Late Night Talk

A group of elephant specialists has penned a letter to the Joburg Zoo and Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba over the conditions under which Lammie the elephant is being kept at the Zoo.

The specialists want her moved to a re-wilding facility where she can socialise.

The NSPCA and Joburg Zoo have been at odds over Lammie’s condition for some time.

The NSPCA’s Karen Trendler says they are concerned that the elephant is lonely and the option of bringing in another elephant will not necessarily solve the problem.

There is a very good chance that she is depressed. She has lost her companion. Elephants are instinctively social. To have a single elephant standing on her own with very little stimulation just isn't right.

— Karen Trendler, Trade & Trafficking Portfolio Manager - NSPCA

We actually looked into the situation, researched it very carefully before saying to the zoo that this would be the best for Lammie.

— Karen Trendler, Trade & Trafficking Portfolio Manager - NSPCA

She is not reacting and doing elephant stuff. Really it's not giving any kind of conservation or humane message.

— Karen Trendler, Trade & Trafficking Portfolio Manager - NSPCA

So far, 270 000 people have signed petitions to free Lammie.

Trendler explains the kind of environment a re-wilding sanctuary would offer the elephant.

She would gradually be introduced to other elephants in a more natural environment where she has grass and trees and the ability to move around and interact.

— Karen Trendler, Trade & Trafficking Portfolio Manager - NSPCA

The expertise is there, the opportunity is there and the zoo would be held in such high esteem, and it would be such an amazing thing for them to do and to set a new thing and say ok, we are going to move forward and let Lammie go.

— Karen Trendler, Trade & Trafficking Portfolio Manager - NSPCA

Click on the link below to hear more from Trendler...