Elephants may be an unlikely star in a political drama, but the ones who inhabit the Los Angeles Zoo are taking center stage -- and that stage may get a lot bigger.
A long-awaited report by city officials on whether the elephants should stay at the zoo or be retired to a sanctuary declares the elephants to be well-tended but in need of more space.
The zoo, which is a city department, has been gearing up for several years for the elaborate "Elephants of Surin" exhibit. However, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, fulfilling a campaign promise to animal welfare activists, put the plans on hold while he instructed city staffers to research whether it should go ahead.
The proposed exhibit would have at least doubled the elephants' space, from a little more than half an acre to 1.06 acres. Animal welfare activists criticized that plan as still being woefully too small for creatures who can roam tens of miles a day in the wild.
Some activists believe the elephants should retire to one of the sanctuaries in this country where they could wander on hundreds of acres.
Earlier this year, city officials decided they needed 1.84 acres, at a cost of $25.3 million. By then the mayor had gotten involved, and the City Council put off a decision, waiting for the report issued Tuesday.
Now, the report calls for even more space -- as much as three acres, which could boost the cost to nearly $50 million.
The report also concludes that there would be costs associated with moving the elephants to a sanctuary because the city would still be partly responsible for their care -- and the city might have to pay back money the county provided to expand the exhibit.
Before filing the report, the city brought in an independent veterinarian, who concluded that "it is unlikely that any staff or facility could offer a better level of care and management than the elephants receive at the Los Angeles Zoo."
John Lewis, director of the L.A. Zoo, said he had just gotten the report and would have to go over it with staff before he could comment. But he noted that he had always emphasized that it's not the size of the exhibit that was most crucial for elephants. "It's what's in the space, it's how the animals are able to use the space, it's how the staffs are able to encourage them to use the space," he said.
