Woodland Park Zoo staff makes final preparations for elephant move

While opponents of Woodland Park Zoo’s plans to move its two remaining elephants to Oklahoma have lost another legal challenge, zoo staff are making final plans for their 2,500 mile journey.

Federal judge John Coughenour ruled Tuesday even though he’s “troubled” by the plan, he won’t block the transfer.

Elephant activists filed a federal lawsuit, saying the move violates the federal endangered species act.

Woodland Park Zoo elephants one step closer to Oklahoma

But Coughenour ruled even though he’s worried the Oklahoma City Zoo won’t be able to provide a suitable climate or space, Seattle’s zoo is no better, so he declined to issue an injunction.

That leaves one last legal hope for opponents – a state appeal that will be heard Thursday.

Meantime, Bamboo and Chai’s keepers and zoo staff are putting the final touches on getting the elephants ready for their road trip to Oklahoma City.

It’s a process that started months ago when the zoo first decided it was moving the elephants amid widespread criticism of their care.

The first step was getting them used to the huge, custom crates they’ll be carried in on a flat bed truck.

“The animals willingly have to go into these things,” said Martin Ramirez, mammal curator at the Woodland Park Zoo. “Both of our elephants within a matter of days were walking in on their own accord into these containers, allowing our keepers to feed them, to reinforce them for walking in there.”

Moving an elephant is no easy feat. Ramirez said it takes plenty of complex planning. But Ramirez has plenty of experience. He’s overseen several thousand animal transports in his decades of experience in Seattle, Orlando and at the San Diego Zoo.

“Bamboo and Chai will not be the first elephants that I personally have helped move and our staff have also moved elephants, obviously Bamboo and Chai have left the zoo on separate occasions and come back,” Ramirez said.

Activists said in their federal suit the move could be deadly for the elephants, and argued one elephant died during a move overseen by the company hired by Woodland Park Zoo between Chicago and Utah.

But the federal judge disagreed, noting the company has successfully moved nearly 90 elephants.

The zoo won’t say when Bamboo and Chai will hit the road. They can’t make the move until at least after Thursday’s hearing.

When they finally go, there will be plenty of tears shed, both by the many animal lovers worried about their fate and the many at the zoo who’ve poured their hearts into caring for Bamboo and Chai.

They’ll certainly be missed. And Ramirez worries what will also be lost is the opportunity to educate people about the critical threats to these majestic animals in the wild – and the need to work to save them.

“The community is going to miss the elephants, our zoo staff is going to miss the elephants, our volunteers are going to miss the elephants here but I think where we all find solace is that we know we are doing the right thing for these animals – sending them to another institution where they can live with other elephants and be in a much better social situation,” Ramirez said.