logo
Local activists urge Oregon Zoo to transfer newborn elephant, mother to sanctuary

Local activists urge Oregon Zoo to transfer newborn elephant, mother to sanctuary

Yahoo02-03-2025

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Court decides to expedite Oregon's lawsuit challenging Trump's tariffs
Court decides to expedite Oregon's lawsuit challenging Trump's tariffs

Yahoo

time23 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Court decides to expedite Oregon's lawsuit challenging Trump's tariffs

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A federal court issued an order on Wednesday to fast-track Oregon's lawsuit challenging tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ordered to expedite the lawsuit, which was filed in late April in the Court of International Trade in New York. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield welcomed the decision stating, 'We're glad the court recognizes how important this case is by moving it forward quickly.' Investigators believe they spotted Travis Decker hiking in Washington. Here's what to know 'These tariffs are illegal—and they're hurting people. They've driven up costs on everyday goods, making it harder for families and small businesses to make ends meet. One analysis found the added cost is more than $3,800 a month. That's just not sustainable,' Rayfield said. The attorney general noted the order to expedite the lawsuit is only procedural noting, 'This order doesn't address whether the tariffs are legal. So far, every federal judge who's looked at the legality of these tariffs has ruled against them—and we believe the law is on our side.' The lawsuit argues that the president does not have the authority to unilaterally impose tariffs, rather, Congress has the power to enact tariffs under Article I of the Constitution. Esquire names Portland bar among the best in the U.S. in 2025 While President Trump's executive orders state the president has the authority to impose tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Attorney General Rayfield argues that law only applies in an emergency with an 'unusual and extraordinary' threat from abroad and does not give the president the power to impose tariffs. The lawsuit is co-led by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. Other states joining the suit include Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, and Vermont. The order to expedite the lawsuit comes after Rayfield celebrated a brief legal victory on May 29 when a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of International Trade temporarily blocked tariffs Trump imposed against all U.S. trading partners as well as levies he imposed before that on China, Mexico and Canada. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now In a briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the ruling 'judicial overreach' and stressed the need for the Supreme Court to intervene. 'There is a troubling and dangerous trend of unelected judges inserting themselves into the presidential decision-making process,' she said. 'America cannot function if President Trump, or any other president for that matter, has their sensitive diplomatic or trade negotiations railroaded by activist judges.' Soon after, however, the Trump administration was granted an appeal to that decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals — upending the lower court's ruling to halt tariffs. KOIN 6 News has reached out to the United States Attorney General's Office. This story will be updated if we receive a response. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Russia sends its most valuable planes as far away from Ukraine as possible
Russia sends its most valuable planes as far away from Ukraine as possible

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Russia sends its most valuable planes as far away from Ukraine as possible

