SA’s zoo elephants await fate
JOHANNESBURG -The last three elephants still in a traditional South African zoo entered their enclosure in single file, fruit and vegetables scattered on the gr
International
2026-08-062026-08-06By Correspondent
JOHANNESBURG -The last three elephants still in a traditional South African zoo entered their enclosure in single file, fruit and vegetables scattered on the ground to encourage natural foraging.
For visitors to the popular Johannesburg Zoo, it was a chance to see Africa’s largest land animal in real life. But for animal welfare campaigners, it is a scene of cruelty that they have petitioned the courts to end by ordering the trio’s release into a rewilding sanctuary.
In a case supported by international elephant experts, the campaigners told a court in May that observation showed that Lammie, aged 47, Ramadiba, 28, and Mopane, 26, were distressed and depressed.
