Resources - Edmonton Valley Zoo Fact Sheet

Edmonton Valley Zoo - Alberta

Bowmanville zoo is a privately owned facility located about 45minutes east of Toronto. The zoo is an accredited member of CAZA.

According to the studbooks, the Valley Zoo has only two elephants;

• Lucy - female, captured in Sri Lanka, estimated year of birth (EYB) 1975
• Samantha - female, captured in Zimbabwe, (EYB) 1988

The following elephants are marked as having died in the records:

• Angus - male, African captured from South Africa, 27 years old at death
• Lisa - female, Asian captured from Thailand, 32 years old at death
• Tony - male, Asian country of origin unknown, 27 years old at death

I visited this zoo on the 5th of September. The outdoor enclosure was surrounded by a low metal barrier and an electric fence. There was no vegetation in the enclosure and the ground wasmainly earth. There was ample vegetation outside the enclosure, which gave the appearance of a lush environment, but the elephants had no access to it. There were no rocks to rub against or pools of water to drink from or to wallow in. It was a hot day (approximately 28º C) when I visited.

Upon my arrival, Lucy was standing just outside the door of the barn. Samantha was locked inside the barn and a sign on the door announced that she was not going to be on display as she was recuperating from a trunk injury. She had been in the news since recently after she severed her trunk caught in a door latch. The elephant barn door was open and therefore it was possible to catch glimpses of her behind the bars in the barn.

Lucy walked into the barn after awhile and stood near the metal bars that separated her from Samantha. Lucy then walked out of the barn and took a position just outside the door. She started to move back and forth making one step forward and then rocking backand forth on the spot, a stereotypic behavior which may be an indicator of stress and/or boredom. She repeated this for about 10 minutes. With Lucy standing away from the doorway, Samantha could be observed better through the barn door and the severed end of her trunk was now visible as she swayed vigorously from side to side.

As Lucy continued rocking back and forth, a family with some young children stopped briefly to look at her. The mother explained that the elephant was ‘dancing’. Just then Lucy’s trunk touched a ball that had been lying on the ground next to her and the young mother explained that she was now ‘playing ball’. The children were delighted. They stood there for a few more minutes and then walked away. This kind of misinformed interpretation of elephant behavior is typical in a zoo setting due to elephants exhibiting aberrant behaviors and living in unnatural settings. Lucy made no attempt to dust herself or cool herself by flapping her ears while standing in the hot midday sun. There were no keepers in sight and numerous attempts to find them were fruitless.

According to information Zoocheck Canada acquired from Valley Zoo staff, Lucy and Samanthaare locked in the barn when the zoo is closed and in the winter when temperatures drop belowminus 10º C The zoo is open between 9.30am and 4pm on weekdays and from 9.30 am to 6pm on weekends and holidays. Between October 10 and December 31, the zoo closes at 4:30om everyday. Given Edmonton's northern climate and the zoo schedule, this means that, in an average year, the elephants would be locked in approximately 70% of the time.

Various newspaper journals including the Edmonton Journal have reported that Lucy suffers from arthritis and foot infections. These conditions probably result from standing for long hours on hard, cold surfaces.

After reviewing all of the elephant enclosures in Canadian zoos, it is my opinion that the Edmonton Valley Zoo is the worst at this time. The climate in Edmonton is completely inappropriate for elephants. The cold climate with the zoo's lock-in policy, results in the elephants being locked inside the barn for most of their lives and they are showing physical ailments as a result. In addition, the stereotypic behavior exhibited by Lucy and Samantha are typical of stressed elephants in zoos. I recommend that the City of Edmonton take immediate action to move Lucy and Samantha to a sanctuary that can provide them with a more appropriatephysical and social environment and to close the elephant exhibit at this zoo.