Nearly a year after the Los Angeles Zoo shipped off Billy and Tina to Oklahoma, animal rights activists have kept up the call to move the elephants to a sanctuary. Recently, actor Samuel L. Jackson joined their roster of supporters.
In the dead of night last May, the pair of Asian elephants were shuttled via shipping containers to the Tulsa Zoo, where their L.A. keepers said they’d join a herd large enough for the social animals’ well-being — something the L.A. Zoo could not provide.
But animal welfare groups say the pachyderms are not better off in their new home, citing concerns about their physical and mental health.
Tina, 59, is battling a uterine infection and Billy, 40, could face invasive sperm extractions, according to Courtney Scott, veteran elephant consultant with In Defense of Animals.
The pair were already showing “very chronic stress behavior” in L.A., Scott said, such as head bobbing, swaying and pacing. In Tulsa, “that seemed to intensify.”
How do they know? A volunteer from the Elephant Guardians of Los Angeles visited twice and chronicled their condition with photos and videos, she said.
Scott’s group ranked the Tulsa Zoo among the 10 worst zoos for elephants last year, claiming it suffers from overcrowding and a breeding program with a checkered history.
Jackson, of “Pulp Fiction” and Marvel fame, said sanctuaries are willing to take in Tina and Billy. “Continued exploitation and denial of their freedom is making them worse, and time is running out!” Jackson said in a statement provided by In Defense of Animals.
Jackson is just the latest star to chime in. Cher, Lily Tomlin and the late Bob Barker have previously advocated for Billy, who arrived at the L.A. Zoo in 1989.
Billy roams his former habitat at the L.A. Zoo in April 2017.
(Richard Vogel / Associated Press)
At the Tulsa Zoo, which did not respond to requests for comment, Billy and Tina are now part of a crew that includes five other Asian elephants. The zoo’s elephant complex spans 17 acres and includes a wooded preserve not open to public viewing as well as a 36,650-square-foot barn.
This month, the zoo announced Tina was suffering from an infection and abnormal buildup of fluid in her uterus. A statement describes it as a side effect of reproductive tract disease, which she had a history of before arriving at the zoo and is common in aging female elephants.
“There are very limited options beyond antibiotics and, unfortunately, antibiotics alone will not fully resolve the infection,” the zoo said. “That reality is difficult to share, but it’s important to be transparent that this condition has the potential to become life-threatening.”
Tina isn’t showing signs of discomfort and remains “bright and engaged” and “greets her keepers,” according to the zoo.
Billy and Tina have lived together for more than 15 years and share a strong bond, according to the L.A. Zoo. They communicate by touching each other with their trunks, smelling each other and vocalizing.
Billy hails from a herd in Malaysia that was culled to clear land for palm and rubber plantations, according to the zoo. He arrived in L.A. at the age of 4 as part of an effort by the Malaysian government to relocate young elephants to zoos in the late 1980s.
In 2009, Tina landed at the San Diego Zoo for rehabilitation after being confiscated from a private owner. She was moved to the L.A. Zoo the following year.
For years, animal welfare advocates and some politicians tried to compel the L.A. Zoo to relocate the elephants to somewhere more spacious and which, according to them, would offer a better quality of life.
The L.A. Zoo, however, has long defended the care provided to its elephants and did not cite health reasons for Billy’s and Tina’s relocation in 2025.
According to an online FAQ, that decision stemmed from the death of two older herd members — Jewel and Shaunzi — who were euthanized in 2023 and 2024, respectively, for age-related health reasons. Without them, the zoo no longer met Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums standards requiring accredited zoos to have at least three Asian elephants.
The zoo said it wasn’t possible to bring in more elephants, so it made the “difficult decision” to relocate Billy and Tina, according to a statement from last year.
“The care and well-being of the animals is always a top priority and decisions impacting the animals are made at discretion of the Zoo Director — an authority granted in the Los Angeles City Charter,” the statement said. “Activist agendas and protests are rightfully not a consideration in decisions that impact animal care.”
The zoo said it spoke to sanctuaries accredited by the Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums when weighing what to do with the elephants, but elephant experts from around the country recommended Tulsa Zoo as the best fit for the pair. Criteria included space, facilities, staff expertise and herd dynamics.
Denise Verret, director of the L.A. Zoo, noted at an L.A. City Council budget hearing last year that the Toronto Zoo lost its accreditation in 2012 by sending its elephants to a sanctuary at the direction of the Toronto City Council.
L.A. City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, a longtime advocate for the elephants, filed a motion seeking to pause their relocation until the City Council could review the possibility of sending them to a sanctuary. An L.A. resident filed a lawsuit over the zoo’s decision and sought to halt the elephants’ transfer. Neither effort was successful, but activists haven’t given up.
Sanctuaries in Georgia and Cambodia have agreed to take in Billy and Tina, according to Scott. Another, the Performing Animal Welfare Society in Northern California, has said it would accept Billy and, likely, Tina, she said.
“It would just be a matter of sitting down,” she said, “and figuring out the best one for the elephants.”
