When was the last time you visited a zoo? For many people, it was when they were kids, back when they were too innocent to question what an elephant was doing in Canada.
While some zoos prioritize conservation, most keep exotic animals to draw in visitors and turn a profit.
Less than 3 percent of a zoo’s budget goes toward conservation, according to David Hancocks, a former zoo director with 30 years of experience. Most of a zoo’s profits are spent on exhibits and marketing.
Many zoos use animals as a means to an end. The Edmonton Valley Zoo used to be one of them, and Lucy, a 49-year-old Asian elephant, is a remnant of its troubling past.
She arrived at the zoo in 1977 when she was two years old. At the time, “every zoo had to have an elephant,” said Marie-Josee Limoges, a zoo veterinarian at the Edmonton Valley Zoo.
Lucy has been alone ever since her herd mate, an African elephant named Samantha, was moved to another facility for breeding about 16 years ago.
The zoo has turned a new leaf since Lucy first arrived. She is very well taken care of and enjoys walks, meals, physical therapy, and daily playtime.
Lucy likes to say good morning by having her tongue rubbed. This interaction might sound weird for those of us who start our mornings with coffee but is perfectly normal for Asian elephants. To each their own.
Lucy is a queen who enjoys a diet of hay, herbivore pellets, vegetables, and, more recently, coconuts!
Staff do their best not to spoil Lucy. Similar to how an elephant would need to forage for food in the wild, she needs to look for her food.
Staff place her food in high places, inside containers, or in spots outside her barn, so she has to move around to find her food. It’s kind of like getting up to grab a snack from the fridge.
In addition to “foraging,” Lucy gets plenty of movement when she goes on long walks and plays hide and seek with her caregivers. She isn’t very good at hiding (for obvious reasons), but she is a great seeker!
The Elephant in the Room
Even if Lucy is well cared for, she doesn’t belong in a zoo. In recent years, protestors and animal activists have called for Lucy to be moved to an animal sanctuary.
At a sanctuary, Lucy would enjoy the rest of her life in the company of other elephants. In 2022, animal rights activists gathered at the Whitemud overpass in Edmonton, asking for Lucy to be released.
Celebrities like Bob Barker, who passed away in 2023, have advocated for her release. In an interview with The Star in 2011, Barker stated, “ It was never intended for elephants to be in such cold weather.”
In 2021, the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada also called for Lucy’s release but changed its stance after a review of her health.
Although Lucy is well taken care of, she has some health problems, the biggest being respiratory issues that make it difficult for her to breathe at all times. “She has trouble breathing, and if we were to try to transport her, there would be much stress associated with that travel. And there is the very likely potential that she would die en route,” Gary Dewar, director of the Edmonton Valley Zoo, said during a news conference.
In addition to respiratory problems, Lucy was diagnosed with a large uterine tumour, has arthritis, and was born pigeon-toed and bow-legged, leading to some pad issues on her feet.
Lucy was diagnosed with a tumour two years ago, which has since shrunk and is being controlled through vaccine shots. The rest of her health issues are being treated and managed with success.
Despite her health issues, Lucy is turning 50 next year and is doing well for her age. Dewar claims experts estimate she has about 10 to 15 years of life left.
Since Lucy is not fit to travel, the public should focus on protecting the fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants left in the wild, whose most significant threat is habitat loss.
In addition to human development, habitat loss caused by a warming global temperature has made it difficult for Asian elephants and other animals, including giraffes, to find food and water.
Lucy’s story should be an inspiration to support wildlife conservation efforts and protect the habitats of endangered species.
