Elephant needs more space

Re “Build it for Billy,” editorial, Jan. 24

The editorial urging the finishing of the Pachyderm Forest seems to be mainly based on the notion that “having made the decision and invested considerable money, and with new private funding coming forward, the City Council should stick to its plans.”

This is hardly a good enough reason to deny Billy his freedom and to build a type of exhibit that many other major cities have closed based on moral grounds.

It would not be the first $12 million this city has wasted, nor would it be the last, but closing this exhibit would put us on the right track.

Elephants do not belong in a zoo or a circus -- and when human beings stop putting first their selfish need to see elephants out of their natural settings, this will be a kinder, more compassionate world.

Marjorie Hirsch Loeb

Los Angeles

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The Times’ editorial is filled with contradictions and glosses over the opinions of leading elephant experts who believe that the exhibit does not provide adequate space for elephants.

Despite the fact that more than a dozen elephants have died at the L.A. Zoo since 1968, the editorial asks us to wait for another premature death to occur before closing the exhibit. I don’t think so.

Bill Dyer

Venice

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Alice Walker once wrote: “The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans.”

The debate about what kind of enclosure Billy should live in evades the disquieting question of why he should be forced to live in an enclosure at all.

I’m sure Billy’s caregivers have great affection for him and only want what’s best. That does not change the reality that Billy is their captive.

The new cage may come gilded with words like “Pachyderm Forest,” but it’s still a cage.

Mikko Alanne

Los Angeles