An Entertainment Abuses Article used with permission from All-Creatures.org

Captive creatures of any sex suffer cruelty and exploitation for the sake of profit and human entertainment. In honor of International Women's Month, Courtney Scott discusses some of the unique tortures and tragedies faced by female elephants in zoos.

For International Women's Month, Honor Female Elephants
From Courtney Scott, IDA In Defense of Animals, idausa.org
March 2026

Photo from In Defense of Animals

It’s International Women's Month, which coincides with International Women’s Day on March 8, which calls for a “world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive.” In that spirit, we call for the inclusion of captive female animals, including elephants, who also deserve equitable treatment and the right to live free of exploitation and suffering.

Females of all species are subjected to being victimized for profit, abused, and having their freedom to choose their mates stolen due to cultural, religious, or political ideologies. Times have changed for human females. Much progress has been made. But discrimination and domination continue across species.

Captive Female Elephants Are Violated, & Their Babies Are Exploited for Profit

Captive elephants are forced into pregnancies by unnatural pairings with bulls or the use of artificial insemination (AI), a highly invasive procedure. Zoos claim this is necessary to conserve the species, but breeding is all about boosting ticket sales. Everyone loves seeing baby elephants cavort and play. However, few consider what the baby's life will be like later, when they are older and no longer an adorable toddler — especially if they’re a female. She will be subjected to the same cycle of forced pregnancies, death, and despair as her mother. Male babies fare no better. Starting at an early age, they are traumatically transferred between zoos to breed.

Captive Elephants Are Bred to Die

As we illustrated in our 2025 list of 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants, 25% of all baby elephants in zoos die before the age of 5. Breeding elephants in captivity is perilous to mothers and babies. Females are bred at ages much younger than their wild cousins. They carry their babies for almost two years, and when the babies are stillborn or die after a few short years, they mourn their deaths just as human mothers do. If the babies live past birth, many contract deadly elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). They also sometimes face rejection by their mothers or die from starvation because their mothers are unable to nurse them, which is what happened to Indu's first baby at the Houston Zoo. Later, she lost her other five babies.

Captive Elephants Suffer Cruel Confinement for Life

Zoos promote a conservation con that somehow confining elephants in zoos saves the species. In reality, all it does is deprive far-roaming elephants from any chance to live as nature intended, free to roam vast forests or savannas, to forage, choose their mates, and enjoy lifetime connections with their elephant families. The constant drumming about conservation only deludes the public into believing a false narrative and keeps profits flowing.

Support Freedom for All

Throughout International Women's Month, honor the forgotten females, the elephants who are locked up for life and impregnated to boost zoos' bottom lines. Join us in advocating to free these oppressed elephants to spacious, true sanctuaries, where they will no longer be forced to breed, but can start to heal from the many deprivations and conditions they endured for years in zoos.

Learn more about how captivity harms elephants and how you can help at our Elephants campaign.

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Posted on All-Creatures.org: March 13, 2026
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