Murray E. Fowler, DVM

The Elephant’s Foot, 2001

• It is the author’s opinion that nonresolvable foot infections and arthritis are the major reason for euthanizing elephants.

– Murray E. Fowler

“In a natural habitat, elephants spend their day walking, eating, bathing, and digging in soil. Natural vegetation, particularly browse, contains necessary trace minerals and vitamins that promote foot health.”

Murray E. Fowler, DVMBiology, Medicine and Surgery of Elephants, 2006

The Elephant’s Foot

• There is general consensus that lack of exercise, long hours standing on hard substrates, and contamination resulting from standing in their own excreta are major contributors to elephant foot problems.

“…the animals everyone wants to see-charismatic megafauna like elephants and polar bears-are precisely the ones worst-suited to captivity.” Marty Smith (a.k.a. Dr. Know), Willamette Week, June 11th, 2014

The Living Elephants, 2003

• “traditional systems [of elephant training] …clearly have undesirable elements that inflict unnecessary cruelty on this highly intelligent animal. Similar issues continue to plague zoos, in which elephants are often confined to small spaces.”

Raman Sukumar

“The whole herd of eight will be able to soak together when Elephant Lands is completed in 2015.” The Oregonian,

July 4, 2014

The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee

Free Range Elephants at The Elephant Sanctuary

Baby Elephants—Always a Crowd Pleaser

“…elephants in Western zoos are declining at an alarming rate. The North American zoo population of Asian elephants, for instance, is intrinsically declining at about 8% per year”

Raman Sukumar, The Living Elephants

Dovima with the Elephants by Richard Avedon