After 59 years on her toes, Mona, the Birmingham Zoo’s Asian elephant, died early this morning surrounded by her human herd, the zoo keepers and staff, some of whom have taken care of her for more than 20 years.Mona arrived at the Birmingham Zoo in 1955, and was one of the oldest elephants in North America. According to a study published in the journal Zoo Biology, the average life span of female Asian elephants in North American zoological facilites is 44.8 years. That same study found that the life expectancies of elephants in zoos are consistent with elephants in the wild.
Last Monday, Mona had difficulty standing, and it took dozens of veterinarians, zookeepers and staff and a crane to get the 8,000-pound beauty back on her feet. Anticipating further age-related complications, the zoo staff made the difficult decision to euthanize her.
“This is an immense loss for the staff and those that love Mona,” says Birmingham Zoo CEO Dr. William Foster. “Mona delighted three generations of Zoo visitors about her species. She lived a long and fulfilling life, a tribute to the staff and diligent care provided to her.”
Mona loved to paint and play musical instruments. Her favorite snack was marshmallow Peeps, but she also favored Altoids and peanuts.
— Glenny Brock
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June 21st, 2007 at 3:38 pm
I do not believe the Zoo director can say Mona”lived a long and fulfilling life, a tribute to the staff and diligent care provided to her.”
What Mona lived was a long life of unjustifiable suffering in zoo captivity to benifit the Zoo’s admission revenue! Most of us,especially Zoo staff know that elephants do not belong in captivity,no zoo can properly provide for an elephant’s inherent needs,Mona should have been sent to Sanctuary years ago.This is very sad that she was not given the oppourtunity to live her last years among other elephant’s and because of the zoo’s lack of concern for Mona’s welfare she has died alone.May she now be free of suffering.
June 21st, 2007 at 8:32 pm
I am in total disbelief that this has happened, I noted the story late last night, we were just getting together what was necessary to save her life and for her to be moved to sanctuary.
As I watch the video of Mona, anyone who watches that can tell by her movements that she was in pain. She was old, she had very limited space for an animal of her size. She looked tired. It is an unforgivable act that she was unable to live the rest of her years in a sanctuary amongst others of her breed as well as the freedom that she more than deserved after serving the public for so very long. I feel that the zoo and it’s staff had become lax because of her age. I feel that they performed this because of convenience. It would have been more trouble as well as work for the staff to move her to anywhere else. Also I feel that they were used to her being there for all of these years and didn’t want to loose their prize. So instead of loosing their prize, they killed their prize.
June 21st, 2007 at 8:52 pm
I could not disagree with Michelle more regarding Mona, at least not at her advanced age. Yes, in a perfect world elephants would only live free in the wild - but guess what despite the strongest efforts of national park staff’s in Africa and Southeast Asia elephants continue to be slaughtered in the wild at an alarming rate. Aside from that growing human populations and the demand for more land for those same people is further shrinking the wild elephants habitat. Are there poor conditions in some zoo’s for elephants. Yes, unfortunately there are, but there also many zoos doing A superb job preserving these incredible animals and at the same time caring for them as well as any sanctuary. Had a decision been made to send Mona and Susie to an elephant sanctuary as a pair prior to Susie’s death two years ago that might have been one thing, but shipping Mona there after she had lived with one elephant all these years away from the human companions she had kept for the last 10 to 20 years likely would have been such a shock to her she may well have died two years ago! I will miss Mona. I enjoyed seeing her over the years. Certainly it would have been nice to imagie her life living peacefully in some Southeast Asian Forest - but guess what - chances are pretty darn good that she would have been enslaved in the lumber industry 40 years ago or more and likely would never have lived anywhere near 59 years - and I sure wouldn’t call dragging logs around a Laotian jungle living free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 21st, 2007 at 11:37 pm
I beleive it is important for readers to know that Mona did not die, she was killed. Where was tireless efforts to support Mona in her old age?
