Jade

Jade is a female Asian elephant who was born in February 2007 at the Saint Louis Zoo. Her mother Rani lived her short 27-year life confined in zoos until she died at the Saint Louis Zoo in 2023 under bizarre circumstances. Jade’s father Raja was born at the Saint Louis Zoo and has been held captive there his entire life. Jade’s birth marked the beginning of another generation of elephants born into captivity at the zoo—not for their own benefit or for the conservation of their species, but to fulfill the Saint Louis Zoo’s breeding and exhibition goals. Jade’s entire life has been confined to just a few acres of space within the walls of a zoo. Her days are shaped not by freedom or choice, but by human control.

In the wild, female elephants remain with their mothers for life and live in complex, matriarchal herds where knowledge, support, and social bonds are passed down through generations. But from the moment Jade was born, her experience as an elephant has been defined by institutional priorities and public display. 

As part of a multigenerational breeding program coordinated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan, Jade was selected to reproduce long before she reached adulthood. In 2024, at 17 years old, she was impregnated through artificial insemination—an invasive procedure involving sedation and forced reproductive manipulation. The decision to breed Jade had nothing to do with her well-being and everything to do with her age, genetics, and the zoo’s long-term breeding objectives.

On November 23, 2024, Jade gave birth to a calf named Jet—the first elephant at the Saint Louis Zoo to be born via artificial insemination. The zoo immediately celebrated the birth as a success for its breeding program, emphasizing its fourth generation of elephants in captivity. But for Jade, this was not a triumph. Her pregnancy was not a natural event and her ability to parent has never fully been in her own control. Jet’s birth, care, and early life have been heavily managed by zoo staff. Like his mother, Jet has been forced into a captive environment dictated by human schedules, exhibition priorities, and separation from species-typical behaviors and relationships.

Jade has spent her entire life confined in the zoo’s barren elephant exhibit, which isn’t even two acres in size. Despite being marketed as naturalistic, the exhibit has been included in In Defense of Animals’ annual list of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants eight times—a reflection of its failure to meet even the most basic needs of the elephants confined there. No zoo enclosure, regardless of design, can replicate the vast, dynamic environment that elephants roam in the wild. Jade is moved between indoor and outdoor spaces at the discretion of her keepers. Her access to Jet and to the other elephants at the zoo is strictly managed. Every aspect of her daily life is controlled by the institution that confines her.

Like many elephants in North American zoos, Jade is treated not as an individual with intrinsic worth, but as a biological asset to be bred, displayed, and controlled. And because she is a reproductively viable female, she likely will be forced to endure this cycle again.

Her future, like her past, is defined by captivity. She may be separated from Jet. She may be bred again. She may be transferred to another zoo. Each of these decisions will be made without regard for the psychological or emotional impact on her, her offspring, or her companions.

May Jade and her son Jet one day know what it means to experience freedom and choice in a true sanctuary—where their lives are not defined by forced reproduction and artificial exhibits, but by autonomy, choice, and dignity.