http://www.elephants.com/media/WKRN_7_2_08.htm

Protestors favor Hohenwald sanctuary for 22-year-old elephant

Original Article (with link to video)

WKRN-TV Nashville, TN
July 2, 2008

A custody battle is brewing over a 22-year-old African elephant named Jenny.

Jenny has been at the Dallas Zoo for two decades and is the last surviving African elephant there.

Recently, her companion died and now the zoo must either get a new elephant or send Jenny away.

If sent away, Jenny would either go to a safari park outside of Mexico City or to the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee.

Citizens concerned for Jenny feel the world-renowned sanctuary in Hohenwald is a much better option than the safari park.

Carol Buckley, the executive director of the sanctuary, said African and Asian elephants are two different species, and shouldn't mix.

The zoo in Mexico does not have any other African elephants, which means no real playmates for Jenny.

"We have three African elephants and we are growing that herd," said Buckley.

She said while the sanctuary has not "pursued Jenny coming" because "that's not something they do", she just wants to see Jenny taken care of.

"My biggest concern is her psychological well being," she said. "We make ourselves available. Zoos and circuses know we exist and know we will take any female elephant."

At the elephant sanctuary, there are no circus tents and no cages.

Elephants are able to freely roam the 2,700 acres.

Buckley said Jenny would fit right in.

"Jenny would be able to experience what life might be like in the wild, this is not the wild, its captivity, but it comes pretty close," she said.

The Dallas Zoo and the safari park in Mexico are both members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, or AZA.

Buckley said the AZA urges its members to get or give animals to other member organizations, or else they risk their accreditation.

The Elephant Sanctuary is not an AZA member.