Elephants Health

File this one under Call of the Wild. In the past year, a dozen animals at the Los Angeles Zoo have escaped from their cages, according to federal inspection and zoo reports. Those on the lam were a gorilla, a snow leopard, a howler monkey, four spider monkeys and, most recently, five colobus monkeys that fled their confines in mid-May.

File this one under Call of the Wild. In the past year, a dozen animals at the Los Angeles Zoo have escaped from their cages, according to federal inspection and zoo reports. Those on the lam were a gorilla, a snow leopard, a howler monkey, four spider monkeys and, most recently, five colobus monkeys that fled their confines in mid-May.

It's time that the L.A. Zoo joined the 21st century and followed the lead of other zoos by closing down its elephant exhibit and relocating them to sanctuaries with thousands of acres of natural habitat (Nov. 15). Elephants are the only animals at the zoo for which there is a great disparity between what they need and what the zoos can provide. In the best interest of the elephants' "health and well-being," sanctuaries are the only viable option. Bill Dyer Venice