Forum: Author Hangout

I just saw a headline that said the only elephant left in Puerto Rico had died.
I also remember that, not that many years ago, Ringling & Bros. stopped displaying elephants in their circus, then the circus itself died (since revived?)
Are there any elephants left in the United States. If so, are all of them kept in cages? Are there still elephants in those African-safari type places where animals roam free and people are in cars or in tour buses? I once, decades ago, visited the San Diego Zoo, but my memory is hazy enough that I'm not sure whether they had elephants.
A WIP has a scene set in this calendar year in which an animal rights person "liberates" the animals in a drive-thru park. Would it be a mistake to include elephants in that scene?

Our herd is now exploring their new outdoor environment in the all-new African Savanna. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the elephants' care in our special observation area at the new indoor Zambezi Elephant Center.

https://zooatlanta.org/african-savanna/

You can't drive thru, except in a motorized wheelchair, but someone could set them free.

Republicans remember them, although Democrats seem to prefer Donkeys.

The Oregon Zoo has elephants and during the Covid lockdown they took one around to meet the other animals. You can find videos online and they're awesome.

Republicans remember them, although Democrats seem to prefer Donkeys.

Now if Republicans could remember that cameras record what they say.

As of 2019, there were 305 known elephants in captivity in the US. Since elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild that number probably hasn't changed too much.

However, I'm not sure how much liberating would actually take place. If a person opened the gates some of the more curious (or stupid) species might wander outside a bit, but most would probably stick close to where they know their next meal is coming from. An animal rights person would pretty much have to spook or stampede the animals to get them out.

As an aside, there's a Canadian-made youth science fiction series called Endlings (2019) about a group of kids who help a crashed alien collect endangered species. The first episode takes place in 2040 when the last living African elephant disappears.

The Oregon Zoo has elephants and during the Covid lockdown

Did they put the mask on the end of the trunk?

Did they put the mask on the end of the trunk?

They tried, but they couldn't get those elastic thingys to stretch enough to go behind their ears...

Yes, wife and I took four of our grandkids to Wilstem. They are in Paoli Indiana. They have a few retired elephants, they family is multi-generation elephant ... what's the word ... trainers? We pay for admission to the elephant barn show. Heavy steel safety pipe rails separating audience bleachers. They talk about family history, these elephant history, they are watchful as they allow children to feed the elephants carrots, pet them. The caretakers feed each elephant a whole watermelon while advising audience to watch closely! After eating, each elephant will take her hay and sop up the juice! We had a camper hitched up so we did not do the safari.

The best elephant joke ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qqE_WmagjY

The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee has 25+ older elephants. They do not permit onsite viewing of the elephants, but has webcams observing them.
https://www.elephants.com/elecam

Are there any elephants left in the United States.

I believe an American dentist has bits of elephant hanging on their walls. And then I looked it up and saw that he now has bits of his wife hanging on the wall.