June 22nd, 2007 at 10:39 am
MONA’S BEAUTIFUL MAGNIFICENT SPIRIT AND HER FOOTPRINTS ARE IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER. MONA’S JOURNEY WAS A SACRIFICE, AND AN EDUCATION IN OUR HUMANITY AND COMPASSION. MAY THE LESSONS BE LEARNED AND NEVER REPEATED. WISDOM MUST GUIDE OUR ACTIONS - TELL CITES 60 TONS OF IVORY IS 60 TONS TOO MUCH! STOP THE ELE SLAUGHTER IN AFRICA! STOP THE IVORY TRADE EVERYWHERE SO MONA’S SACRIFICE AND LESSONS WILL NOT BE IN VAIN.
MONA MAY YOUR SPIRIT RUN WITH THE WIND FOR ALL ETERNITY FOR TRULY YOU HAVE EARNED YOUR FREEDOM! HAPPY HOMECOMING OUR PRECIOUS ELE!
NAMASTE!
June 22nd, 2007 at 10:59 am
Mona’s Spirit is FREE! Mona’s sacrifice must never be in vain! Mona’s journey
was an education in compassion. Say NO to CITES = 60 TONS of IVORY! STOP THE ELE SLAUGHTER & IVORY TRADE ! SHUT DOWN THE CIRCUS ELE ACTS & ELIMINATE ONCE AND FOR ALL TIME ELEPHANT EXHIBITS IN ZOO’S!
CLEARLY MONA OUTLIVED MANY OF HER SPECIES IN THE WILD! THE POINT HERE IS SHE WAS BORN FREE AND SHOULD HAVE REMAINED FREE. HER “FOOTPRINTS” EMBEDDED IN OUR HEARTS CALL ON US NOW TO WISH HER A ” HAPPY HOMECOMING ” FOR ALL ETERNITY! NAMASTE MONA! THANK YOU!
June 22nd, 2007 at 12:03 pm
How totally selfish of the zoo to prioritize their welfare and not Mona’s.
June 22nd, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Shirley was born in 1948 and is still enjoying life at The Elephant Sanctuary (TES), even with a bad leg that healed improperly after being broken decades ago while in captivity. As I watch the elephants on TES Ele-cam video feed (www.elephants.com), I am saddened that Mona never had the opportunity to again live with dignity and freedom among others of her own species. She should have been sent to sanctuary years ago. Even now I wonder how much effort was given to studying options other than the expedient one of killing Mona. I did not see in this or earlier articles that Mona was severely ill or in severe pain. Perhaps at least now her spirit can have the life that Mona so deserved, but never was allowed to lead.
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:18 pm
I am very sadden to hear of the death of Mona. My Mother took me and my siblings to the Birmingham zoo , I took my children and my children are now taking their children. All have delighted in seeing Mona and watching the staff care for her. We were just there friday june 15th. RIP MONA
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Give me a break with the rhetoric. The Zoo took care of Mona for virtually her entire life. To say it “killed” her is ridiculous. How else did she live to her ripe old age if her caretakers placed profit over her welfare or took an “expedient” way out?
@ Barbara, we all knew that Mona’s health was fragile — hence the decision not to attempt a relocation to Tennessee. You can’t have it both ways, simultaneously claiming that Mona was healthy enough to survive and thrive in your utopian sanctuary with its dangerous contact practices while now expressing shock at her death. To instantly accuse her long-time caretakers of murder is reprehensible. They mourn today the loss of a friend. To you, she’s just another talking point.
@ Rosemary - you’re a raving lunatic. See Randy’s wise thoughts above about what Mona’s life might have been like “free” in a Laotian forest.
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:17 am
Like a lot of other people who know absolutely nothing about elephants, Randy contends the zoo did for Mona what any sanctuary would. WRONG! As someone who has been involved with elephant rescue for 12 years I know that many zoos do not do well by the animals in their care and that although they market their facilities as education-driven (it’s the new buzz word of the zoo world), they are first and foremost businesses in business to make money. Their priority is selling tickets to the public, entertaining the public.
