PETA Mourns Ali, the Elephant Who Spent Decades Alone at Kaohsiung’s Shoushan Zoo

PETA Asia President Jason Baker has issued  the following statement in response to the death of Ali, the African elephant who spent nearly five decades confined in Taiwan:

Because of indifference and outdated attitudes toward animals in captivity, Ali died much the way she had lived for decades—isolated and deprived of everything natural and meaningful to an elephant’s life. Animal advocates urged officials to retire her to a sanctuary where she could have enjoyed space, stimulation, and the companionship that elephants need to thrive. Instead, Ali was forced to endure decades of confinement, including more than 20 years in solitary housing after the loss of her companion—an existence that amounts to psychological torment for a deeply social species. In nature, female elephants like Ali live in lifelong matriarchal families, surrounded by mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends.

 

PETA is urging Taiwanese authorities to ensure that no other elephant is subjected to the same fate. The last remaining elephants in Taiwan are held at the Taipei Zoo, which cannot provide appropriate social groupings or expansive, naturalistic environments. The zoo must end elephant captivity and prioritize transfers to accredited sanctuaries. PETA stands ready to assist and to help move all the remaining elephants in Taiwan to reputable sanctuaries, where they can run, feel grass beneath their feet, and play alongside other elephants as nature intended. Ali’s life should be a turning point—an urgent reminder that elephants deserve more than survival in confinement. They deserve the chance to live and die with dignity.