Local activists urge Oregon Zoo to transfer newborn elephant, mother to sanctuary
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — While some are visiting the Oregon Zoo in droves to get a glimpse of new baby elephant Tula-Tu, others showed up advocating for her freedom.
Free the Oregon Zoo Elephants (FOZE), a local activist group formed in 2008, recently launched a campaign to transfer the newborn elephant and her mother Rose-Tu from the zoo to an established sanctuary they claim 'has offered its space.'
Tula-Tu is Rose-Tu's third baby. Her firstborn, 16-year-old Samudra, also lives at the zoo. Her second calf, Lily, passed away from a virus in 2018, just before she turned 6 years old.
Mercy Corps warns of 'devastating consequences' after Trump cuts 41 programs
The zoo's vet said there's now a special lab at Oregon State University that's developing an experimental vaccine to help them treat elephant disease.
But the group said Lily's death – followed by the euthanizing of pack members Tusko, Rama and Packy soon after – brings them concern about the zoo breeding too quickly 'under the guise of conservation,' when they claim the elephants are dying of preventable diseases.
FOZE members stood outside the zoo's entrance Saturday morning, holding up signs saying 'Elephants suffer in zoos' and 'Free the Oregon Zoo elephants.'
'They have a new baby here and everyone's very excited about her and I can understand – she's adorable,' said FOZE member Courtney Scott. 'But she's going to grow up and be an elephant and suffer and die just like all the other elephants, like Packy did.'
'Hard decisions': Portland city administrator unveils proposed budget amid $93 million shortfall
She continued, 'We're encouraging this zoo, like 38 zoos have already done, to close their elephant exhibit.'
FOZE said they have also submitted a formal petition to the Metro Council.
Asian elephants reside in India and Borneo, but they're highly endangered. There are only about 40,000-50,000 still in existence and much of their habitat overlaps with some of the most human populated regions on earth.
KOIN 6 News has reached out to the Oregon Zoo for comment but has not responded at this time.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
China's vice president visits Spain as mutual courtship blossoms
MADRID (Reuters) -China's Vice President Han Zheng arrived in Spain on Tuesday for a four-day trip during which he will meet with King Felipe and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, a further sign of increasingly close economic and political ties. Han's visit is taking place two months after Sanchez visited Beijing for the third time in as many years. There, he sought to woo China's President Xi Jinping as global trade reels from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs policy. The Socialist premier has been vying to position Madrid as an interlocutor between China and the European Union, as well as to attract more Chinese investment in advanced technology such as batteries, electric vehicles and hydrogen. Last year, auto maker Stellantis and Chinese battery maker CATL announced plans to build one of Europe's largest EV battery factories in Spain. However, not all is idyllic in Spain's relations with China. Beijing's anti-dumping inquiry into EU pork launched last year in retaliation for Brussels' tariffs on Chinese EVs hit Spain, a top exporter, hard. Sanchez's last visit to China, however, clinched expanded access for Spanish exports of pork stomach - a product widely consumed in China but not previously authorised. Han will meet with Sanchez on Wednesday morning in Madrid, Sanchez's office said, while King Felipe will receive the Chinese official on Thursday, according to the royal household's agenda. The Spanish monarch is also scheduled to visit China later this year to commemorate the signing of a strategic partnership 20 years ago. After his meetings with Sanchez and Spain's king, Han is set to travel to Seville to meet Andalusia's regional leader, Juan Manuel Moreno, who last year secured over 2.5 billion euros ($2.86 billion) of Chinese investments in the southern Spanish region. According to projections by tourism lobby Turespana, the number of visitors to Spain from China is expected to surge by 36% this summer compared to last year, making Spain the European destination with the biggest growth in tourists from the Asian nation. ($1 = 0.8749 euros)
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
French Senate adopts bill to regulate fast fashion
The French Senate on Tuesday adopted a bill to regulate the fast fashion industry by sanctioning companies and banning advertisements. The bill is targeted at Chinese-founded e-commerce giant Shein, which has a reputation for selling lower quality clothes at a very low price. Easy to order and to replace, fast fashion items are exported to France on a large scale, causing pollution and saturating markets. The bill, which had been adopted by the lower house, the National Assembly, in March 2024, was passed by the Senate on Tuesday afternoon, with 337 votes for and only one against. The vote is not the final legislative hurdle: a joint committee of senators and lower house deputies is expected to meet from September to produce a joint text, prior to the final adoption of the law. Before final adoption, the European Commission also has to be notified, to ensure the bill complies with EU law. The bill "is a major step in the fight against the economic and environmental impact of fast fashion, and a strong signal sent to businesses and to consumers," said the minister for ecological transition, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, after the vote's results were announced. The text plans to "reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry", said Anne-Cecile Violland, the centre-right member of parliament who proposed the bill. Fast fashion is a growing market in France, and between 2010 and 2023 the value of advertised products in the sector grew from 2.3 billion euros to 3.2 billion euros. Around 48 clothing