Packing Their Trunks

Many inhabitants of Detroit might dream of fleeing the city for wide-open spaces in warmer climes. Wanda and Winky are actually doing it.

The two Asian elephants, no longer in their prime and suffering from cold-weather ailments, will move this summer from the Detroit Zoo to a wildlife refuge in Tennessee or California. They represent the first such migration from a major zoo, which is acting voluntarily out of humane concerns.

Not only is the Michigan weather hard on the pair, aged 51 and, coyly, “mid-40s” respectively, but zoo director Ron Kagan says life in captivity is simply rough for elephants. In the wild, such dames as Winky and Wanda would walk 30 miles a day and form close bonds within their herds. In a zoo, elephants are lucky if they have a few acres on which to build up cardiovascular fitness.

Lab rat by lab rat, animal rights groups are making a dent in public thinking. Thirty years ago, no one wondered whether zoo elephants were comfortable or happy. Now, homeopathic veterinarians have thriving practices. Consumers look for the “No Animal Testing” label on products. People fret about the cramped pens in which veal calves are kept and, in recent months, about whether ducks whose livers are destined for foie gras are tortured in their overfeeding.

Nearly four years ago, McDonald’s demanded that its egg suppliers give laying hens 72 square inches of space (not luxurious, given that letter-sized paper has about 90 square inches). The success of such shows as Cirque du Soleil raises the notion that circuses can entertain without elephants, whose lives in circuses make those of zoo elephants look like pachyderm paradise.

Wanda and Winky, however, will go for leisurely hikes every day. They won’t be cramped in front of glitchy computers or stuck in traffic. They won’t work in sweatshops, and they get health benefits.

Humans may have a way to go to make it up to the elephants, but they can be pardoned for wondering whether Ron Kagan would like to stop by their work stations.