory poaching and human settlements are wiping out wild African elephants; their population has dwindled from 27 million two centuries ago to several hundred thousand today.

“There’s a lot of data showing that elephants will be gone in the wild probably by the middle of the century,” Herman said. “Wild conservation efforts are the very best things for elephants on this planet, there’s no question.”

Even animal welfare advocates are sympathetic with the Oakland Zoo, which has won national recognition for its treatment of animals and led a movement in the 1990s to end the use of bullhooks — batons with sharp, pointed edges that control elephants movements.

When the Oakland City Council banned bullhooks in 2014 to prevent their use at the local circus, the zoo’s then-CEO Joel Parrott backed the decision.

Still, momentum is growing around the country to phase elephants out of zoos — including in Fresno, where the zoo has been sued over its elephants’ living conditions. San Francisco Zoo sent its last remaining elephant to a sanctuary in 2004.

Herman believes that’s the wrong approach.

“These are amazing, charismatic, social animals that we need to steward,” she said. “I just don’t think there’s a simple solution to deciding what’s the best future for elephants. Maybe the best answer is that this planet needs to start valuing them as much as they value their (fellow) humans.”