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Herstory
Edmonton Valley Zoo's plan to add a baby elephant by getting Lucy pregnant didn't work, so they went to Plan B. In 1989, they procured a two-year-old African elephant to join Asian elephant Lucy. These days, zoos would never put an Asian and an African elephant together.
The sad truth of how Edmonton Valley Zoo's new elephant (called by her nickname Rock and Roll here) was acquired by the zoo after an elephant cull in Zimbabwe. Like Lucy, she was deprived of her life in the wild by human greed, and put on display for human entertainment.
Once again, Edmonton Valley Zoo shows how little they know about elephant behaviour. Lucy was an orphan herself before she was two years old, but they expected her to automatically know how to mother a baby elephant. Lucy never had the chance to be an aunty and learn how to care for juveniles in a herd in the wild. The zoo got tired of waiting for it to happen naturally and "thrust the youngster onto Lucy to get her to adjust".
A revealing interview about how the baby elephant was trained with "a little slap when she's really bad" and they forgot to mention the bull hook.
Elephants are extremely intelligent as Lucy showed with her ability to use a tool to break the electric fence. Even at 12 years old, she was trying to escape the confines of her prison to get away from the screaming children.
Never one to miss a money-making opportunity, the Edmonton Valley Zoo drew in the crowds with a contest to name their new baby elephant.
In her current home at the North Carolina Zoo, Samantha is now known by her original African name, Nekhanda. Lucy's original name is Skanik.
Edmonton Valley Zoo have always used chains and bull hooks to control their elephants. Bull hooks were phased out by zoos in the United States years ago. US zoos and sanctuaries use protected contact with a barrier between the elephants and their keepers at all times for their safety and protection.
After a slow start, Lucy and Samantha were often seen touching and being close to each other over their 18 years together. After the Edmonton Valley Zoo sent Samantha to North Carolina on a breeding loan, they started claiming that Lucy and Samantha didn't get along and that Lucy preferred the company of humans to other elephants.
The City of Edmonton missed an opportunity in 1998 (and every year since then) to do the right thing and send their elephants to a sanctuary. Public opinion was already started to turn against keeping elephants in Edmonton's cold climate and cramped habitat.
Will the city finally admit that the best place for Lucy is the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee?
Now we know who was responsible for the much maligned painted green trees on the walls of the elephant enclosure. If they did extensive consultation, the designers should have known that standing on concrete floors doesn't prevent leg and joint problems, it causes them.
The Edmonton Valley Zoo trained Lucy to paint in 1994. Strangely, after she developed a chronic respiratory issue ten years later, none of the zoo's expert vets ever mentioned the possibility that the toxic paint might have been the cause.
Edmonton Valley Zoo considered using artificial insemination on both Lucy and Samantha. Baby elephants are big business for the zoo industry. Luckily neither of them ever had babies that would also have endured a life of captivity if they survived.
In yet another example of blatant neglect by the Edmonton Valley Zoo, poor Samantha's trunk was severed when she reached for a gate latch.
The zoo tried to downplay the severity of her losing 20 centimetres of the single most important organ of an elephant. They were probably concerned that her painting career would end.
Luckily, Samantha wasn't permanently disabled due to her injury. The intelligent and adaptable young elephant learned to adapt to losing the tip of her trunk.
Samantha's trunk injury and a report on the welfare of Canadian elephants by expert Dr. Winnie Kiiru, commissioned by Zoocheck Canada, renewed the debate about whether elephants should be kept in zoos or sanctuaries.
In 2007, the Edmonton Valley Zoo implemented their Master Plan and separated Lucy from Samantha, her companion of 18 years. The zoo didn't express any concern about the stress of the three-day non-stop truck ride on Samantha, or that she would be separated from her long-time keepers at the zoo. Why did those excuses only apply to Lucy?
Samantha arrived safely at the North Carolina Zoo after a four-day truck drive. Although she was moved to another zoo, not a sanctuary, North Carolina provides her with a warmer climate and a herd of African elephants with eight acres of habitat. She didn't have any trouble making friends with her new herd, and is the "social butterfly" of the group.
Lucy could also make new friends and socialize with her own species at a sanctuary if the City of Edmonton allow a panel of elephant experts to assess her health and clear her for the trip.
Samantha (Nekhanda) arrived in 2007-09-25 to the North Carolina Zoo, relocated from the Edmonton Valley Zoo. She never returned to Edmonton Valley Zoo.
Samantha (Nekhanda) lives together with 6 other elephants at the North Carolina Zoo:
♂ Artie (Aardvark) born 1983
♀ Batir (Skeeter) born 2002-01-21
♂ CSar (Flapjack) born 1974
♂ Louie born 2003-04-30
♀ Rafiki born 1981
♀ Tonga born 1978
Rafiki and Nekhanda's relationship has grown really strong in the last two years. Nek walked over to Rafiki and rubbed her face into Rakiki's. This is a sign of affection and demonstrates the strong bond between the two elephants. Sometimes, if they get excited they link front legs.
Lucy has been left behind, alone and suffering at Edmonton Valley Zoo.
Compare the video of Lucy to the second video of Nekhanda (formerly known as Samantha) at NC Zoo. Even though she is at a zoo, she is not alone like Lucy who has been alone since Samantha left.
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