The mysterious disappearance of an elephant named Happy at the Bronx Zoo in New York has caused a stir as animal activists come up with theories.
Happy has been one of the zoo’s main attractions since his arrival in 1977 and is usually seen by park visitors riding the monorail through the Wild Asia exhibit.
However, Happy, who is in her fifties, has reportedly not been seen by visitors in the zoo’s outdoor enclosure since July, leaving many visitors disappointed.
Zoo spokesperson Mary Dixon told DailyMail.com that the elephant was on display before the park opened and turned up on Saturday, but one claimed visitor she just Patti.
Zoo director Jim Breheny previously shared a video of Happy ‘in the exhibit…taking a dust bath (and) eating’ on the morning of September 12 on his X account, but the comments below the clip were suspicious. .
“There’s no way to know for sure that this was yesterday,” wrote one X user. “It would have made sense if the NYT reporter had seen her (and) taken a photo of Happy.”
Happy has been one of the zoo’s main attractions since she arrived in 1977 and is usually seen by park visitors while riding the monorail through the Wild Asia exhibit.
“Happy has recently chosen not to be in the exhibit during the day, but has gone to the exhibit area in the morning before the zoo opens,” a zoo spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
Although the zoo insists there is nothing wrong with the elephant, its absence from public life has led many to speculate that Happy is, well, not happy.
‘She could have chosen not to go out because she is depressed and has lost the will to live, and going out no longer brings her joy. Or I could feel pain,” Courtney Fern of the Nonhuman Rights Project told New York Post.
The zoo’s elephants have been separated into pairs since one of them was injured in an attack on a herd in 1977.
But Happy has been alone since her last partner died in 2006. The New York Times reported.
Patty, the only other elephant currently at the Bronx Zoo, continues to spend her days in the open enclosure.
This has raised fears that Happy is lonely.
Caitlin O’Connell, a scientist and elephant instructor at Harvard, told The New York Times: “Elephants need social interaction to thrive, and as migratory animals, they enjoy large spaces for foraging and grazing.”
Fern also insisted that the elephant’s behavior is “not normal” and stated that “she most likely won’t come out because something is wrong with her mentally or physically.”
However, the zoo has repeatedly denied that anything is wrong and claimed that the elephant simply chooses to hang out behind the scenes with workers rather than use the public enclosure.
“Happy recently opted not to be in the exhibit during the day, but came into the exhibit area in the morning before the zoo opens,” a zoo spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
‘As we said previously, Happy chooses to spend the day near the barn interacting with the staff rather than in the exhibition space.
Courtney Fern of the Non-Human Rights Project insisted the elephant was not behaving normally, saying “she’s most likely not coming out because something is wrong with her mentally or physically.”
‘You are given access to the exhibition area every day, but you do not choose to spend your time there. Despite some reports, she is not confined indoors, but has access to indoor and outdoor spaces and chooses where she wants to be.’
This comes weeks after the zoo was forced to first release a statement about statement of July 31 to address growing elephant concerns.
He began by stating that “there is nothing wrong with Happy” and continued insisting that the animal is in “good health.”
On August 8, the US Department of Agriculture “conducted a targeted inspection of the Bronx Zoo’s elephants,” a spokesperson told DailyMail.com on Thursday.
The zoo also recently released images of Happy wandering around the outdoor enclosure before the park’s opening hours in an attempt to reassure the public.
The spokesperson said the report showed “the zoo met or exceeded USDA standards of care.”
“Our veterinary and animal care teams have stated that Happy appears to be doing well and is doing well,” the spokesperson added.
But critics still aren’t satisfied, particularly after learning that a New York Times reporter was denied access to the animal before and after work hours.
Dixon told The Times that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service had also inspected the elephants, their barns and their enclosures. Additionally, the zoo’s own veterinarians examined Happy and said he “seems fine and doing well.”
The barn door remains open so Happy can leave at any time, Dixon told The Times.
Despite this, Fern’s group is not convinced that all is well and generally believes that elephants should not be kept captive, he told The Times.
“There is nothing wrong with Happy,” zoo spokeswoman Mary Dixon said in a July 31 statement, insisting that the elephant “is in good health.”
On August 8, the US Department of Agriculture “conducted a targeted inspection of the Bronx Zoo’s elephants,” a spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
The zoo community disagrees with activists’ stance on captivity, pointing to their extensive conservation work as well as new and improved methods of caring for animals.
“We’ve learned how to better care for them, how to meet their needs and how to manage them from a physical, psychological and social standpoint,” Dan Ashe, president and CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, told The Times.
Previously, the zoo had to fight to keep its prized elephant happy after Fern’s organization challenged the elephant’s confinement in the New York Supreme Court in 2020.
The group attempted to claim that Happy was essentially the equivalent of a person with his own rights and therefore should not be kept in a cage, as it was a violation of habeas corpus.
However, the activists lost their challenge in 2022, when the court ruled that while “no one Although it is argued that elephants are intelligent beings that deserve proper care and compassion, they are not the same as humans.
