Five elephants from southeast Africa arrived at the Dallas Zoo early Friday morning despite a legal challenge in court.
The elephants are part of a group of 17 sent from Swaziland to the United States.
In January, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) approved permits to the Dallas Zoo, as well as two others in Kansas and Nebraska, allowing for the removal of the elephants. However, since then, there has been a mounting legal challenge by the group, Friends of Animals.
“I think reasonable people are looking at that and understanding that we are stepping in and doing a good thing,” Dallas Zoo spokeswoman Laurie Holloway said. "Any delay in getting these elephants moved is dangerous for these animals."
Friends of Animals filed a lawsuit in February against the agency, arguing it failed to analyze the psychological, physical and social distress captivity would cause the animals. But this week, their case took a hit. A restraining order filed by the group was denied by a judge, thus allowing the elephants to be removed.
In a statement to NBC 5, the director of the group’s law program argued the zoo acted deviously to remove the animals before any further legal action could delay them.
“The underhandedness of this move cannot be overstated,” wrote Harris. “This is the first time since 2003 that elephants have been taken from the wild in Africa for purposes of populating U.S. zoos. Since then, our scientific understanding of the impacts that confinement has on elephants has grown tremendously.”
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Holloway argued that conditions in Swaziland were causing more harm to the elephants than any other location. Facing drought and overpopulation, she does not believe the animals would have survived there much longer.
“They absolutely would have been culled,” she said. “Swaziland, the wildlife officials, that's absolutely what would have happened. And we didn't want to stand by and watch that happen.”
The elephants arrived just after midnight Friday. They will initially be kept in quarantine and then they need time to acclimate. Eventually, they will be introduced to the zoo’s four other elephants, who reside in the Giants of the Savanna exhibit.
“They’re settling into a new place,” explained Holloway. “We don’t push them.
Despite their arrival, Friends of Animals plans to proceed with its case again the USFWS.
“This is not something that the three zoos involved here wanted to see a court order USFWS to take into consideration. As such, they decided to sneak in and steal away these 18 under the darkness of night. Let’s not forget their sacrifice, and let them be the last elephants to ever again endure such a fate in the U.S.,” Harris said.
