The Situation in Switzerland
Recent transfers and deaths
Basel Zoo
In August 2023, the male elephant Tusker was euthanised after contracting tuberculosis. In December 2023, Heri’s unborn calf, fathered by Tusker, died in the womb. The dead foetus remained inside her until Heri herself was euthanised in June 2025. Rosy and Maya were later transferred to Amnéville Zoo and Wow Safari Peaugres respectively, both in France. Meanwhile, Tika, Kimana and Mali were transferred from Wuppertal Zoo in Germany to Basel Zoo.
Since 2023, two elephants and an unborn calf have died at Basel Zoo. In addition, the zoo decided to transfer its two remaining female elephants, who were no longer able to participate in the breeding programme, to other zoos in France.
Zurich Zoo
In 2020, two elephant calves were killed by members of the herd – something that is uncommon in the wild. That same year, the male elephant Maxi died, although the exact cause of his death was not made public. In 2022, three elephants – Omysha, Umesh and Ruwani – died from elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). In 2023, a calf born to Fahra and Thai died just minutes after birth. Ceyla-Himali, who was born in Sri Lanka in 1975 and was the mother of Fahra, among others, died in 2024. In 2025, Fahra lost another calf, Zali, around five months after his birth. According to the zoo, he died following a leg injury, intestinal torsion and cardiac arrest. In June 2026, Indi’s calf was euthanised just hours after birth because of serious health problems which, according to the zoo, prevented the calf from standing and severely compromised its chances of survival.
Between 2020 and 2026, 10 elephants died at Zurich Zoo.
At least two elephant calves were killed by members of the herd. Keith Lindsay’s 2023 scientific report argues that these deaths, rather than being simply “natural accidents”, are symptoms of a captive system that is unable to meet elephants’ social and biological needs.
Rapperswil Zoo
Swiss Legislation
On paper, Switzerland has some of the most advanced animal welfare legislation in the world, but the specific provisions relating to elephants are surprisingly limited and largely fail to reflect current scientific knowledge.
In Switzerland, keeping elephants is mainly regulated by the Animal Welfare Act (AniWA) and the Animal Welfare Ordinance (AniWO). The law recognises the inherent dignity of animals and requires their welfare to be protected. Among other things, animals must be able to express behaviours typical of their species, have sufficient freedom of movement, be protected from suffering, anxiety and harm to their health, and be kept in conditions that reflect current scientific knowledge.
In practice, however, the specific requirements for elephants remain extremely limited. The federal ordinance sets only minimum enclosure sizes, which fall far short of the animals’ actual biological needs. Elephants are mentioned in only a handful of regulations, and there are no detailed standards addressing their social, cognitive or behavioural needs, despite these being well documented by science. Swiss zoos must obtain cantonal authorisation based on the opinion of an independent expert, but current legislation primarily ensures the animals’ physical survival rather than their genuine wellbeing.
The law provides for administrative and criminal penalties when animals are neglected, kept in unsuitable conditions or subjected to unjustified suffering. However, concepts such as “dignity” and “welfare” remain broadly defined, and their application to elephants in captivity is open to interpretation. As a result, keeping elephants in Swiss zoos remains legal on the basis of minimum standards that fail to reflect modern scientific understanding of their physical, psychological and social needs.