Anchorage Daily News

The Alaska Zoo board of directors met Tuesday night to discuss the future of Maggie, Alaska's lone elephant, and decided they needed more time to consult with experts, review public opinion and find out what options exist for Maggie outside of Alaska.

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Maggie's fate is still up in the air.

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"All they want is for Maggie to be healthy," said zoo director Pat Lampi after the meeting.

The board met amid growing public sentiment that Maggie should be moved to a warmer place with other elephants in the Lower 48. Maggie's ill health this month -- she lay on her side twice, and couldn't get up -- has increased critics' cries that the zoo should let her go.

Maggie, an African elephant plucked from a herd in South Africa as a baby, has been at the Alaska Zoo since 1983.

Lampi said the zoo has received thousands of e-mails since last week when it asked the public to weigh in with opinions. He said the board was reviewing those and the advice of elephant experts in their decision and would meet again next week.

Board president Dick Thwaites said the zoo was contacting zoos across the country to see what they could offer Maggie.

Meanwhile, a group lobbying to move Maggie to a warmer climate to be with other elephants is circulating a 2004 report that shows 10 of 11 experts the Alaska Zoo consulted then said Maggie should be moved.

The zoo's critics say the board in 2004 largely ignored the recommendation and voted to keep her alone in Alaska, with the intention of improving her living conditions.

Thwaites, reached after the board meeting, said that wasn't true. "We agree with most of the experts. We do agree, that generally speaking, for an elephant that's the best thing (to be with other elephants)."

But it might not be the best thing for Maggie, said Thwaites.

Thwaites and other board members have said Maggie is a dominating elephant that may not adjust well to living with other elephants or to a change in her lifestyle. "Maggie's not your typical elephant. She hasn't been used to this. You just don't know (what could happen to her)."

Thwaites said the board is asking experts, including some of the same ones consulted in 2004, for their advice.

The California-based group In Defense of Animals obtained the 2004 report, which the zoo had not previously made public.

The 2004 report was written by a five-member committee formed to advise the board on what to do with Maggie. In it, elephant experts from around the U.S. and Canada said Maggie would be better off elsewhere. The lone dissenter, Dr. Jim Oosterhuis of the San Diego Wild Animal Park, said the animal could stay in Alaska if she was provided proper exercise, softer flooring in her enclosure and more interaction with her handlers. The zoo has spent $900,000 to improve Maggie's living conditions, Thwaites said. It has not, however, met all of the goals, including the soft flooring, which is estimated to cost another $100,000, he said.

The Alaska Zoo's elephant committee, composed of zoo staff, a board member and others closely connected to the zoo, three years ago split on the question of moving Maggie.

The committee was made up of the then-president of the board, Mike Barker; then-senior zoo staff members Tex Edwards and Pat Lampi; Maggie's local vet, Dr. Riley Wilson; and a founder of the zoo, John Seawell.

Edwards and Seawell thought Maggie should stay in Anchorage. Barker and Lampi voted to send her to the North Carolina Zoological Park, which scored highest among several Outside zoos that had indicated an interest. Wilson, the fifth committee member, was undecided.

The committee met off and on over one year and consulted the experts before generating the report.

The report said the most important issues for Maggie's well-being were the ability to hang out with other elephants, exercise, attention from handlers, the need for a large enclosure and the need for soft walking surfaces.

In the 2004 report, Lampi is described as saying that spending money on Maggie could detract from much-needed spending on other animals. He asked then how the zoo could justify spending scarce money on one animal that experts say would be better off at another facility.

The 2004 committee researched 14 elephant facilities recommended by a panel of experts. The committee unanimously chose the North Carolina zoo as best. The North Carolina zoo, 75 miles west of Raleigh in Asheboro, includes a 37-acre African Plains exhibit, according to its Web site. It also said it was undergoing a $7 million renovation to the African elephant exhibit. The zoo is one of the zoos the Alaska Zoo has tried to contact recently to find out if they would still be interested in having Maggie, Thwaites said.

The three-year-old report also addressed the risks to Maggie if she were to be moved. Relocating an 8,000-pound wild animal -- that has a reputation of being grumpy -- a long distance from Anchorage would be dangerous to her. Thwaites described it as a "major concern" in what happens to Maggie next. He and other board members worry she would not survive a move.

If Maggie does stay in Anchorage, her quality of life may get a boost from the state. The Legislature included $1.7 million for the Alaska Zoo in the capital budget earlier this month, but the bill has yet to be signed by Gov. Sarah Palin.

The money is for various projects, such as $600,000 to build a new entrance and $250,000 for the harbor seal exhibit. But $100,000 is designated for elephant house renovations. Lampi said the money would be used for flooring, siding and other upgrades to Maggie's enclosure.

"We need a really, really good plan," Thwaites said. "That's what we are trying to come up with now."

Daily News reporter Megan Holland can be reached at mrholland@adn.com.

Maggie sparks strong opinions on both sides

Here's what some online readers say about whether Maggie, the Alaska Zoo elephant, should stay in Anchorage or be sent to warmer climes. For the full forum, go to adn.com.

" Do I think there are bigger issues to worry about? Yes. Here is a simple plan -- elephant steaks for the homeless and less fortunate. The money spent relocating this elephant could be going to help HUMANS."

" Maggie must be given the opportunity to experience life as an elephant, to make choices for herself, to socialize with others of her own species, to exercise on natural surfaces, to eat and bathe when it's her choice."

" She will die if transported, heck, animal care experts can't even get a snake alive out of AK. The native kids in AK have the chance to see a live, non-tortured elephant."

" How much pleasure can one take in viewing an animal as miserable and unhappy as Maggie? How educational can it be for children?"

" Do you know the temperature difference between Alaska and Tennessee right now? You think she'll get down there and suddenly spring back to life? No, she won't. ... She doesn't know about HUMIDITY, that alone will probably kill her the first week she's there!"