NEW ELEPHANT EXHIBIT STILL ON TRACK.Byline: DANA BARTHOLOMEW Staff Writer Ignoring calls to close its elephant exhibit following the sudden death of Gita, the Los Angeles Zoo The Los Angeles Zoo founded in 1966, is a large zoo located in Los Angeles, California, USA. The Zoo, located in Los Angeles' Griffith Park, is home to 1,200 animals from around the world. pressed forward Monday with plans to build a $40 million pachyderm exhibit. While animal rights critics charged poor conditions at the zoo contributed to Gita's death on Saturday, pathologists said determining what killed the beloved, 48-year-old Asian pachyderm could take weeks. Her death comes amid an ambitious plan to revamp the zoo's elephant exhibit, which officials said would continue. ``We still plan on moving forward with the new elephant exhibit,'' zoo spokesman Jason Jacobs said. ``The new Pachyderm Forest is going to be a great exhibit. ``This exhibit is being built for future generations.'' Gita died Saturday morning after she was found sitting on her haunches with her back legs tucked beneath her. A zoo favorite and veteran of the old Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large public park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. It is situated in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers 4,210 acres (17 km²) of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America. Zoo before she was walked to the new Los Angeles Zoo in 1966, Gita was one of three elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo. The 8,000-pound elephant had arthritis and a history of foot ailments, undergoing surgery last year to remove parts of her front left toe. Tara, a 39-year-old African elephant, died of heart failure at the zoo in 2004. A city report last year said the elephants were well cared for but needed more space. This year, the city approved a 3.5-acre exhibit projected to cost $39 million, plus $8.5 million in debt service. Animal activists who predicted Gita's death from what they said were zoo-related ailments said it was time to transfer the zoo's two remaining elephants -- Ruby, 45, and Billy, 21 -- to a sanctuary. ``It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to close the exhibit,'' said Melya Kaplan, founder of Voice for the Animals, an L.A. Zoo watchdog and advocacy group. ``How many elephants have to die before we understand that the zoo cannot take care of elephants?'' Chris DeRose Chris DeRose (born June 28, 1948) in Brooklyn, New York is an animal rights activist and a former actor. He appeared on General Hospital, Cagney and Lacey, CHiPs, The Rockford Files and Baretta. He was an on camera reporter for the television shows Hard Copy and Inside Edition. , an activist who has locked himself in the elephant exhibit a half-dozen times to protest conditions at the zoo, hopes for a city referendum on the elephant exhibit. His group, Last Chance for Animals, prepared to conduct a citywide poll on whether the elephants should stay or go. ``We knew that the elephant was going to die. We've been saying for three years that Gita was going to die,'' DeRose said. ``They all need to go to a sanctuary.'' On Wednesday, activists plan to perform Hindu last rites in front of the zoo to release Gita's soul ``for a future life.'' Gita's necropsy necropsy /nec·rop·sy/ (nek´rop-se) examination of a body after death; autopsy. nec·rop·sy n. See autopsy. necropsy examination of a body after death. See also autopsy. began Saturday afternoon at the California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory System in San Bernardino. The system, run by the University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis, commonly known as UC Davis, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, and was established as the University Farm in 1905. , School of Veterinary Medicine veterinary medicine, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of animals. An early interest in animal diseases is found in ancient Greek writings on medicine. Veterinary medicine began to achieve the stature of a science with the organization of the first school in the , employed three pathologists working in a refrigerated re·frig·er·ate tr.v. re·frig·er·at·ed, re·frig·er·at·ing, re·frig·er·ates 1. To cool or chill (a substance). 2. To preserve (food) by chilling. post-mortem room. ``We will examine in detail the muscular-skeletal and nervous system to try to determine why she wouldn't get up on her rear legs,'' UCD UCD University College Dublin UCD User-Centered Design UCD University of California at Davis UCD University of Colorado at Denver (Denver, CO) UCD University of Colorado at Denver UCD Unicode Character Database pathologist Deryck Read told the Associated Press. ``The second objective is to determine the cause of death.'' Zoo officials said they expected to release the results of the necropsy. dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3730 |
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