items per person are released into the French market each year, and 35 are thrown away every second in the country, according to the state environmental agency Ademe. - 'Triple threat' - Pannier-Runacher has called fast fashion a "triple threat" that promoted overconsumption, caused ecological damage and threatened French clothing businesses. The Senate, dominated by the right, modified the bill to target "ultra" fast fashion companies, such as Asian websites Shein or Temu. The Senate's amendments plan to leave out French and European brands that may be affected by the bill, such as Zara, H&M and Kiabi. The fashion giants will still be obliged to notify their customers about the environmental impact of their products, according to the new bill. "I have no intention of making French brands that contribute to our country's economic vitality pay a single euro,' said rapporteur Sylvie Valente Le Hir, member of the right-wing The Republicans party. The bill will impose stricter sanctions on fast fashion companies by scoring their "environmental communication". This "eco-score" will affect all fast fashion companies, Pannier-Runacher said. Those with the lowest scores will be taxed by the government up to five euros per product in 2025 and up to 10 euros by 2030. This tax cannot go beyond 50 percent of the price of the original product. - Ad ban - The bill would impose sanctions on influencers who promote such products and ban fast fashion advertisements. The regulation of the fast fashion industry will only succeed with a "collective effort", and not by targeting "a single actor," Shein spokesperson Quentin Ruffat told RTL radio on Monday. According to Ruffat, the law would "impact the purchasing power" of French people. On Monday, France's Textiles Industry Union called the bill as "a first step" and hoped for its "rapid adoption... even if the text does not entirely fit our expectations". ama-dfa-ola-mct/ekf/rmb
San Francisco Chronicle
7 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Letters: Trump's deployment of National Guard to L.A. protests shouldn't be a surprise
Donald Trump's playbook seems entirely predictable. If you want to turn a democracy into a military dictatorship, you only need two steps. First, you take actions that will guarantee a large public outcry and protests, and then bring in the military to restore order. Just like Trump did this weekend in deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles after the protests in response to immigration raids. Conversion completed. And if these protests aren't sufficient to declare martial law, no doubt future actions against immigrants will generate the necessary strife. President Trump will not stop until he has destroyed American democracy, and the world can only watch. Steen Petersen, Nanaimo, British Columbia Alarming arrest threat So, President Donald Trump thinks Gov. Gavin Newsom should be arrested. Exactly what laws did the governor break? I'm old enough to remember Alabama Gov. George Wallace standing in the doorway trying to prevent two Black students from enrolling at the University of Alabama in 1963. As much as President John F. Kennedy probably wanted to have Wallace handcuffed and jailed, he didn't. Trump's comments now suggest he is both judge and jury. This is a slap in the face of the greatest of all democratic principles: The rule of law. Denny Freidenrich, Laguna Beach, Orange County Insufficient CCSF response Regarding ''I do not feel safe': City College of S.F. instructor shaken by union leader's verbal attack' (San Francisco, June 5): I'm shocked about what I believe is an antisemitic attack by union leader Maria Salazar-Colon at a public meeting and upset after reading the City College Board of Trustees' statement in response. The statement shows that the board and the college administration don't take antisemitism as seriously as other forms of hate speech. I would ask readers to consider whether they feel that this response would be acceptable if the speaker had used such hateful language toward other racial or ethnic groups. The board's statement is insultingly vague and short on specific condemnation of antisemitism. This is an 'all lives matter' response to a specific attack on Jewish Americans. I would like the board to issue a new statement that specifically references that a speaker made antisemitic comments, and that it condemns them. When there was anti-Asian hate, we condemned it as anti-Asian, not generalized disrespect or lack of decorum. The board should also commit the institution to include addressing antisemitism as part of any training around equity and diversity. Doug Shoemaker, San Francisco Not Lowell caliber Regarding 'These graduating Lowell students were called 'lottery kids.' The stigma never went away' (San Francisco, June 6): The story says that data shows relatively small academic disparities between students enrolled at Lowell High School by lottery and merit-based admittees. However, every piece of data in the story says the lottery students did worse on average than those who attended based on merit — hardly proof that the lottery kids belonged. Michael Singer, Santa Rosa Stop S.F. warehouse project Regarding 'S.F.'s largest industrial project could get a green light after years of delay' (Real Estate, June 3): The article does not tell the whole story about this planned 2-million-square-foot warehouse and distribution center in the Bayview, a neighborhood that is highly impacted by poor air quality and high levels of cancer, asthma and other lung diseases. Residents are concerned about what will likely be a huge Amazon warehouse (nonunion) and the increase in diesel trucks that worsen the levels of particulate matter, ozone and nitrous oxide, which are already high in the area, increasing the risk for asthma, bronchitis, lung irritations and cancers. The effects are cumulative. The pollution from this project will impact the air quality in nearby neighborhoods and beyond. This is a San Francisco issue, not just a Bayview issue, and it is an environmental justice issue.
