Elephants should be free.
In zoos across the US, elephants are being imprisoned and exploited for human gain. Help us expose the reality of elephant captivity in the US zoo system and bring it to an end.
Using the map below and the elephant index on this site, learn about the over 250 elephants who are currently held captive in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and how they are suffering.
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- Caldwell Zoo
- Cameron Park Zoo
- Dallas Zoo
- El Paso Zoo
- Fort Worth Zoological Park
- Houston Zoo
The Cameron Park Zoo currently holds a solitary wild-born African elephant named Tembo in captivity. The key issues at this facility include a lack of space for the elephant in their care.
Featured Elephant: Tembo
Tembo is a female African elephant who has spent nearly half a century confined at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas. Born around 1977 in the wild in Mozambique, Tembo was captured as a calf and imported to the United States. On January 5, 1979, she was transferred to the Cameron Park Zoo, where she has remained confined ever since. Like so many elephants held in captivity, Tembo has been deprived of the vast spaces, rich social bonds, and autonomy she would have known in the wild.
Take Action Today
Free to Be Elephants is dedicated to raising awareness of the realities of elephant captivity, but our work doesn’t end there. Elephants are depending on us to correct the grave injustice of their imprisonment. Please take action today to help us secure freedom for elephants in the US.
