It apparently gives us great joy to take things away from Seattle. Last time, it was the Seattle SuperSonics basketball team.
This time, it’s elephants.
After receiving complaints about the treatment of its Asian elephants, Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle is ending its program and shipping the playful giants — Bamboo, 48, and Chai, 36 — to the Oklahoma City Zoo. The OKC zoo is already home to an Asian elephant family including three adults and two calves.
“We are delighted to be able to provide Bamboo and Chai a great new home with a family,” said Woodland Park Zoo board chairwoman Laurie Stewart. “They will be with a larger, multi-generational herd, which is a primary recommendation of our Elephant Task Force.”
Still smarting from the loss of the SuperSonics, some Seattle residents aren’t happy about the relocation of the pachyderms to another location. Animal rights activists and some of the city’s city council members believe the animals would have a better life at The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, or PAWS Wildlife Sanctuary, ARK 2000, in San Andreas, California.
Both zoos will be involved in the care of the endangered animals, though no money will change hands. However, the zoos will share the $50,000 to $100,000 cost of the 2,000-mile relocation.
Bamboo and Chai will move to OKC late this month or early next month.
You better keep an eye on your stuff, Seattle. We like to steal big, strange things.
