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
- Fresno Chaffee Zoo
- Los Angeles Zoo
- Oakland Zoo
- San Diego Zoo
- San Diego Zoo Safari Park
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park currently holds 8 African 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: Ndula
Ndlulamitsi, also known as “Ndula,” is a wild-born female African elephant who has spent over twenty years confined at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, CA. Born around 1990 in Kruger National Park, South Africa, Ndula was transferred to a preserve in Eswatini in 1994 where she roamed freely with other elephants. In 2003, Ndula and 10 other elephants were captured and imported to the United States to live in captivity in US zoos, despite global public outcry and with zoo and Eswatini officials making misleading claims about the elephants needing to be killed otherwise. The elephants were then split up, and Ndula, who was pregnant at the time, was sent to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. She gave birth to her son Vusmusi in 2004.
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.