There is no excuse for elephants living this kind of captive life any longer. Any fool can learn all he or she needs to know about elephants from books, film, photography, the Internet and and elephant cams in the genuine sanctuaries that exist in America. But people, like Randy, who support these kind of zoos, really aren’t interested in learning about elephants. They claim the zoos provide them with the education to support elephants, but going to gawk at an animal like Mona stuck in a small enclosure is not supporting elephants. Gawking at Mona on a Sunday afternoon does absolutely nothing for her. Paying to see her, supporting the zoo, merely sustained her misery. Boycotting the exhibit and pressuring the zoo to release her would have been supporting Mona. Just a thought (and yes, I AM angry about the ignorance that continues and I’m tired of restraining that anger when animals are suffering and dying.)
Randy is also wrong that elephants are being extinguished in the wild. It’s true they are critically endangered in Asia (due to the population explosion and humans destroying their territory) but in Africa they have rebounded in many places, and in Asia sanctuaries are cropping up to rescue and rehabilitate abused and exploited elephants.
Human beings have two challenges with regards to elephants…the first is to support elephants being in the wild places and the second is to rescue already captive elephants like Mona who were forced from the wild, beaten until they were broken and then stuffed in virtual cages, often alone, for the purpose of entertaining human beings. The answer isn’t to stick more wild elephants in zoos but to fight for their right to exist as they were meant to exist.
Mona got ripped off, it’s that simple. And if you think the experts don’t agree, read what Joyce Poole (http://www.elephants.com/poole_address.htm) who has her PhD in elephant studies has to say, or how about David Hancocks, architect and former director of Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle. He is emphatic that elephants need a different life. http://www.elephants.com/media/BrisbaneTimes_6_20_07.htm. These people have credibility.
The only joy I ever get is when I tune into the elephant sanctuary in tennessee and the one at PAWS and see elephants living relatively free lives with others of their kind. Those elephants are content and healthy and well adjusted. They are the rescued. For Mona, the rescue didn’t come soon enough.
P.S. Elephants die in captivity much much earlier than they ever would in the wild (naturally). An elephant can live to between 60 and 70 years in the wild.
June 23rd, 2007 at 6:44 pm
I’m so sorry about Mona,I saw her last week as she was using her trunk to knock on the door I guess she was hungry.
I sure she will be missed by so many and especally the staff that took care of her.Rest in Peace old girl.
June 23rd, 2007 at 6:52 pm
I’m so sorry about Mona,I saw her last week as she was using her trunk to knock on the door I guess she was hungry.
I sure she will be missed by so many and the staff and Doctors that took care of her.Rest in Peace old girl.
June 23rd, 2007 at 7:50 pm
So many of you need to know the facts. You have no idea what it takes to keep elephants alive in the wild or in captivity. The fact is no matter what animal you want to talk about, humans are killing them and taking all wild animals one step closer to extinction. What options do we have; preserve the species in zoos and captivity or let them go extinct in the wild, never to be seen again. it is true, not all zoos are great, but to lump them all into one is wrong. Not all sanctuaries are great either, there are always going to be the good the bad and the in between. Know the facts.
June 26th, 2007 at 9:58 am
I think that all of yall are stupid and need to look what the zoo has done it the last couple of years why dont all of you grow up and leave the zoo alone
June 29th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Do not let me find out that they are bringing another elephant there. These conditions (at zoos) are not their natural habitat, they (elephants) can not survive in zoos. Average life span in the wild is 70 years. Go to http://www.elephantsnaturepark.com/. Go to http://www.elephants.com.
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Sure thing, Mickie… By the way, isn’t that where an elephant killed a keeper because the “sanctuary” practiced unsafe direct contact practices? I hope they treat the elephants better than they do their staff… http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-07-21-elephant-attack_x.htm
July 12th, 2007 at 1:07 am
I am very surprised that Mona lived to be 59,confined at the zoo since 1955. You were very strong and brave girl,Mona. You are now free Mona,at last! RIP