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
- Albuquerque Biological Park
The Albuquerque Biological Park currently holds 4 Asian elephants in captivity. The key issues at this facility include an ongoing active captive breeding program and a lack of space for the elephants in their care.
Featured Elephant: Alice
Alice is a female Asian elephant born in the wild in Asia around 1974 who was captured as a young calf and brought to the United States, where she has spent nearly her entire life in captivity at the ABQ BioPark. In the wild, elephants live in complex social groups and move freely across vast landscapes—yet Alice was taken from that world as a calf. Instead, she has spent decades in a barren, artificial enclosure spanning just a few acres, confined to a manufactured social grouping where the autonomy, stimulation, and complexity of elephant life cannot exist. Within this confined world, she has endured profound loss, including the deaths of her grandchildren. After a lifetime defined by confinement, loss, and the absence of choice, Alice has been denied the opportunity to live as an elephant—and deserves the chance to spend her remaining years in a sanctuary where she can finally experience autonomy, dignity, and peace.
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.
