The final elephant in South Africa’s nationwide zoo has been launched right into a reserve by a wildlife rights group, which mentioned on Wednesday it’s pushing the nation’s solely different zoo with the animals to do the identical.

The 42-year-old elephant referred to as Charley was faraway from the Nationwide Zoological Backyard (NZG) in Pretoria and transported to a reserve within the northern Limpopo province, the place he was launched on Monday by the EMS Basis.

Bought to a circus

This was a results of years of negotiation with the South African authorities which was supplied with scientific proof that elephants endure in zoos, the muse mentioned in an announcement.

Captured from his herd in Zimbabwe when he was round two years outdated, Charley was bought to a circus to carry out methods and moved to the Pretoria Zoo in 2001.

“The science is evident that elephants are outlined by house and shouldn’t be in captivity,” government director Michele Pickover instructed AFP.

The one different zoo in South Africa with elephants is Johannesburg’s city-run zoo, which has three, she mentioned.

“We’re litigating towards Johannesburg over these,” she instructed AFP.

The discharge of Charley didn’t essentially imply the federal government had determined to cease all exhibitions of elephants in its zoos, however it didn’t seem to have plans to get extra, Pickover mentioned.

Ought to elephants be saved in zoos and seem in circus acts?

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