Resources - Granby Zoo Fact Sheet

Granby Zoo - Quebec

This is a privately owned zoo and is accredited by both AZA and CAZA.

According to the studbook, this facility has housed 4 African elephants over the years but currently only two are still living.

• Toutonne - female, wild caught (no country listed), estimated year of birth (EYB) 1979
• Sarah - female, wild caught (no country listed) EYB 1984

The following elephants are marked as having died in the records:

• Gretchen -, female, captured in South Africa, EYB 1965, died 1998
• EItypo - female, wild caught (no country listed) EYB 1970, died 1986

I reviewed this facility on video since it was not open while I was in Quebec. The video was recorded on the 23rd day of September, 2006, a chilly (approx. 10º C) and rainy day.

The elephants were in small yard which had a few trees in the middle and was surrounded by an electric wire and a small fence. The area containing the trees had another hot wire around it keeping the elephants from getting to the trees. There were patches of grass and dirt in the enclosure and what seemed like a ‘play’ area with a tire and wooden frame. For most of the one hour recording, Sarah walked in circles around the enclosure. She walked very fast and made the same circle over and over. She stopped for a few moments to look at visitors on the other side of the fence but she generally spent the bulk of her time walking around the enclosure. At one point, she picked up a small ball and carried it along on her trunk. Toutonne on the other hand moved very little. She stood at the furthest corner of the enclosure, totally oblivious of Sarah’s activity or that of the visitors. She moved slowly and appeared to be overweight and very sore, probably due to an arthritic condition which, as mentioned above, is common in zoo elephants, especially those fto live in cold climates. According to the studbook records, Toutonne is only 27 but she certainly looked older than that. The keeper carried a bull hook which suggests that the zoo likely does not practice protected contact.

In 1987, the Montreal Gazette reported that Toutonne suffered bruises, lost patches of skin and had three welts resulting from an incident where an “untrained keeper tried to show her who was boss” and misused a training prod in the process. The SPCA was contacted but no charges were laid.

The Granby Zoo elephant enclosure is very small, certainly not adequate for the elephants to express all of their natural behaviors and the social grouping is not appropriate for the species. Of most concern is the climate, which is completely inappropriate for elephants and may be the cause of physical disorders.