San Fran zoo sets high elephant standard

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- San Francisco has adopted a new set of standards for zoo elephants that animal rights activists say should become a national model.

The city's Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday to establish new requirements to provide sufficient space to maintain the animals' health.

Space is important for elephants and the space limitations of zoos tend to damage the animals' physical and psychological health, says In Defense of Animals, an activist organization. Elephants need to walk many miles on soft soil to maintain good foot, joint and digestive health, but lack of space and exercise in zoos cause elephants to suffer from recurrent foot infections, arthritis, difficult behavior and other captivity-induced health problems.

The move comes in part because of the premature death of two elephants in the city's zoo this year. Last June, the board unanimously passed a resolution urging the San Francisco Zoological Society to send its surviving elephants, Tinkerbelle and Lulu, to the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in San Andreas, Calif.

The decision acknowledged zoo conditions as responsible for the deteriorating health of the elephants. The new standards are intended to avoid a repeat of captivity-induced suffering and deaths.