Targa

Targa is an Asian elephant who has spent her entire life confined at zoos and circuses in the United States. Four generations of her family have lived and died in captivity: her mother Birka died at a Ringling Brothers circus; 13 of her 25 siblings died in circuses and zoos across the US; her son Kedar died at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo; and her grandsons Batu and Ajay also died at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo.  

Targa was born on November 23, 1983 at Ringling Brothers Circus World in Florida. Her mother and father, Birka and Vance, were wild-born elephants who had been captured in their youth and imported to the United States, and then forced to perform in traveling circuses. When Targa was five years old, she was transferred to the Busch Gardens Bay Zoo. Then in 1990, before Targa was ten years old, she was separated from her mother and transferred to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, NY. 

Targa has been forced to participate in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) captive breeding program–all of her offspring born at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo (they were fathered by a wild-born elephant named Indy, who himself endured great trauma at the hands of the AZA, including being subjected to traumatic transfers between zoos). Targa gave birth to her daughter Mali in 1997, and gave birth to a stillborn female calf in 2001. On July 31, 2005, Targa gave birth to her son Kedar who died 5 days later; Kedar sustained fatal injuries after falling into an outdoor pool that the zoo had not properly secured–an incident of neglect for which the zoo was fined $10,000 by the USDA.  

In 2006, Targa and her daughter Mali were placed in tiny crates and temporarily relocated to African Lion Safari in Canada while the Rosamond Gifford Zoo elephant exhibit underwent renovations. African Lion Safari has long faced criticism for its brutal treatment of elephants–for using bullhooks and other painful methods to exert control –as well as their prolific breeding program, which involves trafficking elephants across the border to the United States. In 2008, Mali gave birth to Chuck, Targa’s first grandchild. The birth was internationally lauded by zoos as Chuck was the first third-generation Asian elephant in North America. In reality, this sad fact highlights the lack of conservational value in captive breeding, which merely replenishes the Asian elephant population confined to North American zoos. Zoos have deprived Targa’s lineage of their freedom in order to exploit them for generations, not to save their species–a rationale which cannot justify confining elephants in tiny, unnatural exhibits. 

In 2011, Targa, Mali, and Chuck were transferred back to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Chuck, Targa’s grandson, was separated from her and Mali when he was just 6 years old, transferred back to African Lion Safari, then in 2018 he was moved to the Denver Zoo where he was subjected to frequent semen collection procedures, and recently transferred to the Houston Zoo where he will be forced to breed with female elephants the zoo chooses. 

Targa is currently held captive at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo along with her daughter Mali, grandsons Tukada and Yaad, and four other adult elephants, where they are forced to endure harsh winters, including snow and freezing temperatures. All eight elephants are crammed into an exhibit allegedly containing a total of 7 acres, comprising an elephant barn, a water feature, a yard, and other holding and maintenance facilities. It is unclear how much usable space they have. The zoo forces reproductive age elephants to participate in a captive breeding program and has a history of separating bonded elephants and calves from their mothers at a young age. The zoo’s continuation of its breeding program is particularly egregious since two elephants recently died from Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes Virus (EEHV). The zoo also forces the elephants to perform circus-like tricks which the zoo refers to as “yoga.” The zoo also paints on the elephants’ bodies for publicity stunts, used to make the elephants to give rides, and continued to use bullhooks through the 2010s. 

Nothing about Targa’s unnatural existence is normal for an elephant. A life-long pawn in the AZA’s breeding operation, Targa has suffered immense losses in captivity, including the separation from her mother and the death of her son. She has never known the freedom that her parents once enjoyed in their youths before their cruel capture, all the while being forced–day in and day out–to live in a tiny enclosure that cannot meet her complex physical and psychological needs. May Targa one day be released to a sanctuary where she can experience the joy and dignity characteristic of elephant life.