Tell the Phoenix Zoo: Stop Waiting for Indu the Elephant to Die
- 600milliondogs.org
- Apr 10
- 2 min read
Imagine spending your golden years watching your friends die, one by one.
The crushing silence after their voices fade. The empty spaces where they once stood. The unbearable loneliness of knowing no one is coming to save you.
This is Indu the elephant’s reality.
Stolen from her homeland in Asia as a baby, 59-year-old Indu has spent decades behind bars.
For years, she found comfort in her two elephant companions at the Phoenix Zoo in Arizona — until they died in 2020 and 2021, leaving her utterly alone.
Now, she spends her days swaying endlessly in distress, reaching through metal bars for friends who will never return. Every moment she remains imprisoned is another moment of suffering.
Right now, she suffers in the 100-degree Arizona heat with no deep shade, no cooling mud, and a pool of water too shallow to ease her aching joints.
Her body is breaking down, and her heart is already shattered from decades of loneliness.
In the wild, elephants grieve, love, and form deep, lifelong bonds. Indu has had all of that stolen from her.
Every day, she stands alone, sentenced to more years of solitude and a slow death.
Instead of the family she was meant to have, she’s had nothing but barren walls and empty space.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) requires zoos to house a minimum of three elephants for proper social interaction — yet the Phoenix Zoo has done the opposite.
They have left Indu completely alone, in violation of the very standards meant to protect elephants in captivity.
Even worse, the zoo has already decided to close its elephant exhibit — but only after Indu dies. Instead of giving her freedom, they are waiting for her to die behind bars.
For 58 years, she’s given everything for human entertainment. We must act now to give her freedom and dignity in return.
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