Basel Zoo
Basel Zoo contains more than 10,000 animals and 588 species (2023) in a limited area of 11 hectares. For more than 150 years, the ‘Zolli’ has been presenting itself as an institution dedicated to education, research, the protection of nature and species conservation.
However, the reality of its animal collection and practices is very different – as the management of its African elephants demonstrates.
Basel Zoo is planning to expand its grounds by 2050 (‘Zolli 2049’), increasing its site by a further two hectares and host iconic species such as manatees and bears.
The Elephants in Basel Zoo
Despite the significant sums of money invested in the renovation of the Tembea enclosure in 2017 (around 28 million Swiss francs), the elephants continue to live in a restrictive and sterile environment, where there is little vegetation, and which is devoid of any stimulation. This environment cannot, in any way, meet their basic biological, spatial and cognitive needs. Rather than questioning the captivity of elephants, the zoo continues to participate in European breeding and animal exchange programmes, thus perpetuating a system that is increasingly being challenged by both scientific evidence and societal expectations.
Basel Zoo currently hosts three African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana):
- Tika: female, 13.07.07, mother of Kimana and Mali;
- Kimana: female, 20.04.20, daughter of Tika and Abu (artificial insemination);
- Mali: female, 14.10.22, daughter of Tika and Tooth.
These elephants arrived at the end of May 2026 from Wuppertal Zoo in Germany, replacing Rosy and Maya, the last two female elephants to be kept at Basel Zoo, who were relocated to two separate zoos in France in the spring of 2026.
Here is a brief history of the recent captivity of elephants at Basel Zoo.
The birth of Pambo, the last successful birth of a baby elephant to survive in Basel Zoo. Pambo died in 2013 in Valencia Zoo (Spain).
Arrival of Yoga (born in the wild, in Botswana), later relocated to a Swedish zoo.
Rosy and Maya, born around 1995 and captured in the wild in Botswana, arrive in Basel Zoo. They are involved in a controversy linked to the ‘Tuli’ reserve in Botswana. The reserve engaged in the capture and shooting of wild elephants in order to control population numbers, deemed ‘too high’, an extremely violent and traumatic method for the elephant herds. The animals were abused during their captivity as they awaited relocation to zoos around the world.
Arrival and departure of the males Calimero and Jack for the breeding programme. Heri has her first stillbirth (see below).
Tusker, a male imported in 2021 and kept at Basel Zoo as part of the breeding programme implemented by the zoo, is euthanised. Tusker had contracted tuberculosis, a contagious disease. The zoo knew that he had been exposed to the disease in the past but had done nothing to separate him from the females in the enclosure. On the contrary, the zoo allowed him to breed with Heri, who was no longer of childbearing age in a zoo, according to the guidelines of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).
The zoo announces that an elephant baby, which is practically full-term in Heri’s womb, has died and that the mother is in a critical condition. A few weeks later, the zoo states that Heri’s condition has stabilised and that the deceased elephant baby would become a so-called "abdominal stone" without any consequences for the mother.
Heri is euthanised⎯no autopsy report is ever published. The exact cause of her death has never been revealed, but it is likely that she died from an infection caused by the the dead foetus, which remained in her womb for 18 months.
The zoo states that Rosy and Maya, the two last female elephants still kept at Basel Zoo, did not get along anymore, thereby justifying their separation.
Rosy and Maya are relocated to Amnéville Zoo and the Wow Safari in Peaugres respectively, in France. Basel Zoo mentions ‘relational’ difficulties between the two elephants, attempting to justify their relocation in the name of ‘animal welfare’. In reality, due to their advanced age, they were no longer able to participate in the zoo’s breeding programme.
Tika, Kimana and Mali are relocated from Wuppertal Zoo to Basel Zoo. They are thus separated from the three other elephants in Wuppertal Zoo, notably Sabie, Tika’s mother, with whom they have lived all their life. Wuppertal Zoo wishes to modernise the elephant enclosure and does not have the space to accommodate the group of six elephants that it has been keeping until now, while work is carried out. Basel Zoo announces that it intends to continue its breeding programme for elephants in captivity.
Conservation
Science
Education
Basel Zoo also claims to play a key role in raising awareness and educating the general public about species conservation and environmental protection. In reality, however, education is not a primary objective of Switzerland’s science-based zoos, and the messages conveyed are often contradictory and biased − Basel Zoo is no exception. Above all, the animals are presented as objects for display and entertainment in an artificial environment that offers little insight into their natural behaviour or biological needs and does little to help visitors understand the threats they face in the wild.
The informal education in the zoo is very modest compared to the institutional discourse. The information panels and signage contain short texts that are outdated and simplified with very little information, particularly with regard to conservation issues and the ethical issues related to captivity. As part of its public awareness programme, Basel Zoo offers commented feeding sessions as well as volunteer activities at the Kinderzoo, in the form of workshops on the daily maintenance of the facility. What visitors experience at the Zolli bears no relation to the real lives of animals in their natural habitats.
Raising public awareness is essential. However, this mission can be accomplished without keeping animals captive in conditions that fail to meet their basic needs.