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
- Smithsonian National Zoological Park
The Smithsonian National Zoological Park currently holds 7 Asian elephants in captivity. The key issues at this facility include an ongoing active captive breeding program, participating in the international elephant trade, and a lack of space for the elephants in their care.
Featured Elephant: Linh Mai
Linh Mai is a female Asian elephant born in February 2026 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Shortly after her birth, Linh Mai’s mother, Nhi Linh, rejected her—a heartbreaking outcome that regularly occurs in captive elephant populations. As a result, Linh Mai required intensive human intervention to survive. She was bottle-fed around the clock, handled by zoo staff, and gradually introduced to another elephant who assumed a surrogate caregiving role. While these efforts have been portrayed as a conservation success, they reflect the profound failure of captive breeding and highlight the challenges faced by elephant calves who are forced to grow up in a wholly unnatural environment, fundamentally unlike the one evolution prepared them for. Linh Mai is confined with several other elephants, who all suffer from their facility’s lack of sufficient space and from being unable to engage in their natural behaviors.
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.
