Elephant exhibit faces challenge

Why are they against elephants?

robert culp probably doesn't know the front end of the elephant from the back.i wonder how long he's studied elephants?

What a hoot! Did Cardenas actually say that going thru the courts "...will allow more of the facts & evidence to come out without all the smoke & mirrors of political rhetoric."
For that matter maybe we should go back and let the courts decide the deceitful "telephone tax" the bait and switch "garbage fee" and now the sellout of L.A.'s future to the Employee Unions for early retirement of their members. Why even bother with a City Council? Lets just litigate everything. We can't do any worse.

The elephant exhibit should be shut down once and for all and poor Billy should be sent to a sanctuary. I am glad for this ruling and thankful to Dan Casselman and Robert Culp for initiating the lawsuit.

Zoos are no place for Elephants, they need lots of place to roam. Why don't we but Tom LaBonge in a small enclosure and see how he reacts.

Excellent news. David Casselamn ( not Dan, Mr Orlov) is a brilliant attorney who stands up for those who have no or little power. Bravo David!
Bravo Councilman Cardenas for researching the facts surrounding the appeal and supporting it.
Boo Councilman LaBonge. Glad to see the back of your coyote killing ass as you leave office. I remember too well your complaint a few years ago about raccoons at your back door and how you had them removed by LAAS.
Now you are being removed. Let's hope for everyone's sake, including LA's wildlife you don't find your way back to politics.

Correction: Casselman not Casselamn.

Thank you Robert Culp, and all who have and continue to fight for Billy as well as all other elephants held prisoners for profit .
It's good to see Tom LaBonge go , his sole care was for the money the tourists and visitors brought. 3 acres for an eventual 9 elephants is animal cruelty . Billy has earned the right to live in an environment as close as possible to nature, not 3 acres of man-made artifices.And the 40 some millions can benefit all the other zoo animals whose prison always needs repairs

Hopefully we can stop the L.A. zoo from building the outrageously expensive new elephant exhibit. Instead, the zoo management should use its alloted funds to improve the lives and living conditions of their existing animal INMATES.

P.S. To the zoo's management: PLEASE send Billy to an elephant sanctuary! Keeping him at the zoo is heartbreaking and agonizing animal cruelty.

w you know all the details of this protracted but important case, suffice it to say that this citizen is very involved with a good outcome for Billy and all elephants used in a Zoo setting and I am deeply grateful for your excellent coverage. My fond hope is for a Santuary home for this fine gentleman and I will continue my trust that indeed compassion and good sense will prevail and a happy ending will be acheived for him.

Hooray for the courts! There's now a better than even chance that this issue will get some much deserved attention. Consider the waste of money and the inhumane treatment of these elephants. It's past time to get this resolved. Release these captive animals to a refuge and put the money where it's really needed. Period.

Cardenas is right. Allowing the lawsuit to go forward will finally let the facts come out which certainly won't happen with local politicians and city employees in bed with the zoo. And Culp and Casselman are also right. This embarassing boondoggle is a waste of the taxpayers' money and perpetuates cruelty to elephants, a critically endangered species. Let Billy retire from all this AZA-inspired nonsense at the Zoo. The PAWS Ark 2000 Sanctuary in Northern California is building the Bull Mountain habitat for male elephants like Billy where they will have some quality of life returned to them. Billy's purpose in life is not as a "stud" for the zoo system but as a male Asian elephant with the right to live as nature intended him to live.

It is irrelevant to direct attacks at Robert Culp, or any other person who steps forward on behalf of humane treatment of animals. Undoubtedly Mr. Culp has studied the issue and knows a great deal more about the needs of elephants than most of us. It's a fact of life in L.A. that even the most deserving issues get no mention unless they're linked to a celebrity name.
Irregardless, a long list of recognized experts in elephant biology and behavior have also urged the closing of zoo exhibits. No zoo is equipped to provide adequate space and stimulus to keep elephants healthy. After the $40 million is spent, Billy will still be confined alone in too small a space. That, by any definition, is a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Robert Culp is an actor, not an elephant expert. This is a sad use of his fading celebrity to attack a zoo that is trying to build a huge new elephant habitat, bigger than the beautiful new Elephant Odyssey at the San Diego Zoo! To whomever posted that the L.A. Zoo's elephant, or any elephant, would be better at a sanctuary, I implore you to do some footwork of your own. I've worked in sanctuaries, and zoos, and wildlife rehab facilities. No sanctuary I've visited has the resources, staff, veterinary equipment, and on-site expertise than either the L.A. or San Diego Zoo.

This issue was thoroughly investigated and rejected by the L.A. City Council, and it will only be a matter of time before the L.A. courts also refute Mr. Culp's claims. In the meantime, this case is a prime example of taxpayer waste.

In the future the only elephants left will be in the zoos.So build a nice place for them.

I am opposed to this elephant exhibit as it is not beneficial for Billy or for any other elephants that are forced to live there. This is the bottom line.$42 million dollars for a cemetary for elephants. Need I say more?

Fact: Elephant populations are dwindling at a rapid rate. Fact: The major reasons are habitat loss and poaching. Fact: Humans are responsible for both of these issues. Fact: Only people can change that. Fact: It is not the people of the "third world" that are most responsible for this problem, it is the use by the "industrialized, modern" nations ...that includes the USA. Fact: The only information most people get about animals is from television and their local zoos. These statements are not my opinion they are research-able FACTS! So a well run zoo is the best opportunity threatened and endangered species have for public education and habitat protection. If you truly love animals get out there and support your local zoo. If they aren't the best, help them improve. Don't talk about some pie in the sky sanctuary out there somewhere. Good zoos are the sanctuaries.