Elephant carolers appealing to Seattle mayor, council
Dec 15, 2014, 6:16 AM | Updated: 6:25 am
Seattle’s mayor and the city council will be serenaded by carolers Monday, but not in the traditional way.
The singers will be protesters from the Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants.
“We’re going to meet at City Hall and we’re going to carol Christmas songs that have been reworded to ask the city council and the mayor to use their authority and their influence to get Bamboo and Chai retired to a sanctuary,” says Friends of the Woodland Park Zoo Elephants co-founder Alyne Fortgang.
After years of controversy and criticism, the Woodland Park Zoo announced in November it was closing the elephant program and would move its two remaining pachyderms. But activists were unhappy with the idea they’d just be moved to another zoo.
Fortgang says they have been unable to find a zoo that will provide a better home for the two Asian elephants than a PAWS sanctuary in California.
“On the 31 AZA (accredited Association of Zoos & Aquariums facility) zoos that hold Asian elephants, at this point we can’t find a single one that would give Bamboo and Chai a better quality of life,” says Fortgang. “If that’s not possible, then the zoo can’t justify sending them to another zoo, and the city council can’t let that happen.”
The carolers will be performing from 11 a.m. until noon in the City Hall lobby.
