Billy The Elephant

This is Billy the elephant at the Los Angeles zoo. There was a big stink not too long ago (last month), that ended up in the City Council's lap about whether or not to release Billy. A group was protesting about how bad the conditions were for Billy and that he should be set free.


If you look at these photos you can see how confined Billy is. I couldn't even get a good shot of him. But the L.A. Zoo is already in the middle of construction of a Pachyderm Forest that will be just over 6 acres, a MUCH bigger exhibit then this one shown which doesn't even give the elephant much room to walk around in.


The L.A. City Council voted to let the elephant stay and though I know there are good reasons to let Billy go, I think it only fair to let the zoo continue with this multi-million dollar exhibit which is a huge improvement over the current conditions. They are investing the money to improve the conditions and I know Billy will be happier in the larger, more natural environment, large enough to get him a friend.


If the conditions were to remain the same I would have agreed that Billy should be released. But personally, I would like the zoo to see if this new, larger environment will be better for Billy. I know it bummed me out to see him in the current little exhibit. I would like to see him in the bigger one and can't wait until it is completed. I can't wait to see Billy roaming around, actually roaming and not just standing there rocking back and forth.