Inappropriate Climate
 It's well-known that elephants have evolved to live in tropical and
sub-tropical climates. So zoos located in colder regions of the world,
like the Edmonton Valley Zoo, keep elephants indoors at certain times of
the year. For some elephants, that can be a great deal of time.
According to the Valley Zoo, Lucy is typically kept inside her small
barn when the outside temperature is below -10°C, as well as at night
when the zoo staff go home. Based on a review of weather data from
Environment Canada, Zoocheck estimates that Lucy is kept inside her barn
as much as 76% of the time.
Nothing can be done about the winter weather in Edmonton. It just isn't
suitable for elephants who aren't made for living in the cold. Keeping
Lucy inside a lot of the time is boring and it almost certainly playing a
role in her deteriorating health.
The American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) recommends that new
exhibits give elephants access to the outdoors 24 hours a day. The
Coalition for Captive Elephant Wellbeing recommends that as well. With
winter weather and the Valley Zoo locking Lucy in at night, those
recommendations certainly are not being met.
According to Kenyan elephant biologist Winnie Kiiru (2007): The climate
in Edmonton is completely inappropriate for elephants. This cold
climate, combined 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...I recommend that the City of
Edmonton take immediate action to move Lucy and Samantha [Samantha was
moved in 2007] to a sanctuary that can provide them with a more
appropriate physical and social environment and to close the elephant
exhibit at this zoo.
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Lack of Space
 Elephants have evolved to walk long distances. Their bodies, pillar-like
legs and feet are built for movement over a wide variety of terrain and
that's what elephants in the wild do. In fact, they typically spend up
to 20 hours each day moving, foraging and exploring through home ranges
measuring from hundreds to many thousands of square kilometers in size.
Many elephants walk 10 to 20 km per day and some walk much further.
Unfortunately, most elephants in captivity can hardly walk anywhere at
all, so they end up standing around most of the time. The American Zoo
and Aquarium Association says an outdoor yard the size of nine parking
lot spaces is enough for one elephant, but that's hardly any space at
all. In fact, it's 60,000 times smaller than the smallest known home
range for elephants in the wild.
At the Valley Zoo, Lucy's enclosure is approximately 0.5 acres (or 0.002
square kilometres) in size. That's tens of thousands of times smaller
than the home range Lucy would have had in the wild. Her indoor space is
close to 200,000 times smaller.
According to the Coalition for Captive Elephant Well-Being, elephants in
captivity should have enough space to travel at least 10 km on a daily
basis while engaged in natural behaviours like foraging, feeding,
exploring, and socializing.
Elephants in captivity need very large enclosures that give them a
variety of different ground surfaces, including clean dirt, mulch, sand
and, probably most importantly, grassy areas and pasture, as well as
slopes, hills, gullies, scrub and forest, so they can get enough
exercise and mental stimulation. Lucy's enclosure is flat, barren and
doesn't provide any of those things.
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No Elephant Family
 Female elephants should never be kept alone. While mature male elephants
in the wild may sometimes live semi-solitary lives, female elephants
don't. They remain in the same family group their entire lives and are
rarely, if ever, out of contact with their family members.
At the Valley Zoo, Lucy is kept alone. The zoo says her keepers are her
family, that she has bonded with them and that it would be too stressful
to be with other elephants. But her keepers are nothing like a real
family or herd.
Think about it. Lucy's keepers at the Valley Zoo go home at the end of
the day. And when they do, Lucy is left alone in her spartan indoor
barn, until the next morning. Elephant families don’t disband in the
evening and then reassemble the next morning. They're together all the
time. Lucy’s keepers are nothing at all like a real elephant family.
As well, elephants communicate with each other through audible sounds,
infrasound (sounds too low for humans subtle body postures, touching,
chemical cues and seismic vibrations. The keepers can't do that.
Zoo associations around the world say female elephants should not be
kept alone. The Coalition for Captive Elephant Wellbeing suggests a
minimum of five Asian elephants be kept together in captivity.
Scientists and field biologists tell us female elephants are never
alone. Other zoos that said their elephants were not social have been
proven wrong.
The Valley Zoo is wrong when they say Lucy isn't social and that the
companionship provided by her keepers replaces a real elephant family.
It doesn't. Even if they brought in another elephant, it would still be a
very poor, unnatural life for both of them.
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