San Antonio Zoo's Asian elephant "Boo" dies

I am confused. This looks a whole lot like the one who tried to sell her kids for bail money.

Hey, Metal70s, I really do have keyboard trouble, although many of the typos I won't blame on it. I've got a big problem with sticking keys, but the worst is when the backspace key sticks and erases half of what I just wrote before I get it unstuck!!! GGGgggggrrrrrr!!! Really gotta spring for a new one. I still want an edit feature, tho.

LOL Lervia! I feel for ya. Keyboards... sometime they are just mean.

The average life span of an Asian elephant in a captured but natural environment setting is 60, with that of "zoo" animals being less. Boo obviously had met her average life span. Jimkata, I think that charlie's reference to "out to pasture" was referring to Boo being humanely euthanized, as Boo was due to her health situation. I'm glad that the zoo rides no longer exist, although elephants are used as work animals in their home countries, and that shows the possibility of their domestication and assistance to humans, just as our settlers used horses and donkeys and mules, and even cattle in some cases. Boo was one of numerous ambassadors of her species (and a multitude of others) that exchanged freedom for health care, full meals, freedom from poaching, and a modicum of human respect and adoration in order to educate the two legged destructors and hope to reach enough to advance respect and change in order to preserve her species and all others threatened.

Not sure what kind of pasture she could have been put in... It wasn't as if she was a "working" animal other than to be there for folks to look at and learn about her species. I remember back in the late 80's the elephants at the zoo did work by giving rides to the visitors.

Oh I agree Lervia . I would think for the most part these animals are treated very well considering there captive Constance's. I guess what I was trying to say was At some point in the animals life that they would put the ageing what ever it is "out to pasture" .sort a speak..

DARN!!! SEE!!!! I just made my own point..........AGAIN!!! ** an, not ad *****

CyberBob, I know that I'm not alone in wishing for ad edit feature that would allow us to make corrections to spelling and other errors in our posts!!! Is there any way? ***educate...not educated***

RIP "Boo". @Charlie50, many of the big, reputable zoos really do offer a good quality of life for their animals. Many, if not most, of these same animals can't find the same any longer in their natural habitat due to human interlopement & slaughter (poaching), declining natural habitat and food sources, etc. I understand both the pros and cons of zoos, but feel that the necessity for them (the GOOD & REPUTABLE ones) offer valuable information and learning for our human race in the effort to instruct us in our inadequacies and cruelties and ignorances, responsibilites, and the need to intelligently and responsibly work to save the planet. I'm NOT a "GREEN' fool, either. Earth suffers natural cyclical changes, which we MUST educated ourselves to understand and not blindly follow and believe those that try to tell us that the human race is solely responsible for climate change. Yes, we contribute to it, but we aren't truly responsible for the most of it. Yes, we can work to reverse or change certain effects caused by humans, and the first and foremost of this is the destruction of the Earth's rainforests!!! The Earth has the remarkable ability to heal itself if it's allowed to do so...within the natural constraints of factors such as axis shifts, etc. We need to restore and replinish the rainforests, which we CAN do...if it's not already too late.

Bye Boo Thanks for being a dedicated zoo employee.....Just wondering how is it quality life being captive in a zoo?