Angeline

Angeline is a female African elephant born on July 9, 2008 at the Pittsburgh Zoo, the daughter of Savanna and Jackson. Her birth was the result of a captive breeding program that sees elephants as vessels for creating new generations of captive elephants—a far cry from the life elephants should be experiencing. From day one, Angeline’s life has been behind literal bars, controlled by humans, and marked by physical and psychological suffering.

Growing up, Angeline never had the opportunity to explore, to roam, or to forge relationships under her own terms. Her social interactions have been restricted to the small group of elephants the zoo holds captive, under settings managed by humans. Her mother, Savanna, has endured forced births and separations; Angeline inherited that legacy of constraint.

On October 15, 2025, when the Pittsburgh Zoo announced its new plan for the elephant herd, it confirmed that Angeline would remain at the main zoo while her half-sisters Victoria and Zuri are moved to the International Conservation Center. This split in the “herd” will eliminate and end the few elephant bonds Angeline has. It is a decision made not out of hers or the other elephants’ interests, but out of institutional convenience and breeding strategy.

Angeline’s life is a testament to captivity’s quiet cruelty: her every moment is controlled, her relationships curated, her movements limited. Although she is young, her future is already charted by zoo logic—exhibition and confinement rather than freedom. She deserves to enjoy freedom in a sanctuary where her life is understood on its own terms: where she can simply be an elephant, free to choose, grow, and heal far away from her former prison.