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Jun 24, 2008 1:24 pm US/Central
Dallas Zoo Closing Elephant Exhibit
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
The Dallas Zoo is closing its elephant exhibit. This fall the zoo's single living elephant, Jenny, will move to a new home.
Zoo officials announced that Jenny will move to Africam Safari Park, a 617 acre forested wildlife park in Mexico. The park is located 80 miles southeast of Mexico City, in the State of Puebla.
On May 12, KeKe, a 39-year-old elephant at The Dallas Zoo, died from a serious illness. Keke lived at the zoo for nearly five years. The death left Jenny as the lone elephant in the zoo exhibit.
After the death of KeKe animal rights groups complained that Jenny should be moved. There were concerns about the health of elephants at the zoo and the conditions they were held in.
In a letter sent to Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, the animal rights group In Defense Of Animals said in part – "Unnatural conditions provide a poor quality of life for elephants. At Dallas, the elephants have suffered a variety of serious, zoo-induced health problems, including foot disorders, infertility, aggression and abnormal behaviors (including the habitual ingestion of rocks), all of which are reported in the Dallas Zoo's veterinary records."
According to a study by the director of animal collections at the San Diego Zoo the average life expectancy for an African elephant in professionally managed zoological facilities is 33 years. Jenny is 31.
After being captured from the wild as a baby Jenny spent seven years with an elephant trainer before being sent to The Dallas Zoo, where she has spent the last 22 years.
Africam Safari Park is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). "Elephants are leading ambassadors for wildlife education and conservation, two core
values in all AZA-accredited institutions. We are pleased that Jenny will continue to offer visitors a special appreciation of the natural world, just as she did at the Dallas Zoo," Gregg Hudson, executive director of the Dallas Zoo and The Dallas Aquarium at Fair Park , said in a press release statement.
Africam Safari Park currently houses a breeding male and two female elephants. Jenny will live with her new companions in the 4.9-acre elephant exhibit and her health will be monitored regularly.
The soon to be defunct elephant exhibit will be replaced with a larger giraffe habitat. Officials with The Dallas Zoo say they will be 'acquiring new giraffes' in the coming months and plan to open the expanded exhibit in the spring of 2009.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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