Russia has scattered its most valuable warplanes to a remote airbase in the far east of the country, after a surprise Ukrainian drone attack devastated its strategic bomber fleet last Sunday. Two Tupolev Tu-160 planes have been moved 4,000 miles from the front lines to the remote Anadyr airbase, which can only be accessed by air and sea, satellite imagery showed. Located on the desolate Chukotka Peninsula, the airfield is around 410 miles from Alaska and was set up during the Cold War to defend Russia from potential US attacks. The supersonic Tu-160 bombers can carry nuclear weapons and are by far the most expensive in Russia's inventory, with a price tag of around $500 million per unit. By comparison, the B-52 Stratofortress, the mainstay of the US's bomber fleet, has an estimated value of roughly $94 million. In addition to being expensive, Tu-160s are rare. Russia is thought to have only 16 operational airframes, and Ukraine said it damaged some in last Sunday's attacks. Prof Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow for air power at the Royal United Services Institute, told the i newspaper that imagery from the Anadyr base could suggest Moscow was trying to reduce the risk of more drone attacks. Dubbed 'Operation Spider's Web', the June 1 strikes were the result of 18 months of meticulous planning by Ukraine's security service (SBU), which on Wednesday released a video detailing how the strikes played out. Agents smuggled 'cheap drones' into Russia, 'right under the nose' of the Russian security agency, captions from the video read. These drones were placed inside modified wooden cabins mounted on the back of lorries, then driven to locations near their targets by drivers who were seemingly unaware of their cargo. Once near the airbases, the cabins released the drones to attack aircraft on the bases. 'Everything was planned down to the second,' the video explained. 'It happened simultaneously in three different time zones, involving 117 drones.' 'The SBU's web was to entangle all of Russia,' it said. The SBU planned to attack five airfields, although only four were hit, as drones exploded prematurely while en route to a base in Russia's far east. Admiral Pierre Vandier, Nato's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, lauded the operation, saying it was a reinvention of the 'Trojan horse method', with new 'technical and industrial creativity'. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, on Wednesday said Moscow's nuclear deterrence 'has not suffered significant damage', and that the affected equipment 'can and will be restored'. Experts, however, said it would take years for Russia to recover from the assault, which Ukrainian officials estimated caused $7 billion worth of damage. Several Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers are believed to have been destroyed in the operation. Kyiv said last week that Russia had used a Tu-160 to launch a cruise strike against Ukraine. It claimed this indicated a shortage of Tu-95s and Tu-22s, as Moscow usually uses these older models for strikes rather than the more expensive and scarce Tu-160. Both the Tu-95 and Tu-22 are no longer produced. Russia does assemble new Tu-160s, however only two are thought to have been completed since 2022. Though the Tu-160 is a Soviet-era design, in 2018 the Russian ministry of defence ordered 10 new airframes at a cost of 160 billion roubles. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.

Russia flies bomber planes over Baltic for first time since Ukrainian drone attacks
Russia flies bomber planes over Baltic for first time since Ukrainian drone attacks

Yahoo

time4 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Russia flies bomber planes over Baltic for first time since Ukrainian drone attacks

By Mark Trevelyan (Reuters) -Russia sent Tu-22M3 long-range bomber planes on a flight over the Baltic Sea on Wednesday, the defence ministry said, in the first such mission since Ukraine carried out a stunning June 1 attack on air bases in Siberia and the far north. A number of Tu-22M3 and Tu-95MS bombers were destroyed or seriously damaged in those strikes, conducted by drones that were smuggled close to the airfields in trucks. Russia regularly conducts heavy bomber flights as a show of strength and deterrence to its adversaries, but Wednesday's also appeared aimed at sending a message of business as usual despite the Ukrainian attacks. The defence ministry said the Tu-22M3s flew for more than four hours over neutral waters of the Baltic, escorted for some of that time by fighter planes from foreign, presumably NATO, countries. The Tu-22M3 and Tu-95MS, known to NATO respectively as Backfire and Bear-H, are part of a long-range aviation fleet that Russia has used throughout the war to fire conventional missiles at Ukrainian cities, defence plants, military bases, power infrastructure and other targets. The Bear-H and the newer Tu-160M Blackjack are nuclear-capable aircraft which, alongside ground- and submarine-launched ballistic missiles, form part of Russia's strategic nuclear deterrent. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday that Moscow's potential for nuclear deterrence against the United States had not suffered "any tangible damage" as a result of the Ukrainian attacks. Ryabkov has previously said Russia would repair the damage from the strikes, although commercial satellite images show a number were clearly destroyed. The United States assesses up to 20 warplanes were hit, around half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and around 10 were destroyed, two U.S. officials told Reuters last week. Ryabkov, without citing evidence, said Western countries had provided technical help to Ukraine when it came to targeting and transmission of real-time data, and this made them complicit. "These countries, which have such capabilities, took this step, deliberately testing our patience and endurance - they encroached on the foundations of the concept of nuclear deterrence, not just with their irresponsible indulgence of the Kyiv regime, but by supplying this regime with key sensitive information," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying. The United States has said President Donald Trump was not informed in advance of the Ukrainian operation, dubbed "Spider's Web," which Zelenskiy has said was 18 months in the planning.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store