After difficult lessons, Oakland Zoo a leader in elephant welfare

Treats are ready to feed to the African elephants at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. The zoo has long opposed the use of bullhooks to manage its elephants in favor of a protected contact, large barricade system as well as using positive reinforcement. less Treats are ready to feed to the African elephants at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. The zoo has long opposed the use of bullhooks to manage its elephants in favor of a protected ... more Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close After difficult lessons, Oakland Zoo a leader in elephant welfare 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

It all started on a rainy morning in January 1991 in a barn in the Oakland hills, when Smoky, an African elephant, stomped to death a veteran keeper at the Oakland Zoo during a routine enclosure cleaning.

“It was no accident,” Dr. Joel Parrott, the zoo’s longtime director, said recently. “The elephant did that intentionally, and it wasn’t his fault. For us, that was an awakening. I think until that point we were all in denial.”

Like zoos everywhere, the Oakland Zoo’s elephants lived under harsh conditions that included chains, electrical shocks and sharp pokers called bullhooks intended to control Earth’s largest land animal. Across the country, several keepers a year died or suffered severe injuries as elephants occasionally fought back.

But when it happened in Oakland, Parrott realized something was very, very wrong with the way zoos were treating elephants.

“We wanted to make sure no one gets killed again,” he said. “And that led us to change everything about the way we treat elephants.”

Since then, the Oakland Zoo has become a national pioneer in elephant welfare. Not only did the zoo help revolutionize the way elephants in captivity are cared for, but it has funded antipoaching programs in Africa, fought for legislation to ban ivory sales and, most recently, helped Oakland become one of the only cities in the U.S. to ban the bullhooks still used by circuses.

Expanding enclosure

Last year, the zoo helped purchase a 5,000-acre ranch in rural Tehama County — one of the few places with terrain and climate like elephants’ natural habitat in Africa — to be a reserve and study area for about 50 elephants from North American zoos. Over the years, the zoo has also reconfigured its own elephant enclosure, expanding it to more than 6 acres, one of the largest in the country.

These efforts earned the zoo a prominent place in the 2013 HBO documentary “Apology to Elephants.”

“The Oakland Zoo speaks up for elephants at every turn. And most of their investment has nothing to do with the display of elephants — it’s for the species as a whole,” said Deniz Bolbol of Humanity Through Education, a Redwood City group that advocates for the welfare of circus animals. “The Oakland Zoo has really become one of the most progressive zoos in the country.”

For the Oakland Zoo, it started with examining the day-to-day interactions between elephants and their keepers. Elephants can be dominant and aggressive, and most zoos found that the best way to control pachyderms was through bullhooks and beatings so humans could establish dominance.

Parrott visited zoos around the country looking for alternatives and decided that, for starters, zookeepers would no longer have direct physical contact with elephants. Keepers would stay behind steel bars or at least 40 feet away. That protects the keepers but also allows the elephants some autonomy, “allows them to be elephants,” Parrott said.

Because elephants are as smart as dolphins and whales, Parrott looked at how marine mammals are treated in captivity — entirely with positive reinforcement. So the zoo replaced chains and bullhooks with bananas and other treats. To encourage certain movements necessary for veterinary care — such as allowing a vet to examine ears or trunks — zookeepers tap the elephants gently with a padded stick and reward them with whistles and treats.

Optional procedures

Everything is voluntary for the zoo’s four elephants. If they don’t feel like an ear exam, they can opt out.

One task they never opt out of is their daily pedicures. One a recent chilly morning, the elephants lined up to have their feet bathed in warm water, the rocks removed from their foot pads and a massage with special oil. Donna, 35 years old and weighing 5 tons, stepped into a roomy steel chute, delicately placed her foot through the slats into the hands of zookeeper Jeff Kinzley, and began emitting a low, rumbling purrlike sound.

“If Donna didn’t want her pedicure, she could just walk away,” Kinzley said as his wife, keeper Gina Kinzley, placed banana slices in Donna’s trunk. “Our elephants don’t work for free.”

Keepers spend much of their day hiding food around the enclosure for the elephants to forage and creating new challenges, like puzzle feeders and scented toys, to keep the elephants from getting bored. Last week, the enclosure was scattered with discarded Christmas trees for the elephants to investigate.

Elephants in the wild walk up to 30 miles a day, bathe in rivers, roll in mud and live in herds with their families. Some animal welfare groups believe elephants should not be in captivity at all, no matter how well they’re cared for, because of their size, intelligence and complex social needs.

In fact, every other zoo in Northern California except Oakland has closed its elephant exhibit. Parrott said the Oakland Zoo decided to keep its elephants because the zoo has always had pachyderms, the zoo has the space and climate to offer an ideal setting for them, and educating the public about the graceful beasts might be the best hope for saving them.

“We wanted to improve our elephant program, not end it,” he said, noting that African elephants in the wild face extreme threats from poaching and habitat loss. “And we all have an enormous love of elephants. They’re magnificent animals.”

Raising awareness, funds

Ed Stewart, head of the Performing Animal Welfare Society, an elephant sanctuary in Calaveras County, called the Oakland Zoo one of only two zoos in the nation to take a strong stand on behalf of circus elephants. The other is Detroit.

“The Oakland Zoo has stood up, and it hasn’t always been comfortable for them,” he said. “They’ve helped raise awareness of poaching. They’ve helped animal welfare groups like ours. They’ve raised money for people in the bush, so they won’t have to poach. … If every zoo did like Oakland, there wouldn’t be elephant problems.”

For Donna, it all comes down to the bananas and time with her cohorts, Lisa, Osh and M’Dunda. When she glimpsed Lisa after her pedicure, she trotted over and nuzzled Lisa’s hide. Lisa rumbled in response. Even M’Dunda, who was among the most skittish of the zoo’s elephants, is happy these days.

“She used to take swings at people with her trunk,” Parrott said. “Now she’s our sweetest elephant. It took a while, but now she gets it: Calm down, darlin’, no one’s going to hurt you.”

Carolyn Jones is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: carolynjones@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynajones