Judge denies emergency motion to stop transfer of L.A. Zoo elephants Billy and Tina
- Share via
Advocates for Billy and Tina have lost their latest battle in a decades-long controversy over the care of the aging elephants as a judge denied a temporary restraining order on Thursday seeking to stop the Los Angeles Zoo from transferring the two beloved creatures to a zoo in Oklahoma.
An L.A. resident sued the zoo last Friday over its decision to move elephants Tina and Billy to the Tulsa Zoo, arguing that they should instead be sent to an animal sanctuary. His lawyers then filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order on Tuesday.
Melissa Lerner, the lawyer representing the plaintiff, told The Times in a phone interview on Thursday that the judge denied the motion in part because “he felt that this was an issue that should not be in court, but that it should be addressed by the City Council and elected officials like the mayor.“ She said the judge encouraged those who are concerned to “continue reaching out to their representatives in the City Council and reaching out to the mayor.”
Animal rights advocates have criticized the L.A. Zoo for decades for holding elephants in a relatively small enclosure, which they say causes serious health issues. Two elephants were euthanized in the last few years because of health issues that the zoo said were age-related, leaving only Billy and Tina, who live in separate enclosures in an elephant habitat of about 6.5 acres.
The zoo announced it would be transferring the pachyderms to a spacious elephant complex at the Tulsa Zoo in late April, sparking further criticism.
Activists are urging the L.A. Zoo to stop plans to transfer the last remaining elephants, Billy and Tina, to another zoo instead of a sanctuary.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Lerner continued to call on the mayor to act.
“Mayor Karen Bass can resolve this with one phone call — it is not difficult,” Lerner said. “We wish she would rise to the occasion and do the right thing here. She has the power to intervene and prevent their transfer before it’s too late.”
A representative for the mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The emergency filing cited the urgency of the case, noting that the transfer could happen at any moment and that transporting elephants can pose serious health risks. It urged the judge to “maintain the status quo” by keeping Billy and Tina in L.A. until the court had more time to review the case.
Much of the contents of the initial lawsuit, including a declaration from the singer Cher, discussed how the decision-making process to transfer the animals was made without input from the public or from City Council.
In its first statement since the lawsuit was filed, the L.A. Zoo said Thursday morning that the “difficult decision” to relocate Billy and Tina was made in accordance with recommendations from and consultations with the Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and its Elephant Species Survival Plan.
“The care and wellbeing of the animals is always a top priority and decisions impacting the animals are made at discretion of the Zoo Director — an authority granted in the Los Angeles City Charter. Activist agendas and protests are rightfully not a consideration in decisions that impact animal care,” the statement said.
The L.A. Zoo is pausing its elephant program and sending Bill and Tina to the Tulsa Zoo, but animal rights advocates want the ailing giants to be sent to a sanctuary.
L.A. Zoo Director and Chief Executive Denise Verret is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
L.A. City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, a longtime advocate for the elephants, filed a motion last month seeking to pause their relocation until the City Council could review the possibility of sending them to a sanctuary.
At a budget hearing last week, Blumenfield asked Verret a series of questions about the elephants. In a hearing on May 8 where the Council member and zoo director went head-to-head on the issue, Verret said as of that date that the L.A. and Tulsa zoos had not yet signed a contract and no date had been set for the transfer.
In a sworn declaration filed Tuesday, Verret said Tina was not owned by the L.A. Zoo but by the San Diego Zoo, which had already transferred ownership to the Tulsa Zoo. She also confirmed that the Tulsa Zoo has already made arrangements for her transfer.
Verret said the decision to relocate Billy and Tina began because of the death of a female elephant named Shaunzi, 53, in 2024. The death meant that the zoo no longer met AZA standards that require that any accredited zoo have at least three Asian elephants. The options were to either add more elephants to the exhibit or relocate Billy and Tina.
Citing her authority over the relocation, Verret noted that the Toronto Zoo lost its accreditation in 2012 by sending its elephants to a sanctuary at the direction of the Toronto City Council. Verret emphasized the L.A. Zoo risks losing its AZA accreditation if “another person or body” is able to make decisions regarding the relocation.
Lerner told The Times she and her team plan on continuing to fight on behalf of Billy and Tina.
“It’s a setback, but it’s not the end,” she said. “We’re going to assess the next steps with our lawsuit.”
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
