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
- Oregon Zoo
- Wildlife Safari
The Wildlife Safari currently holds 3 African elephants in captivity. The key issues at this facility include a lack of space for the elephants in their care.
Featured Elephant: Moja
Moja is a female African elephant born in captivity at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in 1982. In 1994, she was transferred to the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, where she spent twenty years on display and was used in the zoo’s captive elephant breeding program. During that time, she gave birth to two daughters, Victoria and Zuri. Then, in 2014, the zoo sent Moja across the country to Wildlife Safari in Oregon, permanently separating her from them. She remains confined at Wildlife Safari with other elephants who all suffer from the 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.
