The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium currently imprisons five African elephants - Angeline, Savannah, Tasha, Victoria, and Zuri. 

Zuri's name is derived from the Swahili word for 'beautiful' or 'pretty.' Although her appearance fits those words, her surroundings certainly do not. The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium's enclosure for elephants is anything but pretty. Free elephants in the wild (as they were designed) can roam anywhere from 3 to 40 miles a day. The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium's elephant enclosure is a measly 3/4 acre! That's not even close to enough space for these majestic creatures. They all share a tiny lagoon.

Our representative who took the footage is a lifelong Pittsburgh-area resident and was a frequent zoo visitor (because of field trips) while he was in school between 1995 and 2008. He made another visit post-college back in 2013. He returned in 2025 and was deeply disturbed by the facility's elephant enclosure. These five elephants all showed signs of 'zoochosis' - which is a psychosis that animals held captive in zoos develop. Nearly four hours of footage revealed symptoms of zoochosis - which manifests itself in 'stereotypic behaviors,' or 'stereotypies.' These are typically obsessive, repetitive, monotonous actions that serve no purpose. For instance, Tasha paces back and forth (a stereotypy) on the lagoon's edge most of the day. Zoochosis is a sign of psychological anguish and emotional distress, and it’s a common indicator of poor welfare.

The elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium are in obvious mental distress. As if it wasn't obvious already, the facility was ranked the #1 worst zoo for elephants in North America in 2019. 

The Christian Animal Rights Association is calling for the release of the five African elephants to an accredited sanctuary - where they could live out their lives with enough space to roam and be free to be the creatures God designed them to be. 

Please sign our petition if you want the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium to free the five African elephants from captivity and release them to an accredited elephant sanctuary!