Oakland Zoo: Choosing Sanctuary Over Captivity
After 75 years of exhibiting elephants, Oakland Zoo made a compassionate and decisive choice: to put the wellbeing of its elephants first.
In October 2024, Oakland Zoo in California transferred Osh, its last African elephant, to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, officially ending its elephant program.
Zoo leadership recognized that the future of elephant care required more than their existing facilities could provide.
Oakland Zoo’s decision demonstrates how love for animals, scientific understanding, and responsible leadership can open the door to meaningful change.
Recognizing the Needs of Elephants
Osh, a male African elephant born in 1994, had lived at Oakland Zoo since 2004. For many years, he shared his home with three female elephants: Donna, Lisa, and M’Dunda.
Following the deaths of M’Dunda in 2019 and Lisa in 2023, Donna was transferred to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, where she could develop relationships with other female elephants.
That left Osh as Oakland Zoo’s only elephant.
For more than a year, zoo leadership worked with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) to identify compatible elephant companions who could join Osh in Oakland. None were available.
The zoo recognized that Osh’s need for social companionship was essential to his long-term wellbeing.
Rather than continue keeping Osh alone, Oakland Zoo chose sanctuary.
Read Oakland Zoo’s announcement
A Carefully Planned Journey to Sanctuary
Moving a 15,000-pound elephant across the country requires extraordinary planning and expertise.
Oakland Zoo collaborated with The Elephant Sanctuary’s veterinary and animal care teams to prepare Osh for the journey.
Preparations included comprehensive health examinations, voluntary training to familiarize Osh with his transportation trailer, and coordination between the two facilities.
On October 18, 2024, Osh arrived safely at The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, following a nearly 46-hour journey accompanied by his longtime caregivers and a veterinarian.
His new home offered expansive natural habitats, specialized facilities, individualized veterinary care, and opportunities to communicate and develop relationships with other elephants.
He began getting acquainted with Artie, another male African elephant, through protected fencing.
Instead of spending his remaining years as the only elephant at Oakland Zoo, Osh now had opportunities for companionship and exploration in a sanctuary environment.
Meet Osh at The Elephant Sanctuary
Choosing a New Future for the Zoo
Oakland Zoo’s decision was about more than relocating one elephant.
It marked the conclusion of a 75-year elephant program and an opportunity to reconsider the zoo’s future.
The zoo acknowledged that providing the next generation of elephant care would require significantly more space and investment than its existing habitat could accommodate.
Rather than rebuilding its elephant program, Oakland chose to explore new possibilities for the former exhibit.
A Decision Rooted in Love
Ending an elephant exhibit is not always easy.
For Oakland Zoo’s caregivers, staff, and visitors, saying goodbye to Osh was deeply emotional. He had been part of their lives for two decades.
Yet loving elephants means making the difficult decision to let them go.
Oakland Zoo demonstrated that an institution can honor its history while recognizing that new knowledge calls for new choices.
Its leadership worked with veterinary specialists, accreditation experts, and sanctuary professionals to make a carefully planned transition possible.
The result was a new chapter for Osh and a new direction for Oakland Zoo.
As more zoos reconsider elephant captivity, Oakland offers an important example: choosing sanctuary does not mean giving up on elephants. It can mean finding a better way to care for them.
And that is how meaningful transformation begins.
