On March 27, 2020, Ambika the elephant died at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC. Ambika was 72 years old and was one of the most well-known captive elephants in the U.S. In its announcement of her death, the zoo called Ambika “a giant among our conservation community” and “an ambassador and pioneer for her species.” We at Born Free USA are saddened to hear of her passing, but far from being an “ambassador” for her species or for wildlife conservation, we contend that Ambika was instead a posterchild for animal exploitation.
While Ambika’s physical life may have ended only recently, the life she was meant to have – in her natural habitat – ended decades ago. Ambika was born in freedom in India in around 1948 and only enjoyed about eight years with her herd before being captured and exploited in the logging industry. Then, in 1961, she was given as a “gift” by the nation of India to the United States. She was transported across the globe and began her incarceration at the National Zoo.
And there Ambika remained until her death last week. Year after year, she stood in the same small enclosure, being gawked at by visitors and handled by keepers. During her nearly six decades of captivity, countless visitors – generations of families – passed Ambika by. Zoo workers came and went, retired, moved away… But, for Ambika, the surroundings never changed. She was stuck, always in the same place, in a miserable, shrunken world so far from where she was supposed to be and at the mercy of whoever was, at that time, assigned to handle her.
And, Ambika was more than just an object of entertainment; she was also an object of inquiry. Ambika was subjected to numerous studies by biologists, who would collect blood samples, take radiographs and other scans, observe her behavior, listen to her vocalizations, and more. The zoo states that Ambika “helped shape the collective knowledge of what elephants need to survive and thrive both in human care and the wild,” but she was not a willing participant in any of this. She was a research subject, with no way to escape and no way to say no. That she submitted quietly to tests is not an indication of consent, but rather, perhaps, of resignation.
All wild animals belong in the wild and all captive conditions, no matter how well-funded or “naturalistic,” pale in comparison to the richness of life in an animal’s natural habitat. Elephants require complex physical environments, and geographically huge terrains, which means that what elephants want and need in life is vastly different than that which humans can reasonably provide in captivity. They experience physical suffering and psychological distress in captivity and often exhibit unnatural, stereotypic behaviors, high infant mortality, and reduced life spans. Indeed, while Ambika may have made it to the ripe old age of 72, captive elephants much more commonly die in their 40s, a sad indictment of life in zoos.
Elephants are highly social animals. Females like Ambika would naturally live in large, multi-generational, matriarchal herds. Ambika is survived by Shanthi and Bozie, the zoo’s other elephants. Together, these three bonded and formed a little family, albeit one that was but a fraction of the size their community would be in the wild. With Ambika’s death, Shanthi and Bozie’s world has become smaller and grimmer.
We at Born Free USA mourn Ambika. We mourn her passing, the void her death will leave in the lives of her elephant companions, and, most of all, we mourn that her life was never lived on her own terms, in her own home, and with her own family. Elephants, and other wild animals, do not belong in zoos. In Ambika’s memory, please join us in our work to keep wildlife in the wild, so that others do not have to suffer as she did.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Liz Tyson, PhD – Programs Director
Karen Lauria – Communications Director