TESTIMONY ON MAGGIE

"I make this plea now for another elephant who is the only female African elephant in any zoo in the US to live alone. It is Maggie. I live 20 minutes from the Alaska zoo and visit her. She is a very lonely and unhappy elephant. She's hurt keepers in the past because she is so bored and miserable. You can read about Maggie here, and see her photo: http://www.captiveanimals.org/elephants/maggie.htm. And here is the propaganda the zoo puts out on dear Maggie: http://www.alaskazoo.org/maggie.htm.  Several years ago, I spearheaded a drive to free Maggie. The letter below was one I sent to the zoo directors. I never received a reply. Here is a portion of the letter:  "It is morally unacceptable to keep Maggie all alone at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage. Maggie is the only African elephant housed alone in a zoo in the United States. Companionship is critical to the health and well-being of elephants. The most highly respected elephant experts in the world concur that it is extremely cruel to keep an elephant isolated from other elephants. Also, the Alaskan climate is totally inappropriate to an animal who is genetically equipped to live in the tropics. It is absolutely inhumane to confine Maggie to a cement-floored building. Maggie needs to be transferred to a facility where she can experience the love and friendship of other elephants. In addition, Maggie needs to be in a more appropriate climate where she can go outside on a daily basis, feel grass under her feet, and soak in water. Obviously, none of this is possible in Alaska for much of the year." Maggie is chained in a tiny, unheated barn in the winter and the winters here are *long.* She has no enrichment 8 months of the year. Now that the Sanctuary in Tenn. is going African, can anyone please help me free Maggie from the prison she is in? I have looked into her sad eyes and she is dying inside. Her fate in the winter is like Ziggy, the elephant who was chained his entire life in Chicago in a tiny barn."

"I recently moved from Anchorage and now reside in Florida. My husband and I visited the Anchorage zoo dozens of times and our special project was Maggie. I first saw her in 1991 and last saw her in 2001. Maggie was frequently a target of abusive press in Anchorage. She was usually described as "mean-tempered, ornery, vicious," when writing about her. I kept a scrapbook of these articles which I unfortunately lost in my move. As a result of the negative press articles, I noticed on many occasions that visitors to the zoo (to Maggie's enclosure, which was horribly inadequate), would taunt poor Maggie, throw things at her, try to hit her trunk, if Maggie was leaning over the moat area, and generally behave meanly towards the lonely girl. Several times I heard parents tell their youngsters, "Maggie is a mean, vicious elephant. You don't have to be nice to her." It was so cruel, words cannot begin to describe it. I am overjoyed that Tina was rescued from a poor enclosure in Canada. Though I have only seen Tina's old quarters through photos, I can tell you right now that Maggie's enclosure is smaller, more barren and more depressing. In addition, there is a long documented history of having abusive "trainers" handle Maggie. No wonder she was supposedly "mean tempered." I have read how she is chained in the winter in the the tiny barn which was on plain view to visitors to the zoo. So few visitors even pondered the life Maggie had to endure in our freezing winters. Please, I am willing to help in any way to get Maggie to Tennessee. Here is a tiny example of the bad press Maggie has received. In this article, she is openly refered to as "mean." It breaks my heart. http://www.anchoragepress.com/archives/documentff34.html."

"I spent 2 yrs. in Alaska and took my son to see Maggie at her zoo. Her enclosure is smaller than Tina's was in Vancouver and her keepers didn't seem nearly as nice as Tina's handlers were. Maggie was miserable and lonesome, one could see that quite clearly."