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
- Oklahoma City Zoo
- Tulsa Zoo
The Tulsa Zoo currently holds 7 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: Sneezy
Sneezy is a wild-born Asian elephant who has spent nearly his entire life in captivity after being torn from his family in Thailand as a baby. In the early 1970s, he was one of several calves captured from the wild, likely from the same herd, and exported to the United States for exploitation. He was held at Lion Country Safari in California, where the calves were given names from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Among those captured with him was Happy, now imprisoned at the Bronx Zoo. Sneezy and the other calves were soon separated and sent to different facilities across North America. In 1977, when he was still only a young elephant, Sneezy was transferred to the Tulsa Zoo and has remained there ever since.
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.
