The Elephant in the Room

An African elephant eyes a snack at the elephant exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo. The nation's oldest zoo has featured elephants since it opened in 1874. (Photos By Mike Mergen -- Bloomberg News)

Reed, of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, the nonprofit organization to which most zoos belong, said the recent elephant controversy is overblown.

"What people forget is that sooner or later, every animal in every zoo is going to die, no matter how well we treat them," Reed said, noting that no one has accused any zoo of intentional abuse. "Just because elephants can walk 50 miles a day, it doesn't mean they do -- or even want to."

He said that just like humans, elephants would rather stay put, and they do if they can find water, shelter and food.

"Some of this is our own fault. We put up signs at the fence that say an elephant can walk 50 miles in a day and people then say they have to walk that far," said Reed. "We make sure our elephants get exercise, but three, four, five miles is plenty, we feel."

He said the Sedgwick Zoo in Wichita is building a 3 1/2 -acre elephant habitat and plans to acquire as many as four more elephants in the coming years.

The Philadelphia Zoo's Baker said his zoo shipped its chimpanzees to zoos in St. Louis and Scottsbluff, Neb., a decade ago.

"We didn't think we could care for them correctly. It was a disappointment for visitors for a while, but then the furor died down," he said. There are 1,600 animals, many of them exotic species from all over the world, at the Philadelphia Zoo. "I know if the elephants go, it will be sad, but we will have the new big-cat exhibit and many other things to attract people."

Elephants, though, are both an attraction and a sentimental thing for Reed.

"Our job is to link people to these animals, to know that their education about them has a global reach," Reed said, noting that despite great conservation efforts, the population of African elephants has dwindled from 2 million to 600,000 in the past 25 years and that there are only 40,000 Asian elephants left.

"My first animal contact was seeing Rosie the elephant at the Portland, Oregon, zoo when I was 3 1/2 , in 1954. It had a huge impact, and I know it is why I am in this line of work," he said. "We've had elephants in circuses, zoos, on television, with 'Dumbo,' cartoons. Yes, zoos should always update their care, but they are an umbrella species. People are attracted to give money and time to conserve them, and in that way conserve the wild environment around them."