Animal-rights group drops lawsuit over zoos’ new elephants

The legal fight over the Sedgwick County Zoo’s new elephants is over.

Animal-rights group Friends of Animals has dropped its lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for approving the transfer of African elephants to zoos in Wichita, Dallas and Omaha. The elephants were flown to the United States from Swaziland about a month ago.

“Friends of Animals hereby gives notice that it is dismissing its complaint,” according to the three-page document filed last week in the U.S. District Court of Washington, D.C.

Jennifer Best, a lawyer with the group, said it was a tough decision that came down to how best to spend the group’s time and resources.

“We decided that the best way to help these elephants at this point wasn’t through the court but instead working with our experts on a plan to better inform people about the lives that the elephants now have to live,” she said.

The Connecticut-based group sued in February after the Fish and Wildlife Service issued permits for the transfer in January. The group argued the agency did not consider the physical and mental toll of the move on the elephants. The zoos joined the lawsuit on the government’s side.

The zoos went ahead with the transfer anyway. The elephants left Swaziland after a judge denied a last-ditch effort by the Friends of Animals group to stop it.

The dismissal comes shortly after the zoos and the feds argued the lawsuit was moot since the transfer had already happened.

Best said the group will work to prevent transfers of African elephants to American zoos in the future.

“It’s possible that this could set an example for other countries who want to profit off of their wild elephants,” Best said.

The Fish and Wildlife Service would not comment Tuesday.

Sedgwick County Zoo director Mark Reed wrote in an e-mailed statement that “we are pleased the process has reached a conclusion.”

“We can continue to move forward with caring for our new residents in their new home,” Reed said.

Members of the Sedgwick County Zoo can get a sneak preview of the “Elephants of the Zambezi River Valley” exhibit May 11-13. The tour will go throughout the exhibit and to the elephant barn.

The grand opening ceremony for the new elephant exhibit is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. on May 27, which is the start of Memorial Day weekend.

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 1:30 PM with the headline "Animal-rights group drops lawsuit over zoos’ new elephants."