San Francisco Zoo Calle Bio

Calle (b. ~1967, d. March 7, 2004) died at 37 years of age

Born in approximately 1967 in Asia (specific country was not recorded), Calle was shipped off to the United States when she was only a 1-to-2-year-old baby. In the U.S. she spent her life in circuses, carnivals and entertainment before dying prematurely at the San Francisco Zoo in 2004.

As a newly captured baby, Calle, likely went through a painful process called "crushing." Crushing, the common practice in Asian countries, involves taking the baby elephant from his/her mother and family (usually dragging the baby away with chains and ropes around his/her legs and neck) and forcing the baby into a "crushing" device that immobilizes the small animal while humans beat the elephant into submission (using sticks with nails and other weapons). This practice, which continues today, was documented by National Geographic in "Living Wild: Vanishing Giants.".

Calle was trucked around for years by various circuses and entertainment companies, being forced to perform. During that time, Calle suffered physical injuries and contracted the human-strain of tuberculosis. In 1990, entertainment company Have Trunk Will Travel (of Southern California) obtained Calle. Have Trunk Will Travel uses elephants for entertainment purposes, including elephant rides.

Mysteriously in 1993-94, Mr. Manuel Mollinedo (then Los Angeles Zoo director and currently director at the San Francisco Zoo) agreed to "trade" Becky (then a 9-year-old elephant at the LA Zoo) for ~27-year-old Calle who had various health problems. Young Becky was then sent off with the entertainment company Have Trunk Will Travel where she continues to live today.

Calle stayed at the LA Zoo for a few years before knocking down a zookeeper, at which time Mr. Mollinedo determined that she must go. Mr. Mollinedo met with sanctuaries that offered hundreds of acres to elephants but, instead, Mollinedo decided to send Calle to one of the worst zoos for elephants in the country at that time - the San Francisco Zoo. Calle was sent to San Francisco where she was kept in isolation while under quarantine for tuberculosis. She was finally introduced to Tinkerbelle (the Asian elephant who had lived at the San Francisco since 1968) in 1997-1998. They remained together until Calle's death in March 2004.

While in San Francisco, Calle's health continued to deteriorate. In fact, the inadequate environment at the Zoo contributed to and created health problems for Calle, including chronic foot and joint problems, bacterial-foot abscesses which led to bone infection (osteomyelitis), arthritis, and colic.

Although the Zoo blames Calle's health problems solely on the circus and Have Trunk Will Travel, during the last year of her life, the SF Zoo environment caused Calle to develop a debilitating case of osteomyelitis (acute or chronic bone infection, usually caused by bacteria) in her front feet. Calle, like the other elephants at the SF Zoo, was regularly administered painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs. Zoo veterinarians regularly cut away at Calle's infected front feet to the point where she was virtually toeless; the rot in her feet had even penetrated the bone. On March 7, 2004, the Zoo euthanized her with a massive dose of Demerol and other drugs. The Zoo reported that Tinkerbelle was present at the time of Calle